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Sometimes a dedicated web hosting deal can be too good to be true. Never let yourself fall for the advertising of a dedicated server before you take the time and consideration it takes to really check out all the services a dedicated web hosting provider is willing to provide to you.
Here are three great articles to help you get yourself informed about disaster recovery.
Blocking an IP Address on Your Dedicated Server
You may be thinking why do I want to block IP addresses from my dedicated server? If you have never run a dedicated server before, you might not be aware that there are people who attempt to hack entire servers to bring websites down. There are many types of server attacks, and one of the most popular can occur from a single dedicated IP address – a DdoS attack!
As you realize the importance of a reliable dedicated hosting provider, you’ll also notice that that correlates to the reliability of the web host’s data center. This is because the data center is the backbone of the entire web hosting operation – if the data center is not secured or unsafe or loses power, your website could go down as well for the same undetermined amount of time. So choose your reliable dedicated hosting provider carefully! Just for your safety, here’s a Data Center Checklist for you to use when comparing dedicated web hosts and their data center operations.
What does disaster recovery mean for you? You know that it sounds good – I mean, who wouldn’t want to be recovered from a disaster. Do you know what that covers though when it is one of the filled in check mark boxes at your dedicated web host of choice?
What do you do in the time of a disaster?
You may be thinking why do I want to block IP addresses from my dedicated server? If you have never run a dedicated server before, you might not be aware that there are people who attempt to hack entire servers to bring websites down. There are many types of server attacks, and one of the most popular can occur from a single dedicated IP address – a DdoS attack!
In order to subdue the attacker and ban them from coming back, you will need to block their IP address from your dedicated server entirely. Luckily, you can do this in one simple step.
Add the following code to your .htaccess file, which can be found in your web server’s document root directory. More than likely this is named public_html, httpdocs, or webdocs.
<Limit GET>
order deny,allow
deny from 209.23.123.110
</Limit>
Adding this to .htaccess will block a single IP across your entire website and server! Be aware though: spammers and hackers alike can change their IP addresses very easily and most IPs that come from a home computer, for example, are not static and may update often. You can always add more IPs to your server, but this really showcases the importance of having a workable managed hosting solution on your dedicated server.
As you realize the importance of a reliable dedicated hosting provider, you’ll also notice that that correlates to the reliability of the web host’s data center. This is because the data center is the backbone of the entire web hosting operation – if the data center is not secured or unsafe or loses power, your website could go down as well for the same undetermined amount of time. So choose your reliable dedicated hosting provider carefully!
Just for your safety, here’s a Data Center Checklist for you to use when comparing dedicated web hosts and their data center operations:
Enhanced Building Security – You don’t want just anybody gaining access to a data center and essentially your dedicated servers, so make sure the data center itself has enhanced security measures.
Backup and Redundant Power – Firstly, you don’t want you server to crash but if something does happen (i.e. the power goes out during an electrical storm), you need to know how long it will take to get your servers back up and running. The best dedicated web hosts won’t have an ounce of downtime because they offer redundant power and backup generators for every emergency.
Temperature & Weather Controlled Environment – If humidity can be a bother to your hair, imagine what that kind of heated moisture could do to your computer or dedicated server! Choose a dedicated host who can provide cooling to support your dedicated servers, one who offers humidity and climate control, and one with AC for sure.
Disaster Recovery – If something horrible happens (an earthquake, a terrorist attack, a flood, or any disaster), does your dedicated web host know how to handle it? Make sure they do!
These data center tips are very important, so make sure you know them before you buy!
What does disaster recovery mean for you? You know that it sounds good – I mean, who wouldn’t want to be recovered from a disaster. Do you know what that covers though when it is one of the filled in check mark boxes at your dedicated web host of choice?
Disaster recovery usually covers the technique and practice over restoring your server, operations and business. In business it can mean recovering data such as records, hardware, software and more. Going from web host to web host the events covered may vary so best to read the small print to know for sure what is and is not covered by your own disaster recovery plan.
The reason this is in place is to act as a promise or guarantee that if something bad should happen you will be restored back to normal as soon as possible. Many web hosts have plans in place just in case a server goes down, explodes or a volcano erupts next to your datacenter.
If at all possible I would say this is something you should put high on your priorities list when shopping for a dedicated web host because you never know when or if the worst might happen.
Oh boy, your getting a dedicated server to call your own. That means you are no longer limited by the proverbial walls of dedicated hosting. You are finally free and you can do whatever you please, right? Well, like it or not there are still some limitations on dedicated hosting solutions too.
Although you will have many more server resources to work with you should check to see what the actual limitations are on the dedicated plan in question. Also many providers do not allow IRC (eggdrops, clients or daemons). Also be careful of hosting copyrighted material, as if you don’t own the permission or have the permission of the copyright owner you might be in violation of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). Adult content and the type of adult site you can host may be regulated too. Spam is usually too prohibited by the provider’s acceptable use policy.
You may be master of your domain but you must also learn to follow the rules. Make sure you review the terms of service and acceptable use policy for your dedicated hosting provider. Learn what you can and can not do before – so you can keep yourself out of hot water later down the road.
Without data centers, your Dedicated Server would be sitting in the middle of your living room, without proper air conditioning, fire suppression, and a redundant power supply. More or less, without a good data center, your Dedicated Server would not run as efficiently and you would be in charge of managing it and replacing parts or restoring hard drives as necessary.
Data Centers are simply facilities that house racks of dedicated servers and maintain the proper environmental conditions necessary to keep them running smoothly. Any good data center will have the following features: