Got a big dedicated hosting security bulletin for you all.

A serious security vulnerability has been found in the existing CentOS and RedHat kernels. This flaw allows local users to gain root-like privileges on the system, so patching this security flaw is of critical importance. You may find further details at the following locations:

• https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1223.html
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=516949

I hope all of our dedicated hosting fans are well protected for these threats.  If you have a managed dedicated hosting account, you can often get your web host to do these updates for you.  For non-managed dedicated hosting plan customers, you may still be able to get the update done (since it is a serious one) but might have to pay some additional fees.  Terms of service may differ from web host to web host, so it is always a good idea to check first.

This also stands as another great example of why and how managed dedicated hosting services are an add-on to your dedicated hosting plan you should look into.

By now you have already installed Apache onto your dedicated server. Now, let’s configure Apache to run with PHP4 or PHP5, whichever is your preference in scripting.

For PHP4, it’s as simple as apt-get:

apt-get install apache2 php4 libapache2-mod-php4

Since PHP5 can be automatically installed if you don’t specify the package ‘4’, you can do that or apt-get:

apt-get install apache2 php5 libapache2-mod-php5

To test and ensure that you are now hosting with PHP4 or PHP5, create a test file called test.php in /var/www folder with phpinfo() function as follows:

nano /var/www/test.php

php phpinfo();

Now, just point your web browser to http://ip.address/test.php and you’ll be able to see your php config and default settings. If you don’t, check with your dedicated server administrators or web hosting provider.

From there, you can also edit necessary values or setup virtual domains, enable CAPTCHA, and more.

LAMP web hosting is probably the most popular and affordable server setting for webmasters these days. If you aren’t already aware, LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP and defines how your dedicated server will run – it will be Linux hosting with an Apache server, MySQL databases, and PHP development.

The first step to create a LAMP server setup is to install Apache on your Linux machine.

1) Download Apache from Apache Software Foundation.

2) Uncompress the archive using gunzip and tar and replace apache_1.3.11.tar.gz in the example here with the name of the current live version you just downloaded:

gunzip < apache_1.3.11.tar.gz | tar xvf –

This should create an apache_1.3.11 directory.

3) Move into the new directory you just created and use cd apache_1.3.11.

4) ./configure in the root so that your screen appears as such:

# ./configure
Configuring for Apache, Version 1.3.11
…
Creating Makefile
Creating Configuration.apaci in src
Creating Makefile in src
+ configured for Linux platform
+ setting C compiler to gcc
+ setting C pre-processor to gcc -E
+ checking for system header files
+ adding selected modules
+ checking sizeof various data types
+ doing sanity check on compiler and options
…
Creating Makefile in src/modules/standard

5) make so that your screen looks like this:

# make
===> src
make[1]: Entering directory `src/httpd/apache_1.3.11′
make[2]: Entering directory `src/httpd/apache_1.3.11/src’
===> src/regex
…
[several lines later]
…
gcc  -DLINUX=2 -DUSE_HSREGEX -DUSE_EXPAT -I../lib/expat-lite

make[1]: Leaving directory `src/httpd/apache_1.3.11′
<=== src
#

6) Install your new Apache with # make install and you’re done!

Now you are welcome to start Apache to make sure it’s working if you’d like.

As root, type /usr/local/apache/bin/apachect1 start and your browser at your brand new web server at yourdomain.com. If you see the Apache standard “It worked!” homepage, you are set.

When it comes to dedicated hosting, getting a forum up and running shouldn’t be a hard task at all.  Here are a few alternatives to pick from when trying to decide which forum script might be best for your dedicated account.

Vanilla – Vanilla is an open-source, standards-compliant, multi-lingual, fully extensible discussion forum for the web. Anyone who has web-space that meets the requirements can download and use Vanilla for free!

SMF – This is a a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes. SMF is written in the popular language PHP and uses a MySQL database. It is designed to provide you with all the features you need from a bulletin board while having an absolute minimal impact on the resources of the server.

phpBB – With a large and highly customizable set of key features coupled with a standards compliant interface, phpBB will grow with, and compliment your web site. With millions of installations worldwide, it is no wonder phpBB is one of the most popular ways to create and support a community.

VBulletin – vBulletin is a professional, affordable community forum solution. Thousands of clients, including many industry leading blue chip companies, have chosen vBulletin – It’s the ideal choice for any size of community.

These are only a handful too.  With a dedicated hosting account, you wouldn’t have any need to worry about server resources, disk space and bandwidth.  Try a few of these and see which one works out best for you.

Blog Web Hosting is possibly the fastest growing type of web hosting these days. Because blogging helps with SEO (search engine optimization), builds resources and content, and draws customers and audiences to explore and offer their opinions, link back, and more, corporations are using blogs for their websites as content management systems, even as individuals continue to grow the blogging community with daily unique content about their hobbies and personal lives.

This puts b2evolution web hosting in the forefront of the industry, as b2evolution provides quality open source (free!) blogging software for your website!

b2evolution is actually an advanced blogging tool that is great for beginners and experienced webmasters alike. Similar to WordPress, b2evolution includes all kinds of traditional blogging tool, like posting categories, tags, comments, skins, and content management, but also combines that simplicity with a sophisticated yet easy-to-use interface with features like file and photo management, multiple blogs, and detailed user permissions and groups.

On your dedicated server, you just need to find a reliable dedicated web host and use a LAMP-based configuration (i.e. Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/PERL/Python).

Like Ruby on Rails and Web 2.0, LAMP has become one of the most popular and trendy keywords for software and application development these days. But, do you know what LAMP stands for or what it means as you choose a dedicated web host? LAMP is actually incredibly important to application servers, web servers, and software distribution, so if you are planning to purchase a dedicated server for exactly these purposes, you should definitely research this solution stack.

So what is LAMP?

LAMP stands for the solution stack of free, open source software that produces dynamic websites and allows for web server, application server, and easy software distribution. LAMP is actually an acronym for the open source software that it comprises:

L – Linux: the operating system on which LAMP can be hosted
A – Apache: the actual web server
M – MySQL: the database system used for database management
P – PHP, Perl, and Python: the programming languages that can develop the software

Each of these four technologies can be utilized separately, but together, they provide dedicated web developers the chance to dazzle. More importantly, they are more than likely bundled together anyway, as Linux, PHP, and MySQL are almost 100% of the time found beside each other, and the Apache web server is one of the most popular choices.

There is an extremely low cost associated with LAMP web hosting, as all of the LAMP solutions are completely free. The only real cost is the hosting account itself or dedicated server hosting you purchase.

There are many different dedicated server and web hosting technologies available to use when building and accessing your website. Probably the most popular free tool for database web hosting is MySQL.

So what is MySQL Web Hosting?

MySQL (pronounced My-Ess-Queue-El or My-See-Quel) is an open source or free database software, providing ease and speed to its resource base. MySQL boasts over 100 million downloads of this extremely familiar database software, and for good reason – most web hosting companies these days utilize MySQL for their databases and offer it free to their customers for database management as well.

The popularity of MySQL web hosting really came into light as a new application pack for technology was devised called LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python). This, coupled with the fact that MySQL can be used on Linux as well as Windows and over 20 other platforms, makes MySQL hosting a huge choice for developers and webmasters in the dedicated web hosting and shared hosting fields.