In the Dedicated Hosting environment, you are able to choose your own server operating system, which for some webmasters is a tough decision. If you are familiar with Linux and Windows operating systems, you should already know which one best suits your website’s needs. If you’re new to working with Dedicated Servers, however, you may be interested to know the difference between working in Linux and Windows environments.

It is extremely important to note that you do not have to run Linux on your home computer to run it on your web hosting server. The same goes for Windows – even if you have Windows XP on your home computer, you can use Linux for your Dedicated Server OS.

The biggest differences you’ll notice between a Linux and Windows platform is the cost – where Linux is an Open Source (or free) operating system and can thus be offered by your Dedicated Hosting Provider for free, the many different Windows systems come direct from Microsoft and thus carry a licensing fee for any server that runs them.

Another rather large difference between Linux and Windows is the kind of databases and website scripts they work with. Linux servers tend to work with most capabilities you may be interested in, but if you need ASP, ASP.net, MS Access, Frontpage, Windows Streaming Media support, and/or MS SQL integration, you’ll want to take a look at a Windows Server. As a rule of thumb, anything that has a license through Microsoft will generally need to be on a Windows server, but you’ll want to double check with your web hosting provider as well to see if the applications or programs you want to run will work through Linux as well.

Overall, though the two operating systems are unique and may require further knowledge of programs you need to run, both Linux and Windows Dedicated Server hosting plans do about the same thing and can be used for the same purposes.

Our recommended hosting provider, Lunarpages Dedicated Hosting, is available to give you a custom quote and can help you decide which OS is best for your website

How much do you know about Red Hat as it pertains to dedicated hosting?

Red Hat is one of the largest and most recognized companies in the Open Source community, probably best known for their enterprise-class operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The advanced platform really eliminates the costs and complexity of enterprise-class virtualization, high availability and storage management.  Here is more about the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 server from the developers:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available in two variants for servers. A base Red Hat Enterprise Linux server is designed for small deployments while Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform is designed for mainstream customers and provides the most cost-effective, flexible, and scalable environment. Both versions are based on common core technology. Both include a comprehensive suite of open source server applications and virtualization capabilities.

To learn more about Red Hat as a dedicated hosting OS of choice, be sure to check out this link:

• http://www.redhat.com/rhel/server/

For dedicated hosting needs, Red Hat is one of the best of the best.

How much do you know about Red Hat as it pertains to dedicated hosting?

Red Hat is one of the largest and most recognized companies in the Open Source community, probably best known for their enterprise-class operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The advanced platform really eliminates the costs and complexity of enterprise-class virtualization, high availability and storage management.  Here is more about the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 server from the developers:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available in two variants for servers. A base Red Hat Enterprise Linux server is designed for small deployments while Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform is designed for mainstream customers and provides the most cost-effective, flexible, and scalable environment. Both versions are based on common core technology. Both include a comprehensive suite of open source server applications and virtualization capabilities.

To learn more about Red Hat as a dedicated hosting OS of choice, be sure to check out this link:

• http://www.redhat.com/rhel/server/

For dedicated hosting needs, Red Hat is one of the best of the best.

How much do you know about Red Hat as it pertains to dedicated hosting?

Red Hat is one of the largest and most recognized companies in the Open Source community, probably best known for their enterprise-class operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The advanced platform really eliminates the costs and complexity of enterprise-class virtualization, high availability and storage management.  Here is more about the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 server from the developers:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available in two variants for servers. A base Red Hat Enterprise Linux server is designed for small deployments while Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform is designed for mainstream customers and provides the most cost-effective, flexible, and scalable environment. Both versions are based on common core technology. Both include a comprehensive suite of open source server applications and virtualization capabilities.

To learn more about Red Hat as a dedicated hosting OS of choice, be sure to check out this link:

• http://www.redhat.com/rhel/server/

For dedicated hosting needs, Red Hat is one of the best of the best.

One popular choice when it comes to Linux-based operating systems out there on your dedicated hosting server is CentOS.

What is it?  CentOS is well known for being an enterprise level Linux distribution and this freely provided across the Web.  The entire thing is managed by a network of developers, system administrators, network administrators, and core Linux contributors and enthusiasts from around the globe.

Where can you go for CentOS support?

• CentOS Wiki
• CentOS 5 Forums

CentOS 2, 3, 4 and 5 are built from publicly available open source SRPMS provided by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor. CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policies and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork).

Hope this look into CentOS is helpful!

Remember when you are out looking for a dedicated web host, be sure to check and see if they provide a “quote” option.

Sometimes it is best to request a quote from a dedicated hosting provider, because this way you can be sure you get the hosting you need.  Now with shared hosting, this might not be an option because it is like treating McDonalds like a 5 star dinning establishment. 

It is just a service your not going to get, even if you ask for it. 

However, with dedicated hosting – there is a lot more customization that can be given.  There are often several different ways the RAM and disk space can be configured.  There might be additional management services that you do or do not need.  The possibilities here are endless.

So next time your talking with your dedicated hosting provider (or a soon to be dedicated hosting provider) don’t forget about the dedicated web hosting quote!

In the beginning, UNIX had only one editor, the line editor “ed.” UNIX still has ed, but few people use it. Line-by-line editors really are adequate only for making short, quick corrections to files or programs. A medieval version of UNIX contained a new program called “ex.” The most notable new feature of ex was a display editing facility which allowed a user to work with a full screen of text by giving the command vi . The new display editor proved so popular that AT&T UNIX System V included “vi” as a separate program. Vi is included in most operating systems.

This handout explains the basics of vi: creating files, moving the cursor and entering and editing text. After you have read it and practiced for a short time at your console, you should be able to do basic editing with vi. If you wish to use some of vi’s more complicated resources, we recommend a close study of the man pages.

Read on…

Need help on doing a trace route to your dedicated hosting setup?

Windows Info:

1. Go to Start > Run…
2. Enter cmd and click OK.
3. At the prompt, type tracert yourdomainname and hit enter.
4. Copy and paste the results into your text file.

Note: Some people are often confused by how to copy and paste from the cmd prompt (that black window your looking at). The best way to go about this is to right click on the window (anywhere in the black part) and select “Select All”. Then to copy, hit the Ctrl + C keys on your keyboard. Then you can right click with your mouse, and select paste to paste it into your text file you are saving this information to.

Mac Info:

1. Double-click the Hard Drive icon > Applications folder > Utilities folder > Network Utility program.
2. Select the trace route tab and enter the hostname, where hostname can be a domain name, a machine name or an IP address.
3. Press Enter then copy and paste the results into your text file.

Now you should have no issues troubleshooting the connection between yourself and the server in question.

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.

What is a Rootkit?

Rootkits are programs designed to access your dedicated server systems to intrude on and compromise your server. These rootkits are often designed as Trojans so that you do not suspect but can open a backdoor to your dedicated server so that they can attach and upload suspicious programs and applications to degrade your performance or bring down your website.

What is Rootkit Detection?

Rootkit detection can be handled in two ways:

1. Via Managed Hosting from your dedicated web hosting provider.
2. Via rootkit detection programs, which are a way you can self-manage your web server.

How do rootkit detection programs work?

Rootkit detection software is designed to detect rootkits and distinguish them from normal hidden files that are not suspicious and concealed for a purpose either by you as a webmaster or by the operating system by default. Most often, rootkit detection programs compare various views of your server system to find mismatches. When there is a mismatch, it usually points to something suspicious and the rootkit check will alert you to suspicious software, programs, Trojans, spyware, or malware on your machine.

Originally, rootkit checks would perform a check on the entire dedicated server system to view all files while inside the OS and then boot the Recovery Console to see that file list for comparison. In the second list, the rootkit program will search for files that do not show up in the first list. These hidden files are often rootkit culprits!

Do they work?

As with all software programs, it depends. Rootkit management programs are not meant to be used as a standalone system for customers new to dedicated server hosting. If you fall into that category, you are still better off purchasing Managed Hosting from your dedicated service provider, as they are professionals who will know the difference between default hidden files and corrupted malware.

Also, take note that rootkit programs are sold or downloaded AS IS, so there is never any guarantee of their success.