VPS Advice Please

[azgold]

Hi, TJ:

In another thread, you said that we should have a VPS for our landing pages. I've done a bunch of reading and YouTube watching on the subject but still have absolutely no idea...

How to tell a good VPS from a bad one?
From what I gather, you need to know technical stuff to use a VPS? If that's true, how do us (mostly) non-techies take advantage of it?
Are there any type of no-nos or restrictions when using this type of service?
Should you make sure that the company is located in North America?
Do VPS accounts offer a cpanel and auto installation of Wordpress or similar?

I guess I'm asking you to take us inside a VPS account and share your knowledge and experience, offer advice.

Please make it VPS for dummies so I can understand what you're saying.

Thanks!
Shirley

 

[Klayne]

Hi, Azgold

I'm not TJ, but you should take at BeyondHost,

I did host my tracker and Landing page there, and they did install everything for me, it's not the cheapest one, but they are really good and the support is amazing.

Here is the website : Beyond Hosting | Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated Servers, DNS, CDN and More! ( non affiliate )

Klayne

 

[osmiumman]

Yes, Beyondhosting has cPanel and it's great if you want ot use the tracking software CPV Lab on that account, too. As they offer cPanel, it's basically the same to handle it as if you had a Bluehost account.

 

[EymardSiojo]

Actually, this stuff is new to me when it comes to tracking with vps.

In my case, I will go with this -> http://www.affiliatefix.com/f75/voluum-6312/
So, that i will not bother setting it up myself.

 

[azgold]

Hi, Azgold

I'm not TJ, but you should take at BeyondHost,

I did host my tracker and Landing page there, and they did install everything for me, it's not the cheapest one, but they are really good and the support is amazing.

Here is the website : Beyond Hosting | Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated Servers, DNS, CDN and More! ( non affiliate )

Klayne

Thx, Klayne!

You say they installed everything for you? Perfect, exactly what I need. I'm going to check them out first.

 

[azgold]

Actually, this stuff is new to me when it comes to tracking with vps.

In my case, I will go with this -> http://www.affiliatefix.com/f75/voluum-6312/
So, that i will not bother setting it up myself.

Are you saying that you will get the VPS to install Voluum for you? Sorry, Eymard....you know I'm techie-challenged.

 

[affburner]

A VPS is often just a clean install of a (server) operating system (Windows, Linux etc) of your choice which will have to be managed by you. If you're not able to properly manage such a server, you might run in to problems (getting hacked for example). You might want to go for a managed VPS instead. If you search for managed VPS in combination with for example cPanel and wordpress, you might be able to find a suitable offer.

 

[chiruraaj]

Are you saying that you will get the VPS to install Voluum for you? Sorry, Eymard....you know I'm techie-challenged.

Hi Azgold,

He means that you will not need to install Voluum on your vps as it is hosted on their own server. You can login to voluum.com using your credentials and manage your camapgins. Means you will not need to install it on your vps like cpvlab or prosper 202.

 

[azgold]

A VPS is often just a clean install of a (server) operating system (Windows, Linux etc) of your choice which will have to be managed by you. If you're not able to properly manage such a server, you might run in to problems (getting hacked for example). You might want to go for a managed VPS instead. If you search for managed VPS in combination with for example cPanel and wordpress, you might be able to find a suitable offer.

Thank-you! I didn't even know there was such a thing as managed and unmanaged. And you're right, it would be best if I went with managed.

 

[azgold]

Hi Azgold,

He means that you will not need to install Voluum on your vps as it is hosted on their own server. You can login to voluum.com using your credentials and manage your camapgins. Means you will not need to install it on your vps like cpvlab or prosper 202.

Ohhhhh! Thanks, Chiruraaj!

That actually sounds pretty awesome because having as much installed for me as possible is the best scenario for my (lack of) skill level.

Even more to learn about VPS than I thought.

 

[T J Tutor]

Hi azgold,
Sorry I missed this thread until now. Looks like you have received a load of good VPS advice. I will add some of my thoughts.

First, if you are budget minded, the least expensive I have found for what I consider the least you should have by way of sytem requirements is the Bluehost Plan for $29.95 a month. Here is what you get:
Standard Plan
$14.99 first month and renews at $29.99 per month
1 CPU core
2GB Dedicated RAM
30GB SAN Storage
1TB bandwidth
1 Dedicated IP
Cpanel
WHM
free domain
24/7 support
money-back guarantee

Beyond hosting is also very good. There are many out there that are very good. Here is what you get with
Beyond Hostings Starter Package:
$49.94 per month
1 CPU Core
512 MB Dedicated RAM
50GB SSD SAN Storage
500GB Outbound and Unlimited Inbound Bandwidth
CPanel
WHM
24/7 support

There are so many VPS packages out there it would be impossible to list them all here.

While Beyond does install prosper202 for free, setting up prosper is an exceptionally easy task and should not ever determine your choice. Personally, I think learning to set up scripts on your VPS or Dedicated servers is an imperative that you should not pass on. As you progress in your online career, I believe it very important to learn the use of all of the tools made available to you that will be implemented for your tasks. It's my belief that you cannot effectively ask others to do for you what you do not have at least a rudimentary understanding. For example, it's important to learn CLAM (et al), which can find in your WHM on your VPS, for controlling virus protection. You need to learn to re-boot your server at various times (not difficult or dangerous, just a few clicks). You should learn how to implement and use the various performance options in the WHM. All very easy stuff and the teams at any of the hosting sites will, on average, take the time to help you learn and implement them. Once you have a rudimentary understanding of these and other elements, you then can manage the tasks you allow others to do for you.

You are jumping from Shared, to VPS, and then you will jump to Dedicated Server((s). Take the time to learn along the way, otherwise, you may find you are lost in a sea of decisions you can not make until you go back and get "a set of brains" on the material so you can make a sound decision.

I suggest not getting into managed servers until you get experience doing it yourself. You need to be able to direct the individuals that manage the server. It isn't difficult at all. Learning to use the tools for managing your VPS is less difficult than learning Microsoft Word. Just be sure to discuss your options in CPanel and WHM with the support team supplied with your new VPS.

Get it going "girl", you will get it done. Jump on board with a new VPS!

 

[azgold]

Whew, thanks, TJ!

Kinda scarey. First thing I'm going to do is go look up what CLAM, WHM and SAN storage is. Then do some more reading about the two plans you mentioned. After that...gulp...take the plunge.

Am I correct in thinking that I can do anything I want with a VPS service? I mean, could I use it strictly for hosting landing pages, for example?

By the way, does this mean that I don't really need my 3 year Hostgator account? I can do everything from one VPS account?

 

[affburner]

Be aware that on managed vps it's sometimes not possible to install all software. If you have a vps intended as a webserver (for example with cPanel) running (multiple) php based sites like WordPress installations or other web applications should not be a problem. But you won't always get administrator rights (root, in Linux) so software installations which require administrative permission may not be possible. So it depends on the software you want to use. It's wise to contact the potential hosting company regarding this if you want more than just a WordPress installation or php web application.

You probably won't need additional hosting accounts any more. You should be able to install multiple websites on one vps. How many depends on the amount of visitors you get and such. It might be handy to choose a vps where you can easily add more memory, cpu and optionally storage to the server without the need for a re-install and than start small and extend when needed.

 

[T J Tutor]

Kinda scarey.

Okay kiddo, please do yourself a favor and replace this posture with something positive like, "This is exciting, I can't wait to get started!" You will simply be in learning mode and there is NOTHING scary about learning new things when you are doing stuff you like or love. I think the exhilaration you feel is not freight, it's simply starting to turn what is unknown into the known and that (IMHO) is always exciting. Scary stuff is only that which may or may not be known that has the potential to harm you and there is nothing in any of this that can bring you harm. Also, don't clump together the fear of mistakes making things scary. We all make mistakes at every level and you must plan for mistakes, be very accepting of mistakes, and know 100% that mistakes are in fact data that you learn from.

First thing I'm going to do is go look up what CLAM, WHM and SAN storage is.

1. CLAM
ClamAV Scanner
Clam AntiVirus / ClamAV Scanner is an antivirus software toolkit that is standard on new cPanel & WHM installations.

2. WHM
WHM (Web Host Manager) is an additional interface you have available to manage the structure, maintnenance, and characteristices of your server. So, for example, when you have a shared server you do not have direct control over certain aspects of your email like POP and IMAP features, or using CLAM, or re-synchronizing your services and/or your server itself with those services. Simply put, it is your servers management area with many options for addressing and managing the needs you and your server may have. It's not an area that you will likely spend a great deal of time, but you will learn over time that this feature (once learned) will eliminate the need to call support on many issues that may arise.

3. SANS Storage
SANS (Storage Area Network) is a very broad term for managing large amounts of data. This can be anything from the Raid System that is installed on your VPS to full delivery and recovery with backup systems in large corporate environments allowing for backups being stored on remote mega computers like the military CRAY Systems (remember the WOPR in the original War Games or the system that Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley sat on in Sneakers!).

Am I correct in thinking that I can do anything I want with a VPS service? I mean, could I use it strictly for hosting landing pages, for example?

You can have as many domains added on to your VPS as you like. Just remember to monitor traffic and performance. The more traffic you drive to your server, the greater the performance requirements. You will grow your servers capacities as you grown your business and your traffic volume, otherwise known as upgrading things like the number of core CPU's, amount of RAM, etc. This will lead you, eventually, to your very own dedicated server and these have much the same growth upgrades as you will find on your VPS.

By the way, does this mean that I don't really need my 3 year Hostgator account? I can do everything from one VPS account?

I can't think of any reason for having both shared accounts and VPS accounts from what I have learned about where you are at with all of this.

 

[affburner]

3. SANS Storage
SANS (Storage Area Network) is a very broad term for managing large amounts of data.

It usually means that your data is is stored on a separate storage server, connected over the network (hence the name) to the server where your VPS runs. SSD means that the storage server uses fast Solid State Drives, which means reading and writing data will likely be faster compared with normal hard drives.

By the way, I wouldn't go for an unmanaged Linux server unless you're also willing to learn to do stuff on the command line. I personally don't have experience with WHM, but I think it's likely that at some point something will happen to the server which can't be fixed using WHM. But that's my opinion (as a Linux sysadmin besides being a PHP developer). It just depends on how much you're willing to learn and how much time you're willing and able to invest.

 

[T J Tutor]

By the way, I wouldn't go for an unmanaged Linux server unless you're also willing to learn to do stuff on the command line. I personally don't have experience with WHM, but I think it's likely that at some point something will happen to the server which can't be fixed using WHM.

If you don't have experience with WHM, how can you suggest one must deal with command line instructions? WHM is primarily point and click for any of the features that marketers will use. As well, as I stated before, there are an abundance of feature rich discoveries for anyone that wants to learn to use the WHM. Remember that it is only an available feature and not a requirement to learn. As well, remember that the support staffs are always ready and willing to help you learn to use your WHM successfully at every turn. Below is a snapshot of a WHM Dashboard.

In addition, the Bluehost Starter Package I recommended is a managed solution:
"Simply select any VPS plan and dynamically increase server resources over time. All fully managed by our engineers so you can focus on what matters."
Managed or un-managed, all hosts recommend learning the basics of the feature rich environment and options in the WHM.

 

[azgold]

Be aware that on managed vps it's sometimes not possible to install all software. If you have a vps intended as a webserver (for example with cPanel) running (multiple) php based sites like WordPress installations or other web applications should not be a problem. But you won't always get administrator rights (root, in Linux) so software installations which require administrative permission may not be possible. So it depends on the software you want to use. It's wise to contact the potential hosting company regarding this if you want more than just a WordPress installation or php web application.

You probably won't need additional hosting accounts any more. You should be able to install multiple websites on one vps. How many depends on the amount of visitors you get and such. It might be handy to choose a vps where you can easily add more memory, cpu and optionally storage to the server without the need for a re-install and than start small and extend when needed.

Thx, Affburner! I'm sure I won't need much initially, especially while I'm still learning but I like the idea that I could add to it down the road, if I need to.

Re installations, I'm really just wanting a place for my landing pages at this point, so hopefully, I can do that without requiring admin privileges.

 

[azgold]

TJ, this is exciting, I can't wait to get started!

3. SANS Storage
SANS (Storage Area Network) is a very broad term for managing large amounts of data. This can be anything from the Raid System that is installed on your VPS to full delivery and recovery with backup systems in large corporate environments allowing for backups being stored on remote mega computers like the military CRAY Systems (remember the WOPR in the original War Games or the system that Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley sat on in Sneakers!).

I do remember the War Games movie! Also, I learned to keypunch cards for the great big computer in the glassed-in room in high school. Guess that's telling my age.

You can have as many domains added on to your VPS as you like. Just remember to monitor traffic and performance. The more traffic you drive to your server, the greater the performance requirements. You will grow your servers capacities as you grown your business and your traffic volume, otherwise known as upgrading things like the number of core CPU's, amount of RAM, etc. This will lead you, eventually, to your very own dedicated server and these have much the same growth upgrades as you will find on your VPS.

I can't think of any reason for having both shared accounts and VPS accounts from what I have learned about where you are at with all of this.

Should I learn more about proper tracking before I get into all of this? Re having two accounts, I'm now wishing that I hadn't purchased the 3 year deal from Hostgator. Oh well, I'll use it for niche sites or something.

Thank-you for your help and support, TJ. You are awesome!

 

[azgold]

It usually means that your data is is stored on a separate storage server, connected over the network (hence the name) to the server where your VPS runs. SSD means that the storage server uses fast Solid State Drives, which means reading and writing data will likely be faster compared with normal hard drives.

By the way, I wouldn't go for an unmanaged Linux server unless you're also willing to learn to do stuff on the command line. I personally don't have experience with WHM, but I think it's likely that at some point something will happen to the server which can't be fixed using WHM. But that's my opinion (as a Linux sysadmin besides being a PHP developer). It just depends on how much you're willing to learn and how much time you're willing and able to invest.

Thx, again! I like the idea of everything working faster. Hopefully, that applies to page load time, too.

I have no idea about Linux. I mean anything at all, so I guess I should avoid that.

Re the command prompt, that's how I learned to write code in dBase+ and Basic.....a looooooooooong time ago. The command prompt doesn't scare me, I just don't know any modern programming language.

 

[azgold]

If you don't have experience with WHM, how can you suggest one must deal with command line instructions? WHM is primarily point and click for any of the features that marketers will use. As well, as I stated before, there are an abundance of feature rich discoveries for anyone that wants to learn to use the WHM. Remember that it is only an available feature and not a requirement to learn. As well, remember that the support staffs are always ready and willing to help you learn to use your WHM successfully at every turn. Below is a snapshot of a WHM Dashboard.

In addition, the Bluehost Starter Package I recommended is a managed solution:
"Simply select any VPS plan and dynamically increase server resources over time. All fully managed by our engineers so you can focus on what matters."
Managed or un-managed, all hosts recommend learning the basics of the feature rich environment and options in the WHM.

I love point and click! I don't know what most of those menu items are for but I love point and click!

Just please tell me that if I mess up, I won't irreversibly break it or something. Tell me they do backups.

By the way, you mentioned "Raid system" in your previous post. If that's pertinent, would you be kind enough to give me a synopsis? If it's not, I don't need to know. The extra info will only turn my brain to mush.