Archive for linux web hosting

Benefits of Using Secure SHell SSH on Server

SSH also known as Secure SHell is a network protocol which permits you to exchange data using a very secure channel between two different networked devices. SSH is one of the secure method for accessing the remote systems. Using the SSH, a user can log into the Linux shell command prompt and can easily execute commands. It gives much similar feel like you are sitting right in front of your linux server and typing commands at the console.

A few years ago, users used to use the Telnet in order to access the servers. However, since telnet is not much secure, and the Internet started becoming open to worldwide audience, servers connected to internet required a more secure way to access the shell.

SSH offers encryption for data transfer that restricts hackers and attackers from hacking your server password and user information. Another benefit of using SSH is that it allows you to tunnel other network protocols. As an example, if you wish to transfer any files securely, you can utilize the SSH in order to encrypt the FTP transfers. This can be done with any type of connection, like VNC or Samba both are good for such tasks.

Using Secure SHell, the user are able to handle their dedicated server remotely, also they can monitor the server logs, install / uninstall software and applications, they can even start or stop services, etc… SSH is able to recognize normal Unix shell commands, which you can use to login as “root” in your server to manage your server with full rights.

Since, SSH is introduced to Linux users, it has become the best and secure method to manage the dedicated server environment. It is more effective and useful to perform various tasks which cannot be done with a web-based control panel. Therefore, SSH is the best network protocol for managing your dedicated server.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Customized Kernel

Linux OS Kernel

You may have come across some system administrators saying that their web servers delivers high performance than others. The only reason behind this is that they have taken efforts in building their own kernel from source.

They might be using a Linux distribution that allows customized kernels. Probably, if you are having a dedicated server, running an operating system that utilizes a pre-rolled binary of the kernel, however, even those can also provide you the ability to customize your own kernel.

Advantages of Customizing Your Own Kernel:

  • Whenever a program is customized for a specific architecture, usually the level of performance increases and becomes more stable version. Generic binaries need to function on various processors, which makes it inferior to your system.
  • Another advantage is that you are able to eliminate the unnecessary modules and components from it. Removing excess modules and components will reduce the size of the compiled kernel and helps it to boot quickly.
  • Building your own kernel allows you to add various features and optimize it for better performance.

Disadvantages of Customizing Your Own Kernel:

  • When you build your own kernel, you need to maintain the updates, security patches.
  • Its better to know how to customize the kernel, if you do things wrong, it could lead in stopping of the server.
  • Possibly, customizing a kernel is very time consuming and can take a lot of time. Building a kernel requires good technical skills and knowledge as well as it consumes a lot of CPU power.

Consider the above discussed advantages and disadvantages and decide which kernel to choose for your dedicated server, pre-compiled or a customized one. People using the customized kernels are satisfied with it and people using the ready kernels are pleased as well. Now, its up to you, which kernel is best for your server that will offer optimum performance.

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Considerations Before Upgrading Kernel on Linux Server

Unlike other operating systems, kernel on Linux operating systems are slightly different. Kernel has a control on the functionality of drivers and hardware, whereas the applications and services are independent. It simply means that you can upgrade other part of your machine, without changing the exising kernel.

Probably, most of the system administrators would never like to change the existing kernel on their dedicated server, even they wants to upgrade other applications and services. Keeping the same kernel guarantees stability and continuous service to your clients and users. However, when an update of a security patch of your Linux distribution is unveiled it is recommended to upgrade your kernel as soon as possible or it may create a security hole for hackers and attackers.

Most of the Linux distributions allows the latest kernel version to be installed next to the old. This is beneficial, if your new kernel is not working fine, you can boot into the old kernel easily. Ensuring the correct kernel will help you to get rid of troubles. You must match your existing kernel type with the upgrade and then proceed.

Whenever a kernel is updated, a server reboot is necessary for things to take effect. Rebooting the Linux server in day time, when the traffic is higher, may have adverse effect on your traffic stats as well as running softwares. In this case, it is advisable to reboot your dedicated server only in the low usage times (ie. when the traffic is low on your website).

Lastly, you need to understand that, any customized kernel modules, especially those which are required for virtualization, will need to customization after the upgrade is done. However, some of the applications has the ability to compile the modules automatically to match with the new updated kernel.

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Server-Side Scripting – Pros and Cons

Server-side scripting is a web server technology, a way of programming for the websites that depends on the software functioning on the web server to run commands instead of the user’s browser or the plugins installed. This way, the page resulting or the web applications looks as a simple generated HTML web page at the loading time.  There are various pros and cons of server-side scripting. Some of them are…

Pros of Server-Side Scripting:

  • Server-side scripting decreases the load on the users machine, since it doesn’t need to have any plugins or browser supported scripting technologies like JavaScript.
  • Server-side scripting can be used to dynamically create pages on the fly. Using this technology, new pages can be created instantly.
  • Various applications and CMS can be built using the server-side scripting, which is useful in maintaining websites without requiring to edit code.

Cons of Server-Side Scripting:

  • It needs the scripting software to be installed on the dedicated server.
  • Most of the scripts and content management systems need databases in order to store the dynamic data.
  • The dynamic scripts makes new security concerns, and creates a way for hackers to get access to web servers deeding code flaws.

Majority of websites uses some kind of dynamic contents, and is managed using the server-side scripting. The most common scripting languages offered by most of the uk web hosting companies are Perl, PHP, ASP.NET, Java Server Pages, Ruby, and Python.

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Installing Software on a Linux Hosting Server

There are various factors that needs to be considered while installing any software over a Linux web hosting UK server. Factors such as :

  • The type of Linux distribution you intend to use
  • An availability of package of a particular software you intend to install
  • The source of the software.

The software installation is rather simplified with the package management systems used by Linux distributions. Few of the distributions have online repositories which enables users to install binary packages in a faster and simpler way, it also enables it to automatically compile the packages from source. If you are using a Red Hat based distribution, then it makes use of RPM packages wherein the package management tool is known as YUM. Whereas if you have a Debian based distribution on your server, then it would be using DEB packages and the package management tool is known as APT. Whereas Gentoo makes use of the system known as Portage for compiling packages from source.

You can rely on the packages available with the distribution’s online repository, as they are more expected to be in an appropriate format. Whereas if you have any software that has been taken from a third party, there may be multiple ways you might receive them.

  1. The packages might be available with your Linux distribution’s file format via a third-party repository or for download.
  2. That software might offer an an installer which would automatically put the binaries on your system.
  3. It might be available in a source code form only, in this case you are required to compile it from source.

For compiling it from source, you are required to run a few commands:

./configure
make
make install

Though there may be difference in the method of compilation depending on the software may try to install. It may be useful to check a text file labeled INSTALL for instructions in particular. It is most likely that you would require to install dependencies, that your package manager would usually handle it on its own. Upon installation of the software, despite of the method used, the software should function the same as it would have if installed by any other means.

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