Optimizing Performance of your Virtual Private Server

VPS are the latest range of hosting products that have taken the market by storm, since they are a cheaper alternative to Dedicated Servers because of their ability to provide you with a dedicated environment such as that provided by a dedicated servers but at a fraction of the price; this means that they are a fill in for the large price gap that sites between regular shared and reseller hosting packages and dedicated servers. VPS are able to run any type of software as long as its compatible with the specifications of the VPS, since you are installing the software within your own dedicated environment which means that any actions which you carry out on your VPS Hosting are unable to affect the other VPS which are hosted on the same node as you; this means that you are able to use your VPS Hosting service for a variety of purposes, just as long as the programs which you want to use are unable to conflict with each other since this would mean that your VPS would crash easily and neither of the conflicting programs would be unable to function correctly within your VPS Hosting.

When you are first provided with your VPS, you might find that there are already certain applications installed on it which you might want to remove since they might not serve any purpose to you because they are not the right programs for you; by removing these programs you are also ensuring that you don’t have unneeded programs on your VPS server which are taking up disk space and memory which might be better used by another program that you already have installed on your VPS or by one which you are wanting to install on your VPS so that you can use it for what you want. An important thing to consider is that with the more programs that you install on your VPS hosting, the slower that it is likely to become, meaning that you should always consider carefully the programs that you want to install on your VPS hosting since you don’t want to install programs that you don’t need since they will be taking up needed disk space and memory, as well as CPU if they are to be running as well; this means that if you do want to use your VPS for multiple purposes, then you should consider buying multiple VPS hosting plans for your needs since it means that you will be able to run all your services plus more if you have multiple VPS hosting plans that you are able to use.

You should always optimize your VPS hosting as well as the programs that you have installed on it to ensure that you are able to achieve the best possible performance from it, since if your VPS is slow and in some cases unusable then you should consider finding another web host or ask to be moved to a different node since you don’t want to be paying for a slow VPS hosting service; you will be able to notice a performance increase in both terms of the programs that you have installed on your VPS as well as in the VPS itself - you might even be able to install another couple of programs if you are able to get your VPS to function with speed with the existing programs that you have installed on your VPS Hosting.

It is also important that you check the performance of your VPS at regular intervals - especially the amount of disk space and RAM which you have free, as well as the average CPU utilization if your VPS; these three factors are the main ones which should always be checked since they are the three different main resources that programs utilize when they are running - they use CPU to carry out their main operations, RAM to temporarily store program related data and disk space to place their main files to ensure that they can run without any problems. If you find that either of the main resources are being utilized too much then you should consider uninstalling the offending program or even upgrading your VPS hosting package to the next higher one that is provided by your web hosting company; although upgrading your VPS will mean more money, the benefits to you in the long term will be far better than the negatives which could affect you if you don’t upgrade, and uninstalling the offending program might prove to be inconvenient for you since it might be one of the main programs that you use on your VPS.

Apache/HTTPD

Apache is the world’s most popular web server, and has a large market share of over 50% - it is also referred to sometimes as ‘HTTPD’ since this is the name of its host process when run on a Linux distribution; Apache is known to be a large resource hogger since there are many modifications and add-ons which you can use to expand its use and capabilities, although these can in some cases add to the low performance of Apache on a VPS when someone using it has not optimized it correctly to reduce its resource usage. If you are planning to use Apache on a system in conjunction with other programs, especially other resource hoggers such as MySQL, it is important that you optimize Apache to ensure that it uses as little resources as possible since it could end up affecting the overall performance of your VPS server, and in some cases might even lead to your VPS server crashing; a crashing VPS is the last thing you ant since it will affect your overall uptime, and if you are using your VPS to host other people’s website whether they be friends or clients, they will start to get annoyed if their website is online and offline at intermittent times since it means that people accessing their websites when they are down will not be able to do so.

The first factor for Apache that you should consider when optimizing it to run better on your VPS is whether you want to load certain modules dynamically or to make them static; this factor is an important one to consider since if you dynamically load modules, then you will be able to cut down the amount of memory which is used by Apache, since modules will only be loaded when they are needed, since if you were to make modules static then they will be running all the time along with Apache meaning that the amount of memory used will be more constant but is more likely to be higher than if you were to make modules load dynamically when they were needed. If you have multiple modules attached to your Apache install, then you should consider optimizing the configuration files of these modules to ensure that they are able to run efficiently just as Apache will be able to once you have made the necessary changes to its configuration files as well as other files that it is based on to ensure that it uses less of your VPS’s resources; by modifying and optimizing the configuration files of modules that you have installed for use with Apache, you are able to ensure that the modules concerned will be using up less resources than they would have been if they were not optimized to operate in a more controlled and less resource intensive way.

You can modify modules all you want to ensure that you reduce the amount of resources which are used by them, however, you should always optimize your actual Apache install since this is where the largest amount of resources can be saved then you get around to finishing your VPS optimization work; the most basic way to improve Apache’s performance to ensure that it isn’t using so much of your system’s resources is to clean up the main configuration file by simply removing a few commented lines which can benefit you hugely since it means that several hundred unneeded directives will no longer be used whilst Apache is running which in turn allows both your VPS server and Apache to run faster - after that you can then move on to uninstalling certain elements and other parts of Apache that do not benefit you in any way since they may not be used and might be taking up needed resources.

One final method that you can use to reduce Apache’s resource usage within your VPS server is to disable certain parts of it which you might not want to use at this point in time, but might come in useful at a point in the future; if you find that there are certain components within Apache that you don’t need and feel that they might be using up a certain amount of your VPS’s resources, then you should consider removing them - it is suggested that you disable Apache logs since they are a time consuming Apache process and when they are being written, Apache tends to use up quite a bit of memory which is the reason why you should disable them unless you absolutely need them.

MySQL

MySQL is arguably the world’s most popular open source database system, for the main reason that it can be easily integrated with PHP based websites and applications to ensure maximum use of it; it is also commonly used in conjunction with the resource hogging Apache web server, which means that with MySQL and Apache running at their best on a lower specification VPS Hosting plan, you will find that you will be running into problems whether it be either of them crashing or your entire VPS crashing since your resources are just being exhausted by both programs.

If you are using a website which is based on a MySQL database, then you should certainly consider optimizing MySQL since you want your web pages to load as fast as possible, and if MySQL itself isn’t functioning all that fast then you shouldn’t expect your web pages to be loading quickly either; this is because if your website is waiting for access to a MySQL database, then your website will load at the speed which is dictated by how fast MySQL is running - for example if MySQL is running and processing queries slowly then your website will load slowly since it isn’t able to gather the necessary information from the database which is trying to be accessed, and if your website fails to access the database at all then you might find that your website’s visitors are being presented with error messages from the web server that you are using.

One of the main things you can do to ensure that MySQL is able to run fast and effectively within your VPS is to ensure that MySQL has its dynamic durability settings enabled - this will mean setting a certain value for the ‘innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit‘ option which is located within the MySQL configuration file; there are 3 main values which you are able to change this option to, these are: 0 - with this value, Innodb will flush the log approximately once per second, 1 - this should be chosen if you have high durability requirements since log records will be automatically pushed to the disk on transaction commit, 2 - this will ensure that data is flushed to the operating system cache. If you have not installed MySQL yet, then there are certain options which you should consider changing once you have installed it within your VPS Hosting environment. The first option which you should consider changing is ‘key_buffer size‘; this option can end up taking up as much as 30-40% of the memory which you have available on your VPS, although this is only really applicable if you have chosen to use MyISAM tables within your MySQL database server setup to serve your website. Another option which you should consider changing is ‘innodb_buffer_pool_size‘; this option is only applicable to you if your tables are using the Innodb framework since they are much more sensitive to the buffer pool size than MyISAM tables are.

Conclusion

In conclusion, with the optimization of both the Apache web server and the MySQL database server which you will most likely have installed on your VPS server, you can easily reduce the amount of resources used on your VPS meaning that your websites will be able to load fast, and that you have the space to install more programs to expand the uses of your VPS if you feel the need to; by having a faster VPS, you are also able to ensure that your VPS will be up more than it would be if more resources were being used and you weren’t able to cut down on its resource usage.

It is apparent that with optimized Apache performance that there are probably components and modules which you have attached to your Apache installation which aren’t necessarily needed and might be using up resources which you could otherwise be using for other programs which you have installed on your VPS server; this means that you should always check and optimize the different parts of your Apache installation to ensure that there aren’t any components or modules installed and running which you don’t necessarily need on your VPS server.

Another improvement which has been discussed is how your databases will be able to be accessed quicker since MySQL will be optimized to run faster but at the same time use less resources which means that both you and your server will benefit. It has also been shown that with optimized Apache and MySQL installations, you are able to cut down the amount of time that it takes for your website to load for your visitors at their computers, meaning that you might even want to consider making your web pages more graphic heavy for example if you want to take advantage of the faster loading times; however, a faster loading CMS based website will only be achieved with optimization of both applications, whereas a static website will only need an optimized Apache installation since static pages don’t need to and are unable to access any sort of database application, even if it is installed on the same machine as the static page is being hosted on.

VPS and dedicated server hosting are two types of dedicated hosting; VPS is also a partially a type of shared web hosting since the CPU on the node is shared amongst all the VPS on the server unequally in some cases. Due to the technical nature of VPS servers and dedicated servers, there are many different terms which you will come across when searching for either a VPS or dedicated server package. Before purchasing either, it is important that you know the meanings of these terms since they could end up effecting your final decision when you come to purchase either; if you don’t know the meanings of these complicated terms whilst looking for or when you have purchased either a VPS or a dedicated server, you could end up with something that you don’t want because it isn’t what you need since they might not actually fit your requirements. One thing to note is that some web hosts don’t offer a money back guarantee on dedicated servers due to the costs of setting them up; this could mean that if you have ended up with a dedicated server that doesn’t fit your requirements because you didn’t know the meanings of some technical terms originally, you will not be able to get your money back. However, the story is different with VPS since many hosts do offer a money back guarantee on VPS servers since they are a type of shared hosting as well as dedicated hosting meaning that there are no costs involved in setting them up; this means that if you do not know the meanings of some VPS and dedicated server< related technical terms to begin with, you can start with a VPS because if you find out about something that you don't understand or receive something that turns out not to fit your requirements, you are able to get your money back.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is something referred to as traffic, and is the amount of data that can be transferred between your website and the client computers which visit it. Bandwidth is normally measured in gigbytes (GB), but used to be measured in megabytes (MB) before the internet became the busy traffic exchange that it is now. In dedicated server terms, bandwidth also refers to the data transfer rate (normally both up and down) that the server will receive; in most cases dedicated servers are connected to 1GB/ps internal networks and then fed through to the internet via 100mb/ps uplinks - the same can also be applied to virtual private servers, but the NIC (network interface card) on the host node is shared between all VPS which are hosted by the machine. When looking for a VPS, you should always consider the amount of bandwidth that you will receive on the package concerned since this will effect how many visitors your website can recieve; if you are a web host or a reseller then the amount of bandwidth assigned to you could effect how many clients that you are able to host on your VPS.

Disk Space

Disk space is the amount of space that you are able to use to host your files, or clients. Disk space is a valuable resource, and since the amount of disk space the host node has is ‘limited’, you are in most cases unable to purchase extra disk space, and your only choice if you do want more disk space is to upgrade to the next VPS hosting plan that your web host offers. The amount of disk space that you have can dictate how much you are able to host; for example, if you had an account with 200MB (megabytes) of disk space then you will not be able to host many images or videos for your website, one another thing to note is that emails take up a certain amount of disk space, thus reducing the amount that you are able to use.

RAM

RAM stands for ‘Random Access Memory’ and is the amount of usable memory which is assigned to your VPS. RAM for VPS comes in two different forms: guaranteed RAM and burstable RAM. Guaranteed RAM is the amount of RAM which has been uniquely assigned to your VPS, and will always be available for your VPS to use - in other words this is the amount of RAM which you ‘own’ and cannot be touched by other VPS that are hosted on the same node as you; burstable RAM (sometimes referred to as swap RAM) is left over RAM on the physical node which can be accessed by any VPS which may have run out of guaranteed RAM and just needs a bit more so that it can get it’s activities back on track - this type of RAM is shared amongst all the VPS on the host node meaning that it might not always be available for your VPS to use. The amount of guaranteed RAM that you have assigned to your VPS is crucial for your the performance of it; this is because if you don’t have enough RAM then certain programs might not be able to run at all, and if your VPS runs out of free RAM at a certain point and there isn’t any burstable RAM available, then your VPS might just crash or be shutdown by the VPS daemon software.

Root Access / Remote Desktop Access

Root access is the name given to the ability of being able to access a Linux VPS over SSH using the root account; Remote Desktop access is its Windows counterpart. This is one important feature of VPS hosting over other types of hosting which fall below it; for example with root / administrator access to your VPS you are able to administer any part of it you want since you are able to access any part of it, the most crucial point though is that you are able to install any program you want since the actions of the program will not have any effect on the other VPS that are hosted on the same node as you. With the ability to install any program that you want, you are open to a whole load of idea on what you could use your VPS for; if your VPS is powerful enough then you might want to run several different programs or services off it to make the most of it, or even sell hosting on it so that you can make a return on your investment within a VPS.

Virtuozzo / OpenVZ

Virtuozzo is the software produced by SWSoft to enable web hosts to host VPS servers in physical nodes; the program is available for both Linux and Windows. Virtuozzo adds a virtualisation layer to the main node to ensure that the VPS which will come to be hosted on it do not interfere with each other in any way. OpenVZ is an open source alternative to Virtuozzo for Linux; it has most of the features that Virtuozzo has, but does not have the Virtuozzo Power Panel which is used by customers to manage the basic needs of their VPS. There are however other panels which can be used alongside OpenVZ to enable customers to manage the basic needs of their VPS, an example of which being HyperVM which is made by LXLabs.

Private Name Servers

Private name servers are name servers that can be created under the branding of a domain of your choice. For example, with private name servers you are able to have ‘ns1.yourdomain.com’ and ‘ns2.yourdomain.com’, both of which should point to separate IPs - most VPS come with at least two individual IP addresses anyway. If you are a web host or website designer, then using private name servers is a big ‘must’ since it can help improve your corporate identity, as well as extend it. Private name servers are only achievable on VPS hosting and dedicated servers due to the nature of IP address assigning; however, in some cases it is achievable on reseller hosting but never on standard shared website hosting.

Control Panels

Most VPS web hosts offer some sort of control panel as such with their VPS packages - some offer one for free, others you have to pay to receive a control panel. Most VPS control panels give you the ability to create multiple ‘client’ accounts and host multiple domains along with many features such as email account creation and managements, FTP account creation and management as well as file manager so that you can manage the contents of the web space of the domain concerned whilst you are on the road as well as an auto-script installer to help get your website started. A control panel is the perfect solution for you if you are new to VPS hosting and have no or little knowledge of server administration since they give you a web based graphical interface which you are able to use to administer your server and websites; if you have a good level of server administration knowledge then you might not need a control panel since you will probably have the skills to set your VPS up to the way you want it to be.

Clustered website hosting is a type of hosting which involves multiple servers for the same task, and is generally seen as a more reliable type of hosting over standard shared website hosting. With clustered web hosting, all website services are ‘load balanced’ across multiple servers to ensure that the best redundancy possible is achieved; security resources and other standard features are also spread across multiple servers. No human interaction is required for the clustered hosting system to work; this is because most clustered hosting platforms are data driven in some way or another. Most clustered hosting services suffer no downtime because if one server within the cluster fails, there is multiple servers to take over its role; if downtime is ever experienced with clustered website hosting, the reason is normally because there has been a major problem with either the power or the network at the data centre in which the clustered setup - although both instances of fault are very rare. Most clustered setups are normally continually monitored, so if a server does happen to malfunction or face an error of sorts, an on-site network team or support team from the web host will be quickly dispatched to ensure that the problem is fixed quickly and effectively; there are also normally automated systems in place to ensure that the cluster isn’t affected if it is missing a server or two, but in most cases the end-users will not see any problems. Clustered hosting is seen as a solution for businesses and large corporations who require an update percentage which is near to or equals to 100%; this is because although clustered hosting does come at a cost, it is one that is cheaper than a dedicated server - one other thing to note is that the reliability of dedicated servers is not as good as clustered hosting, although some individuals think the opposite.

Virtualization

Clustered hosting could also be seen as a type of virtual website hosting; this is because the actual system is in a sense ‘virtualized’ because of the number of servers that are clustered together. To ensure reliability, and to allow clustered website hosting to achieve its job, websites and services related to the hosted websites are always spread across multiple servers; the systems are ‘load balanced’ to ensure that websites are always available since load balancing makes the use of the server which is being used at the given time of the request for any service - it goes one step further from redundancy since normal redundancy just makes the use of several servers, but does not spread the information out to ensure the maximum reliability is achieved. An example of load balancing would be an end user requesting a page on a website which is hosted on a clustered hosting service; all the web servers within the cluster are too busy serving other websites, so the user is served the web page from a server which is currently free and not serving too many visitors, it also has a low CPU usage at this point because it is not being utilized much. Some web hosts allow you to purchase power for your website; what is meant by power is ‘CPU’ or ‘RAM’, this is because a clustered server pool is a more or less infinite source of resources, and is perfect if you are unable to afford a dedicated server which can match the specifications and reliability of clustered website hosting.

Security

With standard shared website hosting, the security which is provided on both the hosting node and the network is pretty poor when compared to that of a standard clustered website hosting network. In most cases, a standard shared hosting network incorporates a basic hardware firewall as the main line of security to keep a number of server secure; after that layer of security it is then down to security software installed on the servers to fight back any attack or to stop any intruder from accessing the server and compromising any information that it hosts. With a clustered hosting network, the security is normally much more stronger as a series of hardware firewalls as well as redundant proxy, routing and switching technology to ensure that the network is both fast and secure; intelligent routing can help load balance information across multiple servers, along with the use of VPNs and proxies the intelligent routing is also able to bind more than one server to just one IP address to ensure that if one server on one IP does go down, there is a number of other servers to take over its role. This type of network architecture can benefit both the servers and their users / websites that they host during a DDos attack; this is because the attack is being dispersed amongst a large pool of servers in which it is having no effect, when the attack is aimed at one piece of equipment, that piece autmatically stops serving traffic because it is unable to take the strain.

High Availability Cluster

A high availability cluster is one that makes use of several physical hosting nodes with a goal of achieving a reliable network for a certain service which it has been built to host. High availability clusters are normally deployed for things such as file sharing, business class enterprises, customer services (specifically e-commerce websites) and mission-critical databases; all these types of business related IT activities are of the utmost importance for some companies and it is important that the information for them can be accessed when needed, this is the reason for deploying a high availability cluster to host them - albeit at a high cost. The automation processes involved are fairly complicated; nodes have the ability to start services on each other if the service concerned has gone down on another node - they can also carry out the appropriate processes automatically in order to start a service if needed, such as the importing and mounting of file systems. However ‘good’ this high availability may seem, the automation processes involved in it can easily cause problems; for example if the private ‘heart beat’ connection between the nodes goes down, then each node could think that every other node is down when in fact they aren’t and lead to an instance of a service being started although that service is the responsibility of another node - this could lead to data corruption, or even worse: data loss. Implementations of high availability clusters are sometimes put in to increase the reliability of a regular cluster; via the use of things such as storage area networks (SANs) and the erradication of single points of failure; multiple network connections are also used to ensure that there is always at least one connection route available, even if one does fail. Most nodes take advantage of a number of technologies to ensure that they can provide the utmost best reliability. Hard disk wise, they take advantage of disk mirroring meaning that if one internal disk does fail, another internal disk which is a mirror of the main one can take over to ensure that the server carries on running - the technical term for this is RAID (’Redudant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks’). Redundant network connections are also utilized to ensure that if one switch or network interface card fails, there will be another one network switch or network interface card available to ensure that the node stays connected to both the network and the internet. Most of the storage on a clustered network is taken care of by networked storage devices; multiple connections to the storage area network are also used to ensure that files can always be accessed. Multiple power connections are also available for servers via the use of UPS and diesel generators which can be used in the event of a power outage of sorts. The use of multiple connections and other devices ensures that even in the event of connections going because of a fault, the cluster will still be able to operate.

VPS Hosting stands for Virtual Private Server hosting and is similar to a Dedicated Server but in a virtual environment; virtual servers are created on a physical hardware node which is shared with several other virtual servers. VPS are generally seen as the next step up from Reseller Hosting; they are also seen as the fill in between Reseller Hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting, VPS generally cost a lot less than any cheap dedicated server and just a little more than a standard reseller package. They allow for a reseller to have a lot more freedom than is possible on a standard reseller package because they are given their own dedicated environment in which they can install any software of their liking; they also have the ability to implement any custom server configurations which they feel will suit their needs. For many the step up from standard reseller hosting to VPS Hosting is a big one; the factor of server administration is seen to be the cause of this, because reseller hosts are used to the host taking care of the shared server, but now that they have their own dedicated environment the server administration is up to them.

Where to Start

The first thing most people do when they receive their VPS is make it secure against hackers and virus writers alike; an insecure VPS is a hackers playground since they could be able to install a rootkit on your VPS meaning that they would be able to gather data from it and run malicious applications in the background without you knowing. Once you have secured your VPS you are then able to go on to customizing it. Customizing your VPS to suit your requirements can be a tricky task since there are so many different tasks which you could use your VPS for, simply because it is a dedicated environment which you have full access to.

Customizing Your VPS

Since you have full root access to your VPS, and also because it’s in its own dedicated environment, you are able to install any software that you want; this could be to your advantage since it allows you to create your website or application around your VPS for maximum flexibility. Since you are able to install what you want, you are open to a new world of possibilities of what you could do with your VPS which you would be unable to achieve on standard shared hosting; for example, you could install a component such as FFMpeg and run a YouTube clone on your VPS - that is something which would be impossible on shared hosting unless FFMpeg was installed and it is a rare to find a host which does have it installed within a shared environment. You could simply just use your VPS as a backup server where you can keep copies of important documents and other files; this is a move which is becoming increasingly popular because of the increasing importance of having backups in several different physical locations.

Control Panels and Selling Hosting
If your VPS has a web hosting control panel then you can use it to sell hosting off to customers; this move as well is becoming increasingly popular because of the falling price of both VPS and control panels. Most VPS come with either Plesk, cPanel or DirectAdmin control panels, all of which allow reselling and allow for customers to be able to manage their own sites and accounts. For more information on getting started with control panels and reselling hosting, take a look at this post.

Conclusion

With a VPS, you are open to a whole world of new possibilities and ideas that you could achieve since they would most likely not be possible on standard shared hosting because of restrictions. For example, you could use your VPS to resell web hosting which could give you a nice profit on top of what you are likely earning already.

Control Panels for VPS Hosting

If you have a VPS, whether it be Linux or Windows based, you are probably using some sort of control panel with it so that you are able to manage the websites that you have hosted on it, or in the case that you are using it for a standalone service you might have some sort of service management control panel on it in order to monitor and configure the service concerned. If you are using your VPS server to host multiple domains or web hosting or design clients, then you might have a control panel installed that allows you to administrate almost every aspect of your VPS, meaning that you only need one control panel in this situation rather than multiple control panels which you might be using in other situations. Control panels are powerful programs that allow you to carry out the relevant actions on your server, for example if you are using a web hosting control panel such as cPanel then you will be able to add, edit and delete clients that you have hosted on your web hosting VPS; you will also be able to manage the more technical aspects of the server if necessary, such as the Apache configuration although extra features such as these are dependent on your choice of control panel.

Other control panels such as the popular Webmin control panel are designed solely for server administration, and not for web hosting administration; this is because they have features built into them that allow you to manage the more technical parts of the server such as the configuration of programs and services that you might have installed on your VPS. Control panels are programs that you only really need if you are unsure on how to use your VPS either through SSH in the case of Linux or via Remote Desktop if your VPS is Windows based; this is because most tasks that can be carried out through control panels are relatively easy to replicate over SSH or via Remote Desktop, meaning that if you don’t have the knowledge to use either currently then you can easily use a control panel until you have the necessary knowledge to administrate your VPS either over SSH or Remote Desktop.

In some cases, when you purchase VPS Hosting you will get a control panel free with your VPS and will be unable to uninstall it, ultimately meaning that you have a control panel stuck to your VPS; in some cases, you are able to choose the control panel of your choice and sometimes don’t even have to have a control panel for your VPS, this means that you should always try and purchase a VPS with which you are able to have a choice over your control panel and whether you want one or not, since at the end of the day you want your VPS to be the way you want it to be and not how someone else wants it. If choosing a hosting control panel, then you will most likely want one that allows you to customize the theme which is applied to the control panel which you customers will access; this is because you will want to extend your corporate identity so that any part of the control panel that your customers visit or use will still have your branding on, thus keeping up a professional and stable corporate identity - if you are unable to change the theme then the default one will be used which in most cases is advertising the company that have provided the control panel, and you don’t want another company to be making money off your customers.

In the case that you are unable to use the control panel that you have install on your VPS server, you can search the net and this blog for article and tutorials related to the control panel of your choice, thus allowing you to learn how to use it; it is because of this reason that it is suggested you know how to use the control panel that you have chosen before you purchase a VPS with it installed otherwise you might not be able to change your choice - there are many tutorials and articles available for the most popular control panels such as Plesk and cPanel, meaning that if you choose either of these two then you are guaranteed to be able to find a large amount of resources in order for you to learn how to use it.

Web Hosting Control Panels

If you are going to be using your VPS to host web hosting or design clients, then you will want to consider installing a control panel on your VPS so that your clients can easily manage their domains and web space without having to hassle you. If your clients are able to manage any aspect of their website and domain themselves, then they are able to achieve the most simplest of tasks themselves which can help speed you up if they don’t have to hassle you and can also speed them up since they are able to ensure that actions are carried out and applied as quick as possible. There are many different web hosting control panels for you to choose from, although your choice is mainly dependent on the resources of your VPS such as the amount of guaranteed RAM that you have available; for example, the more popular and feature packed control panels use up more VPS resources than the lower range control panels, also some control panels are designed for use with the Linux operating system whilst others are designed for the Windows website hosting environment.

You should consider whether or not the control panel that you have chosen to use is able to hard large amounts of websites, since you don’t want to have a control panel that ends up buckling under large demand; this factor is especially important for large web hosting companies, since control panels can become uneconomical if they start causing downtime or start to become unavailable because they can’t cope. You will want to be using a feature rich web hosting control panel, since you want to ensure that your clients are able to manage as many different aspects of their domain and website as possible, and if the feature isn’t there then they won’t be able to manage it; if you choose a web hosting control panel that doesn’t contain many features, then you are basically limiting yourself to what services and features you are able to provide your clients with, which is not something you want - this is the main reason why you should choose a more expensive and feature filled control panel. cPanel is a web host control panel currently designed for use with the Linux operating system only, thus meaning that you are limited to using it for Linux based web hosting at this current time; however, a Windows version of the popular control panel is currently in production.

A new version of cPanel has been designed specifically for use on VPS servers, meaning that you can easily provide your Linux web hosting and design clients with stable Linux based web hosting at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated server with a standard cPanel installation; the VPS version of cPanel has been designed to use less resources, meaning that your VPS will most likely run faster with this version of cPanel, and will in the long term please your clients if they are able to access their websites more quickly and efficiently. If you want to use a control panel that is available for both Windows and Linux, then you can always try the Plesk control panel; Parallels has created Plesk for both Windows and Linux meaning that you can easily offer the two different types of web hosting without causing any confusion that might occur if you are providing both types of web hosting but at the same time are using different control panels for clients. There are many different web hosting control panels that you should consider for your requirements, although most come at a premium meaning that you should make sure that the control which you have chosen is exactly what you want before you decide to depart with any money. Popular web hosting control panels that you should check out include:

• Parallels Plesk - http://www.parallels.com/en/products/plesk/ - this control panel is available for both Windows and Linux, meaning that you are able to provide your clients with both Windows and Linux based website hosting but still have the ability to use the same control panel
• cPanel - http://www.cpanel.net/ - cPanel is said to be the best Linux web hosting control panel, since it uses shells and Perl scripts to run meaning that it has a fast loading interface
• Helm - http://www.webhostautomation.com/ - Helm is a Windows based control panel which contains many features that will allow your clients to manage their Windows based website hosting
• LXAdmin - http://lxlabs.com/software/lxadmin-sse/ - LXAdmin is another light weight control panel for Linux based web hosting, it has been specially designed for use in VPS based environments meaning that it has a fast loading interface when compared to other Linux based web hosting control panels.

Standard Server Control Panels

If you are not using your VPS to host website hosting or design clients, then you will probably have no need for a web hosting control panel; in this case you might want to consider using a standard server control panel so that you are still able to manage many aspects and service of your VPS, much in the way that you are able to with a web hosting control panel. Unlike web hosting control panels where you have to use certain pieces of software like a certain mail server so that the control panel is able to function, most standard server control panels give you the ability to use any program that you want for any purpose; this means that you are able to install programs as you like and configure your VPS server the way that you want it to be with the use of a standard server control panel.

Most standard server control panels allow you to add on separate modules to them, so that you can easily expand the uses of them and to allow you to administrate different parts of your VPS and other services, if the ability to isn’t one that is included as standard with the control panel. The most important point about a standard server control panel which you should consider is the features that it has and what services/programs you are able to control with the use of it; this is because a standard server control is useless to you if you are unable to modify and configure the services that you have installed and running on your VPS, it also means that if you go for a control panel which isn’t feature rich, you run the risk of ending up with something which won’t let you manage the more complicated aspects of your VPS, which might be one thing that you were aiming to achieve.

One of the most popular standard server control panels is Webmin; Webmin is a web based control panel meaning that you are able to control many different aspects of your VPS server over the internet from any internet connected location in the world. Another factor that makes Webmin so popular is the fact that it can be easily expanded through the use of extra modules; the extra modules that you can add to Webmin differ meaning that you can easily make this standard control panel the one that you want it to be, for example you might want to administrate a service or program through Webmin which doesn’t have a Webmin module - in this case you could check the module database to see if the module you want exists, and if it doesn’t then you can create your own module for the program or service concerned. Most standard server control panels allow you to manage your VPS or dedicated server effectively, since you are able to configure services as well as start, stop and restart them meaning that you will have no need for SSH or Remote Desktop in the case that you don’t have the necessary knowledge to administrate a VPS server through either method; you can also configure the control panel to cluster certain services of your VPS or dedicated server with those of other servers, meaning that you are able to ensure maximum uptime when compared to a single server solution. Standard server control panels that should fit your needs and which you should take a look at include:

• Webmin - http://webmin.com - Webmin is a server control panel which you can easily expand with the use of modules
• EasyAdmin - http://www.easyadminservers.com/ - EasyAdmin is a program designed for easy server administration.

Using ASP.NET Enterprise Manager

ASP.NET Enterpise Manager is a web based database management system designed specifically for the management of Microsoft SQL databases through a web browser, without the need for any desktop database management systems such as Microsoft’s SQL Server Management Studio. ASP.NET Enterprise Manager is included as default with an installation of Plesk for Windows, meaning that if you are a customer who uses Plesk based Windows hosting, you will most likely have used ASP.NET Enterprise Manager at least once to manage a Microsoft SQL database that you have hosted under your web hosting account. The ASP.NET Enterprise Manager application itself is an open source one meaning that if you run your own stand alone Microsoft SQL database server, you have the ability to install this program on your server so that you can remotely manage your databases from any internet connected location in the world, just so long as you have access to a web browser.

The application is based on the Microsoft ASP.NET programming framework, which along with Microsoft SQL Server itself makes a very good combination of tools for developers who wish to build their websites and applications to run in a Windows based hosting environment. The main functions of ASP.NET Enterprise Manager are similar to those of PHPMyAdmin, which is a similar application designed for the administration of MySQL databases from a web browser; this means that if you are a multilingual developer who likes to develop using both MySQL and PHP along with ASP.NET and MSSQL then you will have no problems with managing the databases that you have created for your websites and applications through your web browser, although you might also be using a desktop database management system - although that is dependent on your requirements. In a Plesk environment, using ASP.NET Enterprise Manager is fairly easy since it will already have been setup for you by your web host, and Plesk makes it a breeze to launch since all you have to do is select the necessary web admin icon which should be located next to the database name on the database management screen, although this will be discussed at a later stage.

ASP.NET Enterprise Manager has only been designed for the web based management of Microsoft SQL databases, which is indicated by its name; it is because of this reason that it can only be run in Windows based web hosting environments since other operating systems such as Linux aren’t able to run ASP.NET based web pages or scripts for the main reason that ASP.NET is a Microsoft application, thus meaning that it can only be run on Microsoft operating systems. If you do want to setup your own installation of ASP.NET Enterprise Manager in order to manage your stand alone Microsoft SQL database server, then it is easy to setup since all you have to do is upload the necessary files and configure the necessary permissions; once thats done all you need to do is configure the application to work with your databases, and you can then start administrating and managing them from the comfort of your web browser from any internet connected location in the world, giving you freedom as to where you can manage them. The actual layout and structure of the ASP.NET Enterprise Manager application is based around and is similar to that of Microsoft’s desktop MSSQL database management application, which means that if you are used to using the desktop version then you will have no problems adjusting to the new web based interface that you will be provided with once you have it up and running.

Since the application is an open source one, there is no official line of support available for it; this means that if you are looking to install it yourself but don’t feel that you have the appropriate amount of knowledge, you should try and avoid doing so since you could end up damaging the server in which you want to set the application up - in this case you should just stick with using Microsoft’s desktop application to manage your Microsoft SQL databases that you have created and are using within your web hosting environment. If you feel that you need certain help with one specific feature of the ASP.NET Enterprise Manager, then your web host should be more than willing to help you out; if they are unable to, then you should consider looking at the manual for Plesk in the case that you are hosted on a Plesk based Windows hosting server.

Launching ASP.NET Enterprise Manager From Plesk Control Panel

Plesk provides ASP.NET Enterprise Manager as standard with the Windows version of its control panel to allow people who are using the control panel to manage and host their websites which need to be hosted within a Windows based hosting environment to manage their Microsoft SQL databases on the fly that they might need to power the backends of their websites or applications that are based on either the classic ASP or ASP.NET programming frameworks, both of which were produced by Microsoft. Launching ASP.NET Enterprise Manager from Plesk is a relatively easy task; to begin with, you will need to select the ‘databases’ icon from the hosting control panel for the domain that contains the database that you want to administrate:

You will then be presented with the following screen:

You will need to scroll down to the database management section, where several different details of the databases that you have created for the domain concerned are displayed; these different details are:

• type (circled red) - this is the system that the database concerned is based on, for example if you have created a MySQL database then you will see a dolphin symbol listed in this column and a smaller icon labeled ‘SQL’ if you have created a database that is based on the Microsoft SQL server database system
• name (circled green) - this is the name that you have chosen to give the database concerned, you will need to specify the database name for example in a dynamic web page or script that has been written in a scripting language such as PHP to enable the script or web page to interact with the database
• database server (circled blue) - this is the server on which your database is hosted, in most cases this will be the local server on which your entire web hosting account is located, meaning that interactivity between your scripts and databases should be easily achieved
• web admin (circled purple) - if you select the icon in this column then it will take you to the web based management panel for the type of database that you have select - PHPMyAdmin will be launched if its a MySQL database and ASP.NET Enterprise Manager will be launched if the chosen database is a Microsoft SQL based one.

In order to launch ASP.NET Enterprise Manager so that you are able to administrate a Microsoft SQL based database, you will need to find a database that has the Microsoft SQL symbol by it (see above); you will need to then select the web admin icon for the database concerned. This should then load ASP.NET Enterprise Manager for you, where you can then start to administrate the database that you have decided to load ASP.NET Enterprise Manager for.

As you have just seen, launching the ASP.NET Enterprise Manager from Plesk is a very simple task, which means that you can easily manage your databases from anywhere in the world as long as you have the internet; you will also need to make sure that you are able load Plesk from the location that you’re at first, since Plesk runs on an unfamiliar port for most routers which means that it might be blocked and won’t allow you to access it.

The ASP.NET Enterprise Manager Homepage

Once you have launched ASP.NET Enterprise Manager for the Microsoft SQL Server database the you want to administrate, you will need to select the appropriate database from the left hand pane so that you can start managing the different aspects of it:

You will then be taken to a page where you can choose to manage one of four different aspects related to the running of your MSSQL database:

• tables (circled red) - tables are the things that hold the fields for your database, and what will eventually contain the individual records for each different database entry, although in some situations you might only need to have one record dependent on what you want to use the actual database or table for
• views (circled green) - these are different factors that are related to the running of your database, unless you are an advanced user you will not need to touch these since they could effectively corrupt your database is not dealt with correctly
• users (circled blue) - you will need to setup user accounts for your database so that it can be accessed by your scripts and web pages that have been built using either the classic ASP or ASP.NET programming frameworks, both of which have been designed and produced by Microsoft
• stored procedures (circled purple) - these are designed to make dynamic web pages built using either the classic ASP or ASP.NET programming frameworks load faster, since they work in a way that allows the actual needed SQL query to be stored and then loaded when requested by either a dynamic web page or script.

It is evident that ASP.NET Enterprise Manager provides you with many tools that you can use to manage your MSSQL databases through your web browser. The functions that are provided are almost as powerful as those that are provided by Microsoft’s desktop database management system, although if you are a more professional user you will probably be using the desktop management program because of the extended features that it provides.

With the different factors that ASP.NET Enterprise Manager is able to provide you with, you are able to make sure that you can effectively manage and configure your database to work in the way that you want it to on the fly through your web browser using the web based control panel that you have been provided with by ASP.NET Enterprise Manager.

Creating a New Table

Whilst managing your MSSQL database, you will probably be wanting to create new table so that you can easily expand the functions of your ASP.NET or classic ASP based website or application, which can be easily done if you know what sort of functions you want to add to your website and that you know how to use a database in conjunction with it. In order to create a new table, you will first need to select the icon labeled ‘tables’ from the ASP.NET Enterprise Manager homepage for the database that you want to create the table for:

You will then need to select the ‘new table’ option which is located under the ‘tables’ option within the left hand panel of ASP.NET Enterprise Manager:

You will then be prompted to enter the following details:

• table name (circled red) - you will need to give your new table an identifiable name, this is because you will most likely want to be able to access it from your classic ASP or ASP.NET based web pages or scripts, and in order to do this you need to ensure that your table’s name is easily identifiable
• columns/fields (circled green) - you might want to take this chance to create the necessary fields which you might want to ensure that you are able to store the necessary details within your table and database - although creating a proper field will be discussed later on.

Once you click ’save table’ you should then be redirected to a page which should hopefully tell you that your table has been successfully created. Once you have created your table, you can then go on to the creation of fields so that you are able to organise the data that you have stored in your new table effectively, thus allowing you to edit or delete an existing database record if you feel the need to if it happens to be fraudulent - i.e. entered in by a spammer or some sort of malicious program that has managed to gain access to your database.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ASP.NET Enterprise Manager provides you with many features that you can use to effectively manage your MSSQL databases whilst on the fly, since you can easily view and manage your database and its contents through your web browser from any internet connected location, allowing you to manage your databases from anywhere in the world - whether it be on the top of Mount Everest using a mobile phone or on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! ASP.NET Enterprise Manager’s integration with the Plesk control panel allows you to create your databases from within the Plesk control panel, and then edit and manage them through the ASP.NET Enterprise Manager meaning that you can easily create your databases on the fly as well, meaning that you can easily expand your website whilst you are on the move from any internet connected location in the world.

As mentioned previously, ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL databases make a good combination for developers who wish to build websites and applications that they want to host within a Microsoft Windows based hosting environment. Although both programs will only run on the Windows operating system, they are both freely available for use meaning that resources to help you to learn the different features of both are widely available for viewing and download. You will however require a Windows Server or Windows XP Pro license in order to have the IIS web server if you want use Microsoft SQL server and ASP.NET on your own dedicated server; these aren’t needed in a shared hosting environment since your web host will have purchased the Windows server license for the server on which you are hosted, thus meaning that you don’t have to worry about any sort of licensing costs unless you want to purchase a commercial application for use within your website.

You can download the free Microsoft Visual Web Developer from http://asp.net/ if you wish to learn and use ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL server but don’t have the funds to spend on a more professional program such as Microsoft Visual Studio. If you feel that you have the necessary knowledge and don’t require any sort of WYSIWYG editor or an editor which gives you hints and tips with your coding, then you can stick with the Notepad program that is included with Windows as standard - if you feel that this is too basic then you can always give jEdit a try. If you wish to view material related to teaching you ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL server then you can take a look at http://asp.net/ in general, since this site contains many different video tutorials with the main aim of teaching novices these two powerful programs in order to breed a new generation of knowledgeable programmers.