I decided to ask both of my questions in two separate threads

I would like to read people's thoughts and opinions on running a server, from people who currently have a server up and running, to people who've had experience in the field.

I ask simply because sometime in the future, I may want to run my own server so that I may host my own websites and other things on it. I am currently building a large scale community website, that I have some high hopes for, and hope I can make it successful. Should it become a hit, perhaps a shared web host that I am on could not handle the traffic and it would result in having to switch, which may cost more money, but having it on a server, it could be a whole different matter.

If I could read some of your thoughts and opinions, as well as maybe some up sides and down sides to running a server over having a shared host, as well as your own experiences, I would be grateful as I am very curious on this matter.

Thank you!

- Chris

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Not quite a n00b...

It was very sad the day when I realized I didn't have the money to keep on paying my dedi (layeredtech.com), but before that it was an awesome experience I personally find it highly amusing installing packages and the such.

My only bit of actual advice is, have 6 months of server cost at the ready upfront.

Running a web server isn't always as fun as it may seem :) Unfortunately, it does consume a hell of a lot of your time doing mundane routine mundane tasks.

I used to work for a dedicated server provider in the UK as a sys admin looking after some 450 servers and my daily task list went something like this:

1) check webserver, database server, mail server and general server logs for any errors / hack attempts / crashes / etc
2) Scan the relavant websites (php.net, mysql.com, etc) for updates to software and install / update them as nessacery (which usually involves spending 5 hours trying to get all the compiler flags correct for the modules you need :D)
3) Check server load to make sure nothing has hung and no processes are locked / crashed
4) Check the cron jobs (scheduled tasks) to ensure that they have run
5) Check the backups
6) etc...etc...etc... :)

If you just want to run 1 or more websites, I would fully recommend using a standard webhosting / reseller hosting account. The benifits of having a techie to do all your PHP / Apache / MySQL upgrades for you are priceless in my eyes :)

If you want to "try out" running a server before you decide to rent one, download yourself a copy of Linux (any brand of linux will do but Fedora is a popular free brand for servers) and install it on your own PC (duel-boot with Windows - most modern linux distributions can handle this without much trouble) and have a play.

One important thing to remember when you do this is that on a rented dedicated server it will all be command-line based - you won't have any fancy windows to point and click (well, unless you rent a Windows server of course :))

Alan.

I am just throwing this out there, but if you guys need a site, I offer web hosting.

Aetherdesigns Hosting

Just incase you don't wanna mess with all that server stuff. O.o

And Alan, the server usually tells me if something is wrong..

Does it tell you by crashing? Ours used to do that a lot :(

Nawww, we have 100% uptime.

100% uptime is near impossible, you need to take the server down here and there to install new packages and do regular maintenance to the hardware o.O

You run the information on a backup server if you absolutely need to take the regular server down, but most of the time you can check everything while it is still running.

And don't forget, Linux can dual boot.

Yeah you can manage 100% uptime provided you have a cluster of servers and the technical know-how to do it.

All I can add to this post is, looking after a dedicated server can be quite hard and stressful!

Some links you may find useful if you do decide to get a dedicated server are:

Common SSH Commands - Linux Shell Commands - Hosting Tutorials
How to install BFD (Brute Force Detection) - Server Security
How to install APF (Advanced Policy Firewall) - Server Security
Close Open DNS Servers - Server Security
How to move a large forum from Server A to Server B? - Hosting Technology - Web Hosting Tutorials & Reviews

Some of them may be outdated and based around Cpanel, but you follow the tutorials and advice and adapt it for your own needs.

Colocation is usually the cheapest but you'll want to find one close to you so you can go in and replace hardware if it fails. That can get pricey. Colocation is where you provide the server and you rent space within a data center.

If you rent a server from someone then they will handle the hardware so you don't need anything close to where you live. This is usually more expensive than colocation. With this you can get managed and unmanaged. Managed is where the people you are renting from will keep software up to date and any other management tasks that need to be done on the server. Unmanaged means you do all of that. Managed is more expensive than unmanaged.

If you don't know anything about running servers and your website absolutely needs it's own box then I'd recommend spending the extra money to get a managed server.

There is also virtual private hosting. You share a box and resources with other people but you have your own server running as a virtual machine. You are guaranteed a certain amount of resources though. This is for those that need more than share hosting provides but don't have a need for a dedicated server. I believe you can get this in managed and unmanaged as well. Cheaper than a dedicated server and sometimes colocation.

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Eric