Archive for the ‘Dedicated Server Best Practices’ Category

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What Does the Future Hold for the SUSE Server?

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

The enterprise server OS market is dominated by Microsoft Windows, Unix and Linux. Although Unix still has a sizable share of the market, that share is declining rapidly. In contrast, Windows is performing quite well and holding steady, while the smaller Linux share is consistently growing in popularity.

The War between Windows and Linux

What does the future hold? This battle will likely come down to Windows and Linux, especially as Unix is being slowly phased out of the industry. There are a few enterprise distributions of Linux, but what of the SUSE server platform? Will it survive?

Microsoft and SUSE

Red Hat and Novell SUSE are the two major enterprise Linux distributions. These two heavyweights are fighting toe-to-toe for the Linux market share while trying to secure the upper hand on Microsoft as the same time. Although Red Hat is currently winning the battle, one may assume that SUSE is the fitting candidate, especially when considering that the server platform is being backed by Microsoft. In fact, Microsoft has invested in nearly $350 million Novell coupons, a move implemented to cater to customers who prefer Linux and ultimately spite Red Hat. The SUSE server OS is gaining ground, but what happens when the funds from Microsoft run out?

What the Rumors Say

The rumor mill says that Novell is having a tough time making ends meet, as its Linux invoicing dropped 42% last quarter. In addition, the company appears to be overly reliant on Microsoft to acquire new customers. Who will be laughing in the end? Probably Microsoft. Who will suffer the most? The Linux user community. This is especially true if Red Hat and others cannot gather up the resources necessary to compete.

Diehard fans of the Linux server are screaming for fair competition. Most of them view this as a battle that will come down between Red Hat and Windows – not Microsoft and what many are now calling Microsoft’s lapdog. This isn’t a criticism of the SUSE server, as it is still a very secure and capable platform. It does, however, raise the question: is SUSE worthy of the Linux title?

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Top Options for Dedicated Server Control Panels

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

With all of the advancements made in the hosting industry, it is hard to believe there was actually a time when developers and server administrators were forced to utilize shell commands and complex configuration files to accomplish simple tasks like setting up an email account.

Thankfully, in today’s industry, all these tasks can be achieved with ease thanks to control panel software. Even though most of these applications strive for the same goals, no two control panels are alike. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular options you have for your dedicated server.

cPanel: Popular for Good Reason

cPanel is the most popular control panel on the market, beloved for its simple interface and powerful features. The capabilities of the software range from mundane tasks, such as adding a new user account, to more complicated processes like backing up an entire domain. Although it is primarily designed for Linux-based servers, cPanel’s developers are currently working on versions that will be compatible with the Microsoft IIS server and Windows platform.

Plesk: Competitively Capable for both Linux and Windows

The Plesk control panel supports both Linux and Windows servers, giving it a competitive edge over cPanel. What many users like about the software is that it offers a default interface quite similar to Windows XP, making it easier to use for those familiar with this OS environment. Plesk is very capable, offering the ability to manage web servers like Apache and IIS, as well as database servers such as MySQL and SQL Server. Though friendly to the end-user, Plesk has a reputation of being more complex for server administrators.

These are just a few of the popular control panel options you have for your dedicated server. Whether you prefer the software mentioned here or another, be sure to check with the hosting provider regarding the administrative panel offered before you sign up.

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How Internet Connectivity Impacts Your Server

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

When someone types your domain name into their browser, in theory, they are taken directly to your website. While this may sounds relatively straightforward, this theory is not necessarily true in reality. All requests made to a server must pass through a number of network devices and systems before reaching their final destination. It is your dedicated hosting provider’s internet connection that will determine how fast and seamless this process actually turns out to be.

Internet Backbones

There are a handful of communications companies that own the internet backbones we require to browse the web and have a website. However, these companies have no control over the array of routers, switches, firewalls and other devices that exist between your server and the rest of the internet world, components that can either enhance speed or hinder it. Many small dedicated hosting companies are trapped behind a virtual wall and simply cannot deliver the connectivity needed to assure an optimal performance.

Get the Most out of Your Server

Before entering a service agreement, you may want to ask the prospective dedicated hosting provider about their backbone connectivity and infrastructure. Who is providing them with internet connectivity? Do they utilize redundant routers and switches in case one should happen to fail? Are they making use of technologies such as hardware firewalls, NAT (Network Address Translation) and other components that could impact the traffic coming to and from your site? The answer to these questions can help you determine if you are considering the right dedicated hosting solution.

For most service providers, moving your server closer to an internet backbone simply isn’t an option. Because of this, it is well worth it to conduct a little investigating to discover the efficiency of their connectivity. If not, you could find your server buried somewhere in the deepest and darkest corners of the net.

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Is MySQL Going Closed-Source?

Friday, April 18th, 2008

MySQL users are upset about plans Sun Microsystems disclosed this week to keep some strategic planned features — and the source code — closed. Only paying customers will get access to the new database features.Sun acquired MySQL in February and confirmed the new online backup capabilities that are under development will only be available to MySQL Enterprise customers. Most of the software’s users have the free MySQL Community edition.

The details emerged this week at MySQL’s annual user conference in Santa Clara, Calif., where Sun also revealed it will delay the release of MySQL 5.1, the latest upgrade, until June to fix bugs.

The news has caused an uproar in open source circles. What say you? Does long-time MySQL contributor Jeremy Cole have a point when he says this is leading MySQL “even further down the path of getting the RHEL/Fedora model backward.”

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Will Suse Enterprise 11 Break Red Hat’s Back?

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Novell has finally announced development plans for the next generation of its enterprise Linux platform, Suse Linux Enterprise 11. Sun is already bragging, calling it the “best-engineered and most interoperable platform for mission-critical computing.”

Suse Linux Enterprise 11 will be designed to form the heart of the modern IT organization, Novell said, to provide a foundation for mission-critical workloads across the enterprise by leveraging new technologies for server virtualization, consolidation and appliances, as well as innovative client computing breakthroughs.

Novell is promising customers a lot with this new release: greater flexibility, efficiency and agility, regardless of whether they deploy Suse Linux Enterprise directly on the hardware or as a virtual machine guest.

Listen in to what Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell, said about Suse Linux:

“The tremendous adoption of SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 in the market has brought the benefits of enterprise Linux to thousands of organizations around the world. We have listened closely to our customers, to our partners and to our colleagues in the open source community as we designed the next generation of Linux operating systems — Suse Linux Enterprise 11. This release will redefine the standard for mission-critical, interoperable enterprise computing. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 will provide organizations with an agile, open, cost-effective infrastructure.”

Is this Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise 11 the release that will break Red Hat’s back, with a little help from Microsoft? Or is this just another bragging session?

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Would an SQL Server Service Scare You?

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

Here’s an interesting question making its way around the World Wide Web: If you didn’t have to worry about the administrative tasks with SQL Server, would you consider using SQL Server as a service?

There’s talk that it’s not much different from a hosted SQL Server at your ISP. It’s an issue of control, I suppose. Some people get spooked by the notion of transitioning to a fully hosted SQL solution. The discussion started at Stephen Wynkoop’s site, but let’s continue it here.

Is SQL Server in a fully hosted form a good idea, or would it cause issues no one has yet to mention?

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Windows Server 2008 to Support PHP

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

Good news for developers this week. Zend Technologies has announced its Zend Core product will run on the Windows Server 2008 platform, providing parity between Windows Server and Linux in running PHP. All Zend products will run on Windows Server 2008 platform by the end of the year.

Here’s an interesting admission — followed by a reassurance — from Zend’s co-founder, Andi Gutmans, in InformationWeek:

Previously, PHP “didn’t run as well as it should on Windows,” said Gutmans, despite the fact that 75% to 80% of PHP users were developing on Windows workstations. When they deployed their Windows-based applications to production, their performance was disappointing and they tended to develop on Windows and deploy under Unix or Linux. Now the three platforms should be available on a more equal footing, he said.

This is good news that is long overdue.  For some of you, it may be reason enough to upgrade. Either way, ServerPronto has discount dedicated servers that meet your specific needs. From the quick, affordable Starter Plan which is great for data backup and website hosting to the 64 bit Pro Power and Xtreme Power which are built to handle the high speed demands of mission critical hosting and gaming.

Click here to discover which package is right for you.

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A Strategic Discussion on Hacking

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

There’s an interesting discussion on hacking going on over at LinuxForums. A poster from Fullerton, California who uses Suse Linux says he’s been the target of hackers hired by a world wide multi-million dollar company after a Wikipedia slip exposed his IP address, among other things. He wants to know, in short, if his system has been hacked. The conclusion of the story is, he probably wasn’t. But it’s an interesting security issue that we’ve all got to be careful of.

ServerPronto’s Managed Firewall service eliminates the need to run to open source chat boards wondering if you’ve been hacked or if your hard disk is just corrupted. ServerPronto’s Basic Firewall service places you behind a fault tolerant pair of Cisco PIX 515 with 64MB of memory running Cisco Secure Software. Each server protected by the shared firewall will be in a shared VLAN with the other servers being protected.

So the world’s most affordable dedicated server is also security-minded. Click here to learn more about the myriad of options you get when you order your dedicated server from ServerPronto.

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Red Hat CEO Tells All

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

2008 marked not just the beginning of a new year for Linux vendor Red Hat, but also a new beginning for its new CEO Jim Whitehurst. Whitehurst spoke with the InternetNews about his plans to tackle the challenges the Linux company faces. He discussed why the Linux business is different, why he’s not getting into the database business, where Microsoft fits into his plans and what his biggest challenges are in moving Red Hat forward.

Click here to read this Q&A.

Here’s a quick excerpt:

Q: What are the biggest differences between Red Hat’s business and the airline business? Or is business business and this is just a different vertical?

In terms of direction and strategy it’s obviously fundamentally different as we’re selling a different type of thing. Open Source is a very different business model. Therefore, thinking about strategy and partnerships and how to invest in those things are different.

Seventy-five percent of business is executing on what you’ve decided to do. I’d rather have a less good strategy that is executed flawlessly than a flawless strategy that is executed haphazardly. Execution is execution.

It’s all about ensuring that the right people are in the right jobs with the right capabilities for the thing that we want to do and there is clear accountability, milestones and incentives to make sure things happen. Those things are common.

To some extent, my first few weeks at Red Hat have not been dissimilar to what I did at Delta. Go out and talk to our people, our customer and partners and really understand what they are looking for, what the problems are and fix those problems. That’s common to any business that is out there.

So while the strategy is different the execution of making sure the right people, measures, metrics and milestones are in place is similar.

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Red Hat and Ubuntu Top Linux Distros

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

Ubuntu and Red Hat are the most used Linux distributions among the 35,000 members of content-management vendor Alfresco’s community, the company found in its second survey of trends in enterprise open-source software usage.

Among Linux operating systems, usage of Ubuntu and Red Hat stood at 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, according to the survey. Suse, OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise collectively garnered 13 percent; Debian, 15 percent; and “other” distributions usage of 14 percent.

Click here to read the rest of this PC World story.

ServerPronto has the right dedicated server to handle whatever you need. From the quick, affordable Starter Plan which is great for data backup and website hosting to the 64 bit Pro Power and Xtreme Power which are built to handle the high speed demands of mission critical hosting and gaming. Click here to compare plan details from various Linux distros as well as Microsoft.

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