Do you really need 500 GB of space and a terabyte of bandwidth? What about that quad-core server you’ve been renting for the last twelve months? While web hosting needs often increase over time, they can decrease as well, often without you realizing it.

If you have a high-end web hosting plan or a large server, it might be worthwhile to double check and see if you are really using what you’re paying for. You might discover that while you needed a dual-core server a few months ago due to a high traffic event, things are back to normal and single core machine will suffice. Or maybe you overestimated your needs when you bought that $29.99 web hosting plan.

Either way, it’s a smart idea to double-check your hosting usage. You could save hundreds of dollars.

Continue reading: Reconsider your hosting needs and save money

Over the past year, we have covered many networking tips for servers. Here is a brief summary of the most important networking tips you should keep in mind for your dedicated server.

1. Use both a router firewall and a software firewall
2. Your name servers should be hosted on at least two different servers
3. If you use content delivery services, make sure they have servers close to your primary users
4. Block all ports except the most essential (i.e. web server, ssh, ftp)
5. Use traceroute and dns lookups to test network connectivity issues
6. Be sure to follow Internet standards with your DNS records
7. Use SSH, SCP, SFTP, and other secure protocols whenever you need to connect to your server

Photo Source: Flickr

Continue reading: Server Networking Tips

GREP, which stands for global regular expression print, is a sophisticated Linux/Unix tool that can serve many purposes, but one useful purpose on a dedicated server is its ability to search files and directories. With grep you can search within multiple files with relative ease. You can also parse printed screen data to simplify results.

To search a file, just enter “grep” followed by the search term and then the filename. For example, to search the file “httpd.conf” for the word “localhost”, you would type:

grep localhost httpd.conf

To use grep, to simplify printed screen lists, use the following format:

ls -al /usr/bin | grep make

This will list all of the files in the /usr/bin directory, but will only display those files that contain the word “make”. For more in-depth documentation, including use of regular expressions, type “man grep” from the command line.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading: Searching with GREP

The default port for most FTP servers is 21, and that is how most system administrators will leave it. The majority of FTP clients are configured to use it, and some will not even ask you to change it unless you dig through the configuration. There are, however, a few situations where you might want to change the FTP port for your dedicated server or VPS.

If you do not have other users accessing your server and want to add a little security by making your FTP port something no one would guess, you can easily change the port in ProFTPD or Vsftpd.

To change the port in ProFTPD, edit the configuration file, /etc/proftpd.conf and change the following line:

Port 21

Replace “21″ with whatever port number you want.

To change the port in Vsftpd, edit /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf and change the line:

listen_port=21

When you are finished, you should restart your FTP server to force the changes to take effect.

There are a few issues you should note. Before changing the port, make sure the port you want to use is available and not used by another service. Also, after you free up port 21, you should close it in your firewall settings and open whatever port you have opened to replace it.

Continue reading: How to Change Your FTP Port

If you recall from a post here several months ago, the U.S. government only utilizes 7% of its server capacity. Although it’s important to leave room to grow, wasting so many resources is costly.

It is also a bad idea to over-utilize a server. For most applications, you do not want to be using more than 70% of your CPU or memory on a regular basis. When you constantly find that intensive applications are chewing up 80%, it’s time to migrate to a server with more headroom.

Using too many server resources also causes instability and will crash a site in the event of a traffic spike. Finding the balance between too much hosting and too little is key.

Continue reading: How much of your server should you utilize?

A “safe mode” in general is a term used to refer to software that has all but the most critical components disabled in order to increase stability. Often times when there is a stability or security issue, running in safe mode will allow the user to still access the system and fix any problems.

In PHP, safe mode is primarily a security option that prevents would-be attackers from using PHP scripts to execute operating system commands. Theoretically safe mode is supposed to be a method for increased web application security. It is intended to be run in shared hosting environments and is not needed on a VPS or dedicated server. In PHP 6, safe mode will be removed.

The downside of PHP Safe Mode is that certain scripts and web applications do not function properly with it enabled. Server administrators can disable it and take other security measures to harden their Web applications, and individual users can also work around it, although they should check with their web host first to make sure they do not compromise security.

Most web developers and website owners dislike safe mode because of the limitations it places on scripts. If you feel strongly about it, you should find out if a web host uses it before subscribing to their service.

Photo Source: Flickr

Continue reading: What is PHP Safe Mode?

Need a dedicated server in a flash? Normally a server can take up to two days to deploy, but a number of hosts specialize in instant setup. Imagine having your server ready just a few seconds after ordering!

Instant servers are generally carry a price premium over their slower-to-deploy counterparts. They also provide a smaller number of configuration options. You might only have one or two operating systems to choose from, for example.

If you need a dedicated server in a flash, however, an instant setup server is the way to go. Keep in mind that many cloud hosts offer instant setup but with the greater expandability offered by cloud computing. Those interesting in instant setup servers should look into that alternative as well.

Photo | clix

Continue reading: The benefits of instant setup

An unmanaged dedicated server is almost like a bare-bones computer. While you get all of the essentials required to call it a server, there are many features that you will want to add. Some of them are free and/or open source, while some require purchase or even subscription services. It is important to know this before getting a dedicated server, thinking that you are getting a complete product.

A good web host will list some of their extra available features, including prices. Here is a brief list of options you might want:

• cPanel or other control panel
• SSL certificates
• Additional IP addresses
• Load balancing for two or more servers
• Anti-virus protection for mail servers
• Routine backup storage
• Additional RAM
• Additional hard drive
• Windows Server 2008
• KVM over IP
• Additional badwidth/data transfer

For prices check your web host’s website.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading: Common extra dedicated server features

A lot of new dedicated server owners are not sure which operating system they should use. Unless you’re running an Apple server, you have two choices: Linux and Windows Server. Which one is better?

Because of its low cost, flexibility, better security, and faster speed, Linux is the operating system of choice for dedicated servers these days. Some common variants installed on servers include CentOS and Debian. Both distributions are free and have great documentation. Linux is needed to run Cpanel as well as a number of other popular server software.

You should only run Windows if your applications require it. Licenses for this operating system are quite expensive and Windows offers no real performance or security benefits over Linux.

Continue reading: What operating system should I install on my dedicated server?

By default, Postfix, Sendmail, and other SMTP mail servers rely on port 25 to send email. Normally, this is fine and works for most situations. Some Internet Service Providers, however, disagree. They see port 25 as a prime port for spammer exploitation, and many have started to block it.

If this is the case for you and you have root access on your VPS or dedicated server, you might consider changing your SMTP port to something you know you will be able to access. To change the port in Postfix, edit your /etc/postfix/master.cf file as root, commenting out the following line:

smtp innet n - n - - smtpd

Then, add the this line:

2900 inet n - n - - smtpd

Replace “2900″ with whatever port you prefer for your mail server. Next, restart Postfix:

service postfix restart

Finally, assuming you have a firewall installed, which any security-minded server administrator should, you will need to tell it to allow traffic through the new mail server port.

Continue reading: How to change the Postfix port number

A Webhostingtalk.com user asked today if it is possible to find a low-price dedicated server in Estonia. Unfortunately, this type of Estonia hosting will be hard to find for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, there just isn’t much demand for web hosting or servers in many countries around the world, Estonia included. Because of this, few providers want to set up shop and when they do, they often have a monopoly or near-monopoly. There is no competition to drive down prices.

In addition, many of these markets have poorly developed Internet infrastructure. This often means bandwidth rates are more expensive and thus the cost of hosting is higher.

In the case of this individual, I recommend he/she look for a server outside of Estonia, perhaps in Germany, Russia, or the UK. There probably won’t be much difference between network latency in one of these countries and Estonia, but if there is, the savings will far outweigh any minor slow-downs that might occur.

Continue reading: Rent a dedicated server in Estonia?

If your site is too large for a VPS or shared hosting account to handle, you have little choice but to move to a dedicated server. This can be a good thing in many ways, but there are some unfortunate disadvantages dedicated server owners have to deal with:

• Increased cost. There’s no getting around this one. You’re paying for the whole shebang, even if you don’t use it all. Webmasters with highly fluctuating needs should look into cloud computing.
• More upkeep. Just like mansions require more upkeep than one-room apartments, owning a server entails more work on your part. This includes installing software, rebooting the system, and configuring updates. If this isn’t your bag of tea, find a managed server or hire a system administrator to do the grunt work for you.
• Less security. Commercial web hosts generally have better security in place than independent server owners. This is easily fixed by finding a provider that will help you manage security threats or investing in a server hardening service.

Photo | lampelina

Continue reading: Disadvantages of dedicated hosting