With KVM Over IP the dedicated server client can manage the dedicated server remotely using his own personal computer. So what is KVM Over IP, also called the KVM – IP or KVMoIP? The full form of KVM Over IP is “Keyboard, Video, Mouse Over IP”. This technology or service basically captures the keyboard – Video – Mouse signals from the personal computer and transmits them over to the dedicated server, remotely. This is a fantastic web service offered by many web hosts to their dedicated servers hosting clients. With KVM Over IP, the client virtually manages his dedicated server remotely as if it is physically front of him and he is managing it.
The common uses for remote dedicated server management are:
- Remote Dedicated server management
- Allowing server access between single or multiple users and a single dedicated server or multiple servers
- Monitoring the dedicated server even if the server is offline, i.e., even if the server’s internet connection is not working.
- Full-time access to the dedicated server remotely
For any server administrator, the KVM Over IP (KVMoIP) is a very handy application. Of course, this application needs the user to be well versed in the operations and management of the dedicated servers, but it is obvious that most of the users who operate the marvelous dedicated servers essentially are good server administrators, or the novice webmasters who use the dedicated servers either hire good administrators or use their web host’s excellent technical management team to monitor and manage their dedicated servers.
The remote keyboard, video, and the mouse direct console access is now possible using the KVM Over IP, and thus the client gets complete control over his dedicated server. This control is even possible when the dedicated server is offline. With the KVM Over IP, the client can remotely boot-on, reboot, or boot-off the server. He can also get the access to the console, install or reinstall the operating system of the dedicated server, and can also access the dedicated servers’ BIOS settings. With this service, monitoring the dedicated server is made possible as it reboots.
The KVMoIP service is especially useful if the client wishes to test new techniques or needs to monitor the dedicated server’s activities minutely, especially after any Operating System changes are done, or the server has been reconfigured. With the KVM Over IP, the client can remotely monitor all these features any time he wishes.
A Drive Redirection is also made possible using the KVM Over IP service. In a Drive Redirection, the personal computer’s CD-ROM drive or the USB drive can be redirected to the client’s dedicated server remotely.
The KVM Over IP service is especially useful to those clients who like to control their dedicated server remotely. The dedicated server hosting provider’s technical service, of course, provides all the features of the KVM Over IP to the clients if they opt for the managed dedicated server hosting. Hence, unless the client is skilled at doing the server administrator work remotely, or if the user who may not like to use the excellent yet expensive KVMoIP service, or is quite unskilled at using such technical facilities, the client can always use the web host’s professional and well-experienced technical service through email or live help, and the technical team at the data center would provide these services using their own consoles. Using such specific technical support may or may not cost additional fees to be paid to the web host.
The KVMoIP service is still expensive and needs complete understanding of how it can be utilized perfectly, and hence only the best server administrators should use it remotely.
KVMoIP is far more useful for the clients who use colocation servers rather than those who use dedicated servers, especially if they opt for the managed dedicated server hosting. For those who use colocation , these clients usually are the business organizations who employ in-house expert dedicated server administrators and technicians, and thus they can handle their dedicated servers remotely.
What are VoIP Servers ?
VoIP is an abbreviation for Voice Over IP, ie. the transmission of voice over the Internet. A VoIP service in essence, consists of a computer that can make phone calls to anywhere in the world. It may be PC to PC or PC to phone, landline or mobile. The voice signals are converted into data packets that travel over the Internet using a VoIP platform, and then converted back into the recipient.
Using VoIP requires specific modules in the router or switch that have the digital processors (DSPs). In this case, the router or switch are called as voice gateways.
The VoIP (Voice over IP) enables the Cisco gateway (router or switch) to carry voice traffic (for example, phone calls and faxes) over an IP network. Support for Cisco’s voice is deployed using the technology of voice packets. In VoIP, the digital signal processor (DSP) segments the voice signal into frames and stores them in voice packets. These voice packets are transported over the IP network, in accordance with specific protocols such as H.323 ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunications), also used for transmission of video over the IP network. As this is a delay-sensitive application, it is necessary to use equipment that supports Quality of Service parameters (QoS), and a well-defined network design.
What type of equipment do I need?
In order to use VoIP services, you will require a computer system along with the Internet access and a microphone, if your computer is not equipped with it. Although most VoIP providers and IP telephony connections require high-speed Internet, some can be used on dialup connections as well.
How can I make or receive a phone call?
Basically, the same way you would a regular phone, except you use your PC or IP phone. When you use VoIP, or Voice of an IP phone software on your computer, a phone usually appears on your screen. These telephones are called as SoftPhone and IP phones are called IPPhones or HardPhones.
The phone works on the computer like any other phone where you can dial numbers, or click a name of a contact pre-programmed, and press the call button. You will then hear the phone ring for the person you called and can then talk to him/her when you answer the call. When you receive a call, the phone will ring on your computer and you can click to accept the call and talk, or let ring (based on the number of rings you set) and route the call to voicemail or a forwarding number.
What type presents a VoIP Phone?
Typically a VoIP phone is not only capable of audio, but also can be used to maintain contacts list, for caller ID and call forwarding. Some IP phones even have webcam capabilities. The most popular VoIP software limits PC to PC calls to its own subscribers in order not to compromise the sound quality.
Typically a VoIP phone is not only capable of audio, but also can be used to maintain contacts list, for caller ID and call forwarding. Some IP phones even have webcam capabilities. The most popular VoIP software limits PC to PC calls to its own subscribers in order not to compromise the sound quality.
Advantages of IP Telephony and VoIP Servers / Services
1. Calls from IP phone to IP phone are free. You can talk endlessly with someone with an IP phone without paying anything beyond your Internet connection.
2. IP telephony providers offer drastically reduced costs for telephone calls to IP phones.
3. The cost of IP phone calls to cell phones are below those of traditional carriers.
4. Save up to 80% on current phone bills.
What are the costs for VoIP’s?
There are several options for soft phones that allow free calls between computers. There is also the option of signing of additional services paid for calls to landlines and mobiles. You should be aware of the fees and compare them with those of other carriers. In the case of IP phones you have the cost of equipment, but fares are generally cheaper and better service.
Care to Acquire VoIP Services :
1. Hidden costs
2. Lines unsafe – in some cases the conversations may be heard by others. This happens due to shared servers or open platforms, thus making you vulnerable to viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and unscrupulous hackers, which ultimately can corrupt your computer and disable it.
3. The inability to be used with dial-up connections. Check with your provider to avoid headaches.
4. Public listing of your name and / or phone number in published catalogs on the World Wide Web.
5. Many VoIP services bring spyware, compromising their safety.
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is nothing more than a configuration which uses two or more HD’s together for a particular purpose, usually for backup purposes, superior performance, or both. This age has come to desktops around about five years as a board feature of the motherboard, it was previously only possible via PCI controller cards. Almost all motherboards today have support for some RAID systems usually RAID0 and RAID1. Top-line motherboards can support RAID3 or RAID0 +1, but it is quite unusual. The performance of onboard RAID controllers is still well below the PCI cards, but for a home user is more than enough. Just remember that if you want to buy a new motherboard and RAID is something essential to you, it is always recommended to choose cards with Nvidia chipset.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Intel has yet to put a driver onboard as efficient as that of its competitor. Do not know if the standardization of motherboards with onboard RAID controllers that happened every day, the line that defines what is a desktop and a server that is or becomes more tenuous by the simple fact that manufacturers needed something to differentiate themselves from competitors. As was said initially emerged in RAID servers in order to improve stability and fault tolerance. But this is just one of more than 10 possible configurations of a RAID storage system, we’ll discuss about them below.
Types of conventional RAID :
RAID 0 : This is the configuration or applications-oriented enthusiasts who need speed, because the increase in machine performance is tremendous. In this configuration the controller will be in charge of dividing and distributing the data amongst all HD’s set up for RAID0. Thus two HD’s in RAID0 even have a nominal gain of 100% on a normal hard disk and an effective gain of about 30% which is still a lot. Striping mode it handles all the HD’s that way as a single HD, adding the capacity of all volumes and treating as a single disc.
For example: If you have two disks of 250GB, this configuration you will see as just a disk of 500GB. The biggest disadvantage with this setup is that, as all information is divided between the volumes, if by chance some volume is corrupted or damaged, all data will be lost and the configuration must be re-done.
RAID 1 : Known as mirroring, is a setting dedicated exclusively for backups purpose. It is used to mirror all data from one disk to another while maintaining an identical copy in real time of everything that happens in the disks primary, if the primary disk dies, or gets corrupt you won’t lose anything. For this, it is recommended to use HD’s of the same capacity, otherwise flush by the capacity of HD mirrored. And the HD backup can not be smaller than the main HD.
Example: If the principal is the 250GB backup also has to be at least 250GB. If the backup has 300GB, 50GB lose, it simply will not use. If you have two 250GB HD’s as major, need other two HD’s at least 250GB as backup.
RAID 2 : It is a way which is no longer used nowadays. RAID 2 is to embed error correction codes in each cluster of data recorded. However, all current drives systems comes with built-in error correction, making the system obsolete.
RAID 3 : This is a very complex system as well as requires too much capital to maintain it. RAID 3 requires 4 HD’s (actually may be less, but only justified with 4). There, the first three disc’s work just like RAID 0, all information is divided and saved as if it were a single disc. The difference is that the fourth disc serves as a recovery disk, it will save information in the other 3 disk so that if one of the first 3 disk’s die, you can recover the data from the recovery disk (ie. Disk 4). With it you receives high performance, because you have three disks in striping mode and still have the fault tolerance of these disks. Basically, it is perfect for large companies where money doesn’t matters.
RAID 4 : It is similar to RAID 3, the only difference is their way of recording data. While the RAID 3 splits the data into smaller chunks and writes in various HD’s, RAID 4 saves in large blocks. Writing in large blocks you get in a lot of speed or reading or writing data, adds up an advantage of allowing you to quickly access a larger quantity of information. In some applications, RAID 4 is on leave to RAID 3 but are quite rare and for very specific purposes.
RAID 5 : The basic idea behind RAID 5 is same as RAID 3, use of striping and fault tolerance, but works quite differently. In this configuration instead of you having a single drive with data recovery, the system spreads the data on all other HD’s. That way you don’t require a dedicated disk to that, as information is on all disks. If a disk fell, with the help of other disks you can restore it. Only two records fall you will have problems. There is a loss of performance compared to RAID 3 however, it is a more robust solution that allows greater flexibility. It is also worth remembering that you will spend a larger space, because content of recovery that was once intended for a single disk is spread to others.
So, if you have three 20GB disks in the system, you will have only 40GB free, since 20GB will be distributed among the disks so that you can recover them in case of failure. Although this system operates with three HD’s, the ideal is five. RAID 5 is great to gain speed without sacrificing fault tolerance and ideal for those companies having limited budget.
RAID 6 : RAID 6 is the setting more new and relatively rare to be found. It follows the same idea of RAID 5 but uses double-byte para for recovery. Thus, the system has fault tolerance of up to two HD’s. It is by far the conventional RAID system more expensive, which requires a minimum of 4 HD’s, but is recommended only up 6. If before with RAID 5 you had to recover the contents spread in other HD’s, here in RAID 6 you have twice the content. So if you have 10 HD’s 20GB/HD of this system, it will have 160GB free, 40GB (ie. two disks) will be distributed among the rest. RAID 6 is ideal for high risk who requires optimum performance.
Today, with so much advancement in the technology, doing online business has become one of the best ways of making profits and making your online business or you’re your offline business global. If you know how to make use of the web technology that is available today, your online business will only expand, and that too in many countries worldwide, which in turn will bring in lots of profit-making opportunities for you.
However, there are few important things that you need to know before you start your very important business online. The first thing that you need is a top-class commercial website that not only contains very good information, but is also very informative that makes it “sticky” – that is, it becomes very popular on the internet. The next very important thing you need is a dedicated server or a complete VPS hosting package offered by a top quality professional web hosting service. There are number of web hosting services available on the internet that offer good high-quality hosting packages which can match all the requirements off your website. Some of them are the dedicated hosting service, the reseller web hosting service, the shared web hosting service, and many others.
If you really want to do some serious business over the internet, then the dedicated hosting service will be of great use. Even though the dedicated hosting services may be a bit costly, and would require you to invest some heavy amount of money in the beginning, it makes up for the output that you get in case of the dedicated hosting service. With the dedicated server, you get the privilege of having control over the entire web server. Further, there are very less security concerns in case of the dedicated hosting services, as you can have only those applications and softwares installed which are used by you. There will be fewer problems with the bandwidth, the web-space, memory and other security issues.
In case of the dedicated hosting service, you do not even have to share the IP address with other users. Where as, when you consider some of the other types of web hosting server, since you share all the web hosting resources, you may face a lot of problems even if one of the account of any of the users go down, making the whole web hosting server slow. One more benefit of using a dedicated server is that, even if you go over the limit of the resources that is allotted to you, you do not have to pay a lot of penalties since you are the owner of the entire web hosting server.
Also, for modifying any internal settings, or for changing any codes and features of the dedicated server, you do not require any permission from your web host. You can easily customize and change the web hosting server’s settings as per your website’s requirements and maximize the performance of your website and the web hosting server.
Another important advantage of dedicated servers is that, if you have some extra resources like the bandwidth and the web space, which you do not really require, then you can even resell it to any other user, thus making money out of something that you actually do not require. The dedicated server supports almost all the codes, scripts, and also lets you to install some of the very important .com and dll files that may be required by your website or the content that is present in it.
1. How many years have you been in business?
Ans. BODHost has been providing Web Hosting Service since 1999 – 11 Years Of Hosting Presence.
2. What Hosting packages do you offer?
Ans. We offer VPS – Virtual Private Servers, Cloud server hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting packages.
3. Do you provide linux Servers with Plesk installed on it?
Ans. Yes, we provide linux VPS and Dedicated Servers with Plesk Control Panel installed on it. Our standard linux control panel is cPanel – WHM.
4. Does Linux have more advantage over Windows Operating System?
Ans. Both Operating Systems are based upon the requirements of the client’s applications. The only main difference between them is that Linux is an Open-Source Platform whereas Windows Operating System requires additional licensing which is charged additional by the hosting provider.
5. Is a dedicated server better than a VPS?
Ans. The requirement is the priority. If you do not have much requirements, then it is always advisable to be more wise and opt for a VPS Hosting package rather than a dedicated server. However, if your resource utilization is high and cannot be managed on a VPS, then you will definitely need a Dedicated Web Server.
6. Are your Servers Fully Managed? And what does it include ?
Ans. Yes, our servers are fully managed and they include the following :
* Initial Server Setup.
* Routine server monitoring.
* Server Migration (If applicable).
* Disaster recovery planning and procedures including system and file backup.
* Server backup restoration in the event of a hardware failure.
* Server troubleshooting – We will help you trouble shoot if the server is not performing well.
* Regular maintenance of the operating system (updates & patches).
* Firewall configuration and Much More
7. What is your guarantee on a VPS ?
Ans. We guarantee 100% Network Uptime SLA which practically means “No Downtime”. This includes our VPS Hosting and Cloud server hosting packages.
8. Is cPanel better than Plesk ?
Ans. cPanel is supported with Linux Only as of now and is known for it’s easy interface. However, Plesk supports Linux as well as Windows Operating System. It’s hard to distinguish their pros and cons as both compete with each other at high standard levels. DotNet Panel – control panel will also be provided with our Windows VPS and dedicated web servers.
9. How many IPs do you provide with a VPS Hosting Package ?
Ans. We provide standard 2 Dedicated IPs with each VPS Hosting package – Linux Or Windows. However, you can definitely request for additional IP addresses for additional cost of $1.00USD per IP per month.
10. What is Linux Virtual Server Mirroring ?
Ans. This basically refers to Mirroring Setup of 2 VPS’s which includes replication of data between 2 VPS’s and also a setup of fail-over. In case one VPS fails, the other VPS immediately takes it’s place and guaranteed 100% Guaranteed Uptime – Redundant Solution.
11. Do you offer Colocation Services ?
Ans. Yes, we do offer colocation Servers. Price of Colocation Servers are as follows :
1U Rack Server : $199.00USD Per Month
2U Rack Server : $249.00USD Per Month
This plan includes :
- Fully Managed Colocation Unit
- 3000GB or 3TB High-Quality Bandwidth Per Month
- Dedicated IPs : 5
- 24×7 Customer Support
- No Additional Costs Involved
- No Setup Fee
BODHost – Colocation Services are offered for only high-end Web Server Hosting Solutions which are definitely value-for-money.
12. Do you provide Full SSH Root Access with your Linux VPS Hosting Package ?
Ans. Yes, we provide full SSH Root Access with our Linux VPS Hosting Packages.
13. Do you provide Full Remote Desktop Access with your Windows VPS Hosting Package ?
Ans. Yes, we provide full Remote Desktop Access with our Windows VPS Hosting Packages.
14. Do you support ASP and .NET on your Windows VPS Hosting Packages ?
Ans. Yes, we support ASP and .NET on our Windows VPS Hosting Packages.
15. What Operating Systems do you support on your servers ?
Ans. We Support Latest version of the following Operating Systems :
- Linux – centOS
- Linux – FedoraCore
- DebianOS
- Ubuntu
- Redhat Enterprise Linux
- FreeBSD
- Windows Server 2003 ( Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition )
- Windows Server 2008 ( Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition )
16. What Plesk Domains Control Panel Options do you provide ?
Ans. We provide the following Plesk Domains Control Panel Options :
- Plesk 10 Domains
- Plesk 100 Domains
- Plesk 300 Domains
- Plesk Unlimited Domains
17. What’s the basic difference between Managed and Unmanaged Dedicated Web Servers ?
Ans. The basic difference between Managed and Unmanaged Dedicated Web Servers is that with unmanaged servers, you will need to managed all installations of applications and softwares on the servers and also fix issues without any technical support assistance whereas with the managed dedicated or VPS Web Server is that you do not need to worry about the installations / configurations of applications and also security maintanence can be taken care of by the hosting technical support team.
All BODHost Servers are fully Managed without any additional fee. All you need to pay is the price on the website for the hosting packages and you will have your own fully Managed VPS Web Server or a dedicated server hosting packages.
18. Do you provide Server Monitoring System with your Servers ?
Ans. Yes, we provide Server Monitoring System with our Servers and can also set notifications to your emails with current status of the server hosting package.
19. Can i install custom applications on your Servers ?
Ans. As BODHost only provides VPS and dedicated servers, which means no restrictions. You can install custom applications on our Servers.
20. Can i resell my VPS Hosting Package ?
Ans. Yes, you can resell your VPS Hosting package. You will need a main VPS Control Panel installed on the VPS Hosting package that will allow you to resell your hosting space and bandwidth. You can also set your VPS Hosting package to provide Master Reseller Hosting Packages to your clients.
21. How much is for additional IP address ?
Ans. If you need additional IP address, it will cost you $1.00USD Per IP Per Month. Please be advised that we will need IP justification for each IP allocation to maintain records. For more information on IP justification allocation policies,
please view the link : http://www.bodhost.com/web-hosting/dedicated-servers-and-virtual-private-servers-ip-address-allocation-policies/
22. How much is bandwidth Overage Charges on a VPS or Dedicated Server ?
Ans. Bandwidth Overage charges on a VPS is 0.10 Per Gigabyte and for a Dedicated Server is 0.30 Per Gigabyte. However, it is always advisable to upgrade your bandwidth to unmetered bandwidth on a dedicated server and if you have a VPS Hosting package, you can consider upgrade of the hosting plan.
23. Can i host multiple domains on a single VPS Hosting Package ?
Ans. Yes, you can host multiple domains on a single vps hosting package. There are no restrictions in creation of multiple domains, sub-domains, email accounts etc.
24. Is there a maximum file size limitation ?
Ans. There are no such restricitions when we speak of uploading file size on to the VPS or a dedicated Server. All you need to watch is your disk space and not exceed the allocated disk space. However, you can always upgrade for more Hard Disk Space which will eventually increase your file size uploads.
25. What kind of Support do you offer ?
Ans. BODHost provides 24×7 US & Canada Toll-Free and International Phone Support, 24×7 Live Chat Support and 24×7 Email Support.
26. What is your guaranteed email response time ?
Ans. Our guaranteed email response time is 15 minutes.
27. Is there any montlhy contracts or commitments with your dedicated servers or VPS’s ?
Ans. There are no monthly contracts or commitments with our dedicated servers or VPS Hosting packages. You can always cancel the hosting package with a simple cancelation email ticket.
28. Do you offer 30 Days Money-back guarantee on your dedicated servers ?
Ans. No we do not offer 30 days money-back guarantee on your dedicated servers. However, we do offer 30 days money-back guarantee on our VPS Web Servers and Cloud hosting solutions.
29. How long does it take to setup a VPS ?
Ans. It takes about couple of hours to Setup a VPS – Approx. 3 – 4 Hours from the time of Signup and completion of verification process.
30. How long does it take to setup a dedicated server ?
Ans. It takes about 24 – 48 Hours to setup a dedicated server and complete all security tests carried out by our Server Security Department.
31. Do you offer Unlimited Bandwidth Hosting plans ?
Ans. Logically, it’s not possible to offer Unlimited Bandwidth hosting plans due to the basic reason that bandwidth allocated is backbone of ISP providers assigned to every hosting provider and has a price for every bandwidth connection and henceforth, the price of bandwidth cannot be avoided. We never Over-sell our hosting servers and believe in providing quality hosting service to our clients.
32. Do you host Adult sites, warez sites or sites containing illegal material?
Ans. We DO NOT allow any illegal content websites.
33. What is the connection speed of your dedicated servers ?
Ans. Our Servers have 5 x 10 Gbps uplinks for our Datacenter. All servers have 100 Mbps Nic card and they are connected to 1 Gbps switch.
34. Do you accept Paypal ?
Ans. Yes, we do accept paypal.
35. What are the other modes of payments that you accept ?
Ans. We accept Credit Cards, paypal, money-bookers and Wire Transfers to our United Kingdom bank accounts only. Our Administration currently operated from 1 KING STREET,
ALTOFTS, WAKEFIELD, WEST YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom
Each and every website that is present on the internet is hosted on some or the other web hosting server. Currently, there are various types of web hosting services available on the internet. Some of the most powerful dedicated hosting servers available are the dedicated server, the colocation web hosting server, the virtual private web hosting server (VPS), the shared web hosting server, the reseller web hosting server, and there are many others.
The dedicated server, the colocation web hosting server, and the virtual private web hosting server are the top quality web hosting servers that are a bit expensive, but offer a very high quality for your business or internet marketing website. There are many other types of web hosting server, for example, the shared web hosting server that are not as costly as the dedicated servers or the colocation servers, but the web hosting service and the web features that you get with a shared web hosting are not as professional when compared to these high quality dedicated hosting servers.
There are many internet marketers who do not want to invest a lot of money in the beginning itself. There are many others who do not afford a top quality web hosting dedicated server. So, they choose the shared web hosting server without considering the impact on their marketing efforts using such shared servers, which in turn might even harm their important website and the data that is present in it.
The shared web hosting, as the name itself suggest is shared among many users. All the features like the bandwidth, the web space, memory, and other web tools and applications. There can be a lot of security issues that you might have to face if you opt for a shared web hosting server. Furthermore, the shared web hosting server is always vulnerable to all kinds of virus and other harmful attacks due to the very fact that there will possibly be hundreds of other websites sharing the server with your site and some may carry harmful scripts on it that can cause problems to all other sites present on that shared server.
On the other hand, the dedicated server hosting are the best if you really want to do some serious business over the internet. The dedicated web hosting servers are used by top organizations as these servers offer great qualities and excellent features which often satisfy the requirements of the important websites of these organizations. Also, you do not have to share the dedicated web hosting server with any other website. This makes the dedicated web hosting server safer and very stable. You can also install only the operating system of your choice, and those softwares and web tools which are required by your website. You can also have complete control over your dedicated web server at all times. Due to this, there will be no unwanted softwares or applications running on the web hosting server, making it run smoothly without much load or problems.
In case of dedicated web servers, even though the initial investment may be a bit high, the quality of service and the features that you get along with a dedicated web hosting server makes up for the cost in the long run. With the dedicated web hosting server, you get total control over the dedicated server. The dedicated web hosting servers are also quite reliable, flexible, scalable, and offer very high quality features that helps in running your website smoothly, at very fast speeds, without stoppages, and very securely.
With dedicated servers, you get almost 100% network uptime, very high bandwidth and the complete web space which you do not have to share with anyone. Also, you get the luxury of 24/7 top-quality and dedicated customer supports, and almost instantaneous support by some top IT professionals working for these top web hosting companies offering quality dedicated server packages. You can further optimize the entire dedicated hosting server and allocate the web space and the bandwidth according to the requirements.
There are a lot of advantages of investing in dedicated servers and quality dedicated hosting packages. Even though the profit potential can be extremely rewarding, you will require some basic knowledge and idea about the operations of a dedicated server. You can also opt for and make lots of money using the great resources of a dedicated server by using it for your own web hosting reseller business. Hence, a dedicated server offers you unlimited opportunities – for your internet marketing, for your online business, or even as a base for your very powerful reseller business!
VPS Server vs. Dedicated Server
VPS servers and dedicated servers are the two forms of dedicated web hosting offered by most web hosting providers and allow for businesses that require reliable and secure web hosting services to use a web hosting package capable of meeting their requirements ideally. Although VPS servers and dedicated servers are separated by their separate form factors, with VPS server hosting being a form of virtual web hosting and dedicated server hosting being the only form of physical web hosting that is available. If you require a web hosting service that can provide you with large resource allocations then a dedicated server is going to be the way for you to go since the only restrictions you will face resource wise are going to be the actual limits of the server; however, VPS servers can still provide you with decent resource assignments that are capable at meeting the requirements of most users, just at a more affordable price. Windows server hosting services are offered by many web hosting providers although Linux server hosting servers generally tend to be more prevalent as they are normally cheaper and easier to provision for web hosting providers.
There are several different editions of the Windows server operating system meaning that there is a good range of choice to choose from depending on what your needs may be, however the use of the Windows operating system will also cost you more since web hosting providers will need to factor in the cost of the Windows operating system license; Linux on the other hand is an open source operating system meaning that it costs nothing to use and there are many different versions, or ‘distributions’, of Linux available that have all been designed to be used in different situations. Apart from the difference in form factor between VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting, there isn’t a great deal else that is different; both forms of dedicated web hosting will provide you with guaranteed assignments of RAM, disk space and bandwidth that you will be able to utilize as you see fit – with a dedicated server you will also be able to make full use of the server’s CPU whereas with a VPS server you will have to share the hosting node’s CPU with the other VPS servers that are hosted on the same node. Server hosting services are able to provide you with greater reliability in the long run, and for most uptime is one of the most important factors to consider in a web hosting package these days.
Windows Network Load Balancing Dedicated Servers
Network Load Balancer or Clusters that were included in Windows Server OS enabled TCP/IP-based services such as follows:
- Web Services
- Terminal Services
- Virtual Private Networking
- Streaming Media
It basically didn’t require any Hardware Support and distributed IP traffic across cluster hosts which ensures detecting host failures and re-distributes traffic to hosts. It provides control and upgrade from Windows NT 4.0 OS. It delivered high performance and fail-over protection in comparison with other load-balancers.
Financial Transactions, Database access, corporate connections and other functions required more reliability which was offered in Windows NLB. Cluster enabled different servers to manage and operate as a single server increasing availability and management.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Data Center Server OS includes cluster technology which also provides fail-over for applications and databases. In terms with NLB, traffic is distributed among multi-node clusters.
Advantages of Network Load balancing servers:
> Network Load Balancer Servers are Scalable based upon the activity it hosts. It always adds more no. of servers when we speak of traffic increase.
> Network Load Balancer Server improves reliability of servers. It detects failure of servers and distributes traffic among servers without interrupting any service.
> It distributes traffic based upon the client’s / Users request.
> In comparison, it’s much better than Round Robin Solutions
> 100% Network Uptime
> Centralized access to all cluster servers
> Cost effective when compared to hardware load-balancing techniques
Installation and Management of Network Load-balancing Dedicated Web Servers:
Network Load Balancer is automatically installed and enabled on the Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Operating System. It’s compatible with Ethernet and network adapters, it doesn’t require any hardware. In a NLB, customer is assigned a IP address which is seen as Virtual IP address which all cluster host respond to. Network Load Balancer load-balances only incoming traffic from all IPs. While configuration of NLB, it’s important that there should be a dedicated IP address, primary IPs and Virtual IP’s in order to enable host TCP/IP to respond to IP addresses. Dedicated IP address is entered first and then virtual IP addresses. Services such as PPTP Server does not allow outgoing connections from a different IP address and cannot be used by dedicated IP.
In a cluster, each host is assigned in range of 1 to 32 where lower no. refers to priority. The default host handles all client traffic for virtual IP addresses. Normally, in this case, if the default host fails, the next priority takes place. Network Load Balancer also customized port rules for range of server ports. It can select either Multiple-host or second hosting load balancing policies. With Multiple-host load balancing, incoming request are distributed among all cluster hosts and load percentage can be specified. In this case, it directs all traffic to most priority server. Rules specified at Ports can block different network access. WHen we speak of port rule multiple-host NLB, one of them is selected in affinity mode and Network Load Balancer client’s traffic from on IP addresses on multiple-cluster hosts. It reduces the load on the servers and increases the response time.
In order to manage client sessions, single-client affinity mode balances network traffic from client’s IP on a single cluster host. Network Load Balancer is configured with single port rule covers all port with multiple-host balancing and single client affinity. It is used for applications.
Network Load Balancer also has remote control program which allows administrators to check status of clusters from cluster host. Network Load Balancer for port rules can be enabled or disabled. New traffic can be blocked on host while TCP connections to complete removing host from cluster. Cluster host can disable remote control.
Applications do not need to be modified for load balancing. It does not directly monitor applications. Network Load Balancer provides application mechanism to monitor cluster. Servers can be removed from the clusters for maintenance without interference with other cluster servers. It also allows custom hardware of software upgrades.
Network Load Balancer scales the performance of server based program. It distributes request among different servers in a cluster. With NLB, each IP packet is received by each host. Cluster host responds to different client requests even multiple request from a single client. Load percentage can be handled with each cluster server and can be set as required depending upon the activity. In case one cluster host fails, the traffic and is re-distributed among other cluster host.
Network Load Balancer uses are fully distributed software architecture. A copy of Network Load Balancer driver runs on each cluster host. Drivers check for all incoming network traffic for cluster IP address. On each cluster host, they act as filter between network adapter drive and TCP/IP stack allowing portion of incoming network traffic. Incoming client request are partitioned and load-balanced among cluster host. Network Load Balancer runs as network driver which is below higher-level application protocol such as HTTP and FTP.
Network Load Balancer can also run as drive between TCP/IP protocol and network adapter drivers within Windows protocol. It maximizes throughput by broadcasting subnet to deliver incoming network traffic to cluster host and removers requirement to route incoming packers to individual cluster host. Filtering packets that are not required can be easily be removed than routed packages, it delivers higher Network Load Balancer throughput than any other solution. As network and speed improve, it improves accordingly and reduces dependencies on hardware. It’s availability in fail-over is another advantage.
Network Load Balancer takes advantage of subnet / switch hub to deliver network traffic to cluster host. It increases the load on switches by accessing additional port bandwidth. However, this is not the concern in many applications. Client-side network switch connections are faster than server-side connection. During packet receiving, Network Load Balancer implements delivery of incoming packages to TCP/IP and receiving other packets by Network adapter driver. It means it will speed up all the processes and reduces latency. In many cases, it removes packet data in memory.
Network Load Balancer uses layer-two broadcast or multi-cast to distribute incoming traffic to cluster host. Network Load Balancer re-assigns MAC address of network adapter for which it is enabled. And cluster host assigned the same MAC address. Incoming traffic received by cluster host and Network Load Balancer driver for filtering. MAC address is taken from cluster IP address in the Network Load Balancer properties.
Cluster host that is attached to switch, it might create MAC address conflict due to layer-two switches to see unique MAC address on all switch ports. In order to avoid these problems, Network Load Balancer modifies MAC address for outgoing packages. This prevents switch from learning the cluster’s MAC address and incoming packets for cluster are delivered to all switch ports. Cluster host connected to hub, Network Load Balancer masking for MAC address in Unicast disables to avoid flooding upstream switches. This is done by setting Network Load Balancer registry parameters MaskSourceMAC to 0.
Network Load Balancer unicast mode has a disadvantage of communication disabling between cluster hosts through cluster adapters. Outgoing packets for cluster host are sent to sender’s MAC address, packages are looped within sender by network stack and they do not reach the wire.
Communication between cluster hosts and host outside the cluster is never affected by NLB’s unicast mode. Traffic for all static IP address are received by cluster host due to the same MAC address. Network Load Balancer doesn’t load balance traffic for the IP address, Network Load Balancer deliver the traffic to TCP/IP on host.
With other cluster host, Load balancing Servers checks it’s traffic as load balanced traffic and deliver to TCP/IP. Network Load Balancing also has another mode by distributing incoming traffic to cluster hosts which is called multi-cast mode. Network Load Balancer – Unicast also increases switch flooding by delivering incoming network traffic to cluster hosts, however this is not the case with multi-cast mode. Network Load balancing have Address Resolution Protocol which is required for the cluster’s main IP and virtual IP address resolving to cluster multi-cast MAC address. Network Load Balancing does not include management of incoming IP traffic other than TCP traffic, UDP traffic, Generic routing encapsulation traffic for each port.
Debian Dedicated Web Server Hosting Security
Internet gateways are known to have the most threats in terms of server security. Basically, the traffic that is allowed through the network. When we speak of security, the first thing that comes into our mind is the storage of confidential data such as Credit Card nos. etc.
Also, Virus such as Worms or Trojans and preventions of any intrusions are part in Web Server security. Banking security, prevention of hacking attempts are all included in security provisioning. Any Web server that is connected to the internet has a direct threat.
In case of server breach, it can be used for spams, hacking other servers and running illlegal activities on the server. Infact, many illegal activities include DOS attacks to other web servers. A hacker can seriously damage a server without even the server owner knowing about it. We will learn more on Debian Server Security in this post. We can also set “honey pot” when we speak of server security. In this case, hackers are directly attracted to a honey pot. However, prior to setup a honey pot, make sure you have remote backup space in case to start from the basic. The first is to prevent unauthorized access to the server. Following are some of the security practices on servers :
- Operating System Security ardening
- Application configuration
- Perimeter security
- Physical security
Operating System Security Hardening :
- Disable all default accounts
- File system security configurations
- Strong and long accounts password
- In order to disable accounts, change default shell to /bin/false
- Change startup configuration
- Disable TCP/IP ports that are run to scan ports.
- File system security
- No usage of common names for groups to reduce the risk of hacks
- TCP wrappers to run Internet-related daemons
- Appropriate hosts.allow Configuration
- Not running GUI
- Log off from Server consoles when not required
Configurations of Applications :
Applications installation and configurations must be done with great care as they can be the source to server hack. Insecure applications can cause harm to your Debian dedicated web server. Applications may have vulnerability to buffer overflow attacks which provides access to hackers and security threats.
It’s advisable that you should notice the following points :
- Securing insecure applications
- Check for Application updates
- Application Port Opening – Only which is required
- Secure CGI Scripts
- SSI Security management
- Secure FTP Access for Uploads
- Blocking IPs
- Latest Security Measures.
With DebianOS, disable open ports which are not required through by renaming their S symlinks in runlevel directory. Debian boots into runlevel 2 default by command : cd /etc/rc2.d
Search for symlink S20ssh which opens port for remote console and enhnaces security. Rename symlinks with command : mv S20ssh _S20ssh and this can be done for S20exim4, S20lpd, and S21nfs-common. Run netstat -ap command for /sbin/portmap is the applications has sunrpc port 111 open. NFS requires RPC. We can disable portmap in this case. We can rename symlinks with the following command :
mv /etc/rc2.d/S18portmap /etc/rc2.d/_S18portmap
mv /etc/rcS.d/S43portmap /etc/rcS.d/_S43portmap
Once done, reboot your Debian Dedicated Web Server and then run netstat -a
- Configurations of chroot jail will allow applications directory appear from root of file system. Access to only applications that will reduce the risk to access the entire file system. Apache web server running on DebianOS can easily setup jail as we can use Apache module to complete the task. We can add one line to the configuration file by the following command :
apt-get install libapache-mod-chroot
This will install Apache modules and in case to select from packages or existing modules.conf, add the following link to modules.conf file :
/etc/apache/modules.conf file:
LoadModule choot_module /usr/lib/apache/1.3/mod_chroot.so
In this case, logs, CGI and directories are the same and we don’t need to create new directories or make any changes to the ownership of the directories.
Chroot Apache applications, Apache IDS module which will search for any threats and will block them. You can simply add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list file :
http://etc.inittab.org/~agi/debian/libapache-mod-security/etch/
Once added, you can run the following command :
apt-get update
Apt will be aware of tge package at the website. In order to install and enable module, enter the following command :
apt-get install libapache-mod-security
Add the following line to /etc/apache/modules.conf :
LoadModule security_module /usr/lib/apache/1.3/mod_security.so
It will search for any threats, http / PHP requests and block them. We can also add rules to httpd.conf file in order to let it know to as what needs to be checked.
For starters, add the following lines to the bottom of your httpd.conf file:
# *** MODULE CONFIG
# Turn the filtering engine On or Off
SecFilterEngine On
# Make sure that URL encoding is valid
SecFilterCheckURLEncoding On
# Unicode encoding check
SecFilterCheckUnicodeEncoding Off
# Only allow bytes from this range
SecFilterForceByteRange 0 255
# Only log suspicious requests
SecAuditEngine RelevantOnly
# Server masking -
# Don’t tell them it’s an Apache installation
SecServerSignature “Lotus-Domino/6.x”
# The name of the audit log file
SecAuditLog /var/log/apache/audit.log
# Debug level set to a minimum
SecFilterDebugLog /var/log/apache/modsec_debug.log
SecFilterDebugLevel 0
# Should mod_security inspect POST payloads
SecFilterScanPOST On
# By default log and deny suspicious requests
# with HTTP status 403
SecFilterDefaultAction “deny,log,status:403″
Adding Fileter rules :
SecFilter /etc/passwd
SecFilter /bin/ls
SecFilter /bin/uname
SecFilter /usr/bin/whoami
SecFilter cd\x20/tmp
SecFilter wget\x20
# Block Santy.A worm
SecFilterSelective ARG_highlight %27
# Block drop table SQL injection attack
SecFilter “drop[[:space:]]table”
# Only accept request encodings we know how to handle
# we exclude GET requests from this because some (automated)
# clients supply “text/html” as Content-Type
SecFilterSelective REQUEST_METHOD “!^(GET|HEAD)$” chain
SecFilterSelective HTTP_Content-Type \
“!(^application/x-www-form-urlencoded$|^multipart/form-data;)”
# Do not accept GET or HEAD requests with bodies
SecFilterSelective REQUEST_METHOD “^(GET|HEAD)$” chain
SecFilterSelective HTTP_Content-Length “!^$”
# Require browser headers from all user agents
SecFilterSelective “HTTP_USER_AGENT|HTTP_HOST” “^$”
# Require Content-Length to be provided with every POST request
SecFilterSelective REQUEST_METHOD “^POST$” chain
SecFilterSelective HTTP_Content-Length “^$”
# Don’t accept transfer encodings we know we don’t handle
SecFilterSelective HTTP_Transfer-Encoding “!^$”
Once done, please make sure you restart Apache with /etc/init.d/apache restart
Microsoft release of Windows Server 2008 has truly been a revolution which is designed to perform for networks, applications. The most important is that it is technology effiicient. Client’s who have been using Windows Server 2003 can easily move to Windows Server 2008 Server. It has been built on the foundations of Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003. New tools, virtualization techniques such as Hyper-V, enhancement in security and managements tools that not only reduces cost for the licenses but also improves the performance on the windows web servers.
With Windows Server 2008, management and deployment is a lot easier when compared to windows server 2003. It’s easier interface when compared to it’s predecessors has proved that it’s completely user friendly. Features such as Windows PowerShell which is basically Command-line shell which allows administrators to automate tasks accross windows cluster servers. It can also deploy OS through network. It also support IPV6 allocations which makes it easier once our IPV4’s are over.
Server Cost installation of Windows Server 2008 allows installation of server roles without actually requiring a graphical interface. Windows Server 2008 has built-in Virtualization software which is basically hypervisor-based server virtualization software – hardware virtualization which will create virtual macgines on a single physical macgine can run other Operating Systems on a single server. This enables you to save more on the virtualization costs that is basically required to be paid to Virtualization software companies. Applications can also be virtualized through Windows Server 2008 centralized application access. Easy Remote access to windows-based programs. Now, this means you do not need a VPN to connect to a client’s server. Windows Server 2008 also comes wih IIS 7.0 which is the next version to IIS 6.0 that was on Windows Server 2003 series. IIS 7.0 is required to unify Web platform that includes ASP.NET, Windows Services and Sharepoint Services. It has been seen that Windows Server 2008 Security has been enhanced. It also prevents any unauthorized connections to the networks, server or data.
Network Access Protection (NAP) checks every network connections to the server. Active Directory Services security has also been enhanced on a Windows Server 2008 Server. Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) and BitLocker Drive Encryption provides complete security to AD database at branch office locations. It also extends to Windows HPC Server 2008.
Windows HPC Server 2008 is utilized to scare different processing costs to improve productivity and reduce the complexity of HPC environment.