A VPS Web server acts as a stand-alone server, complete with its own users, IP addresses, memory, root access, and configuration files. The size of these virtual servers can be adjusted much more easily than physical servers, making them a versatile asset for anyone using them.Basically, you pay for resources as you need them. “Scalability” is the word used to describe this.
My belief of what constitutes a minimum server specs is as follows;
20GB Diskspace (Incremental 20GB space costs as little as a dollar per month)
512 MB Ram If you will be dabbling into MySQL database like in WordPress, this should be a minimum.
1024 GHz CPU speed
300 GB Bandwidth
1 IP address
Linux OS (Debian / CentOS preferrably)
Virtuozzo Linux VPS (Basic GUI access to your server)
Starting out with VPS hosting can be overwhelming at times, especially to the noobs. Therefore, it is advisable to start out with a little hand holding from your host by subscribing to the managed VPS option.
The term “managed” VPS describes a VPS offering whereby your host will support any issue concerning all standard softwares included in your package; Linux Os, Virtuozzo Panel, etc. However, in most cases, the host will do nothing unless you request it to, so you would still need to monitor the VPS yourself, though most hosts make security patches to supported softwares a priority.
For “Unmanaged” VPS, your host’s obligation to you stops after ensuring that the network to your server remains connected and the host node running; you’re responsible for everything else on the VPS. In simple english, You are on your own.
Expectedly, the managed VPS offering costs more but you get a lot of rest of mind in return.
Choice of Control Panel
The next logical step would be a choice of a control panel and my choice of ISPCONFIG was based on the following factors;
– Ease of installation with a lot of “hand-holding” from HowToForge.com
– More User friendly compared to the more efficient Webmin
– 3 levels of administration : Admin, Resellers and Users. Important for those who intend to resell VPS hosting
All the steps required to set up your server is contained on howtoforge.com
