ServersFAQ
From MDSupportWiki
Contents |
Ordering a Custom Server how-to
You may have questions about the different servers we offer and how they can be configured. This FAQ gives some quick guidelines.
Processor Type
This is probably the most important part of the dedicated server. Our dedicated servers are grouped into four distinct categories. From least to most expensive:
- Single Processor, Single Core servers (1 CPU)
- Single Processor, Multi Core servers (2 CPUs)
- Multi Processor, Single Core servers (2 CPUs)
- Multi Processor, Multi Core servers (4-8 CPUs)
The vast majority of our clients usually pick a server from the first two categories. If you require extra performance, you should be prepared to pay a few hundred dollars more.
RAM
The more intensive your website is, the more RAM you need. Generally, most servers can get by with either 512MB or 1024MB RAM. As a rough guideline:
- Server with less then 1000 unique visitors a day: 512MB
- Server with 1000-5000 unique visitors a day, or Reseller with 50 clients, or server running Windows 2003: 1024MB
- Server running intensive Cron jobs, or lots of simultaneous connections, or very large Resellers: 2048MB
- Server running a web hosting company or running intensive scientific/cryptographic sequences: 4096MB
Storage Options
There are many different storage options you can select.
- Simple websites should only need 1 harddisk no bigger than 250GB
- If you require a more reliable webserver, you should consider getting two harddisks and putting them in a RAID configuration
- High performance websites require SATA/SCSI drives
Raid Configuration
Raid stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks. You can configure your hard drives in either Raid 1 (two drive minimum) or Raid 5 (three drive minimum).
When configured in Raid 1, one of your hard disks can fail and your service will still run as normal. In Raid 5, two of your hard disks can fail, and your service will still run as normal.
Raid is a way of increasing the reliability and redundancy of your server.
Control Panel
The control panel is an easy way of configuring and maintaining your web server and configuring your domains. Unless you have advanced network administration knowledge you will need one.
The two competing products are cPanel and Plesk. We think that cPanel is a lot easier to use, so we recommend it over Plesk.
O/S
You have a choice of several operating systems. We recommend CentOS, a free Linux distribution. Windows licenses are generally quite expensive and consume a lot of resources, so you probably have to have a very good reason to use any Windows software.
Backup Options
We offer two different backup solutions, Disk Synch and Network (NAS) Storage:
- Network Storage is an inexpensive backup solution, and allows for manual copying of files over FTP or other IP protocols
- Disk Synch is a more comprehensive solution. It comes with an easy to use GUI interface that lets you manage your backups, create periods of data retention and automatically schedule backups. You can restore individual files or the entire server from the last known good configuration if required.
Port Speed
You can select either a 10MB/s or 100MB/s ethernet port. In practice, only very busy websites with lots of concurrent connections (and serving out large media files) would need more than 10MB, so you can save some money by selecting a 10MB port.
Server Management
We recommend all clients use MD Server Management. In short, MD technicians will take care of the normal day to day running of your server. Heres what you get:
- 24x7 monitoring and support
- Proactive security updates
- Operating system and application updates
- Hosting control panel system updates and troubleshooting
- Daily log audit
- 5 hours of system administration time per month
- Troubleshooting and resolving server technical issues and software installations
As well as an initial setup which includes:
- Installation and configuration of firewall
- Setup of private name servers and host name
- Basic configuration and setup of hosting control panel
- Latest security and application updates
- Secure server from common exploits and vulnerabilities
- Installation of antivirus software
Monthly Budget
Here you select how much you are willing to spend. A larger monthly budget lets you purchase multi processor servers with lots of RAM, whereas smaller budgets may limit what we are able to offer. You can check out our prepackaged plans as a guideline of what you might get for your spend.
Configuration Requests
If you require any special configurations then here is where you put them. Examples might include more than 4 hard drives, extra bandwidth, more than 5 IP Addresses, extra software installations, or special configurations.
