Rackshak dedicated server

[aaandy]

Hello everyone,

This seems to be my very first post here!!! I came here from SP forums. Anyway, congrats on good job aspen!!!!

At the moment I'm considering getting a dedicated server from rackshak. Currently I have a reseller account at MChost, but I'm very pissed of with them. Uptime is very bad. A couple of days ago they did some software upgrade. And as a result all my sites are not working properly!!! My clients are very angry:(((

So I decided to get a dedicated server. About my needs:
At the moment I have a dozen of websites. Accumulated traffic will be less than 5 GB.
My budget is not more for $150 for the server and rackshak seems to have very competitive prices. But the only thing that concerns me is that I'll have to do all server administration myself.
What do you say?

Also, what about all those systems they have:
plesk, ensim, red hat. Which one would you recommend?

What kind of computer do I need?

I will hardly be using more than 1 Gb of space and 20 GB of traffic per month.

Andy

[Chris]

I have 2 rackshack servers and am very pleased. Uptime is stellar and the price is great.

Here is what I'd do.

1. Wait for them to run a major sale -- they do it often (you might be able to sign up for their newsletter). Often the sale will include free setup and cheaper prices.

2. Buy the most expensive server you can afford. The reason is that they charge more for upgrades than they do for servers so you're better off buying a nice server now than trying to upgrade a cheaper one later.

3. I'd get ensim - its not great but it is easy to use (especially if you're just using it for your own sites). The real reason for using it is you'll find an answer to just about any question you might have in the rackshack support forums. There are alot of ensim experts that hang out there.
You'll also find tutorials on doing things.

Basically you only need to do two things once you get your server that may be difficult.

1. install bastille (a security program)
2. setup your own nameservers

Both of which you can find easy to follow tutorials for.

Everything else can be done via Ensim's point and click control panel.

[aaandy]

Chris,

Thanks for your feedback. I did everything as you suggested. Now I have a dedicated server:D :D :D

Ensim seems to be pretty straight forward.
But the very first question.
How do I set up my own nameservers?

also, should i get a new domain for that or I should use my main domain?

also, is that possible to install WHM for resellers and cpanel for site users?

Thanks,
Andy

[Chris]

you can use your main domain.

ns1.domain.com
ns2.domain.com

if you wanted to install WHM and CPanel you should have gotten one of those servers, not ensim.

See this thread at Rackshack:

http://forums.rackshack.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5309

It has a checklist of things to do with a new ensim box.

[aaandy]

la.............. what server do I need for WHM and Cpanel?
is i possible to change it?

[Chris]

WHM and Cpanel is just software that does the exact same thing that Ensim does. You're paying for ensim, so to pay for other software that does what you can already do is a waste of money.

If you had wanted those you shouldn't have gotten an ensim server.

[beley]

We currently have a server at RS and love it... just remember it's unmanaged. You will be responsible for doing all the software upgrades and installations of new software. You'll manage the server, and if anything goes wrong the most they'll do is reformat and reinstall the OS, which they'll charge you for.

It's more for experienced administrators... but if you're up to the challenge it's a great deal.

[Chris]

Unless its a hardware issue - they handle those.

[Mike]

Sorry but, could someone tell me what ensim is? Is it just a control panel like Cpanel and Plesk?

Another thing, would you have to know Linux to manage with one of these?

Sorry for all novice questions, but I ain't got a clue when it comes down to servers!

[Chris]

Yes, its like cpanel and plesk.

You don't need to know any linux if you don't want to make any changes to the standard setup-- but knowing linux is definitely a plus and something you may want to look into.

[Mike]

Thanks, may get a book on linux.

[aaandy]

hey!

I just upgraded my ensim to cpanel. It looks much better:) I used cpanel and whm before now at mchost.
But still I'm very confused.... anyone uses cpanel here?
How do I set up my nameservers?

Andy

[beley]

Isn't there a link on the left that says "Initial Nameserver Setup?" I think it's right at the top under Server Setup.

[aaandy]

ok... I see now...

could you please give me some kind of check list of applications that should be installed?

thanks,
Andy

[aaandy]

mmmmm.. where do I take IPs for the nameservers?
rackshack provided me only one IP. should I use it for both ns1 and ns2 nameservers? or should I get additional ip?

[Mike]

I don't really know, but I'd have thought you'd use the one IP for both.

Someone would have to confirm that though.

[jfiliss]

I have been with Rackshack for 2 years, and I'm very happy with them. It took them a little over a year to work out the bugs with support and so forth, but now they are absolutely top notch, aside from being the price leader.

I don't know your proficiency with Linux and servers, but you might want to consider getting a plain RedHat server and installing Webmin, which is an open source control panel in some ways superior to Ensim, Cpanel, and Plesk. Perhaps its most important strong point is, to put it in non-technical terms, that it is non-invasive. You can run the latest stable versions of MySQL, PHP, and RH without worrying about breaking anything. The other control panels are too limited in this regard.

Rackshack is considering underwriting the Webmin open source project.

[aaandy]

Hey guys!

Thanks for your replies. I made a request for rackshack to reimage my server. Now I have whm and cpanel and I'm pretty happy with it. The reason why I like cpanel is because I was using it for a year on my reseller account at mchost.

Anyway, my server is up and running and everything is much easier that I thought it would be:)))

Anyway, I have several problems. One of them is my main domain stats problem:(((

All my websites are sharing the same ip my main domain has. So, when I'm trying to check stats for my main domain, it gives me some weird numbers. It looks like it gives me accumulated stats of my all accounts.......
However other accounts resolve correct numbers.

Anyone experienced this problem before?

Thanks,
Andy

[Chris]

I've not seen it.

I think RS servers come with a free trial of Urchin, which is a pretty good stats program.

[jfiliss]

Yeah, it's like $1 for a program that costs over $600.

I'd say it's a fair deal. :-)

[alexbank]

Hi all , i got many interesting information,

[snoopers]

I'm a big fan of CPanel and WHM too.

To those looking at low cost dedicated servers, take a look at nocster and server matrix. They offer smiliar prices, but are willing to offer more support.

[Mike]

CPanel is the best out there, IMHO. It should be for it's price though, think it's quite expensive...

[ozgression]

I have WHM, CPanel and Urchin. They all rock, especially Urchin (although I use awstats more often).
________
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[Mike]

Is Urchin a webstats program? If so, why is it so good? I think I need a new one, mine doesn't seem to be too reliable:)