General Hosting Tips

[JmZ]

So these things bug me occasionally because people don't bother even thinking about them. Here's a short list of tips in relation to purchasing hosting.

RDP

RDP is not a service, it is not a product, it is a protocol. It is included in all modern distributions of windows (server), it is included in all windows VPSes everywhere.
Understand this, when you buy RDA/RDP, you are purchasing a windows account on a large server which happens to have RDP access enabled.
Buying a windows VPS would result in the same thing, you could access it just as easily using RDP.
However, one account on a huge server vs. one VPS on a huge server may have benefits still, so 'RDP sellers' are still useful.

2-Gigabit, 1-Gigabit

Many hosts appear to offer 2-gigabit lines, do look into this before purchasing, actually ask for proof that such speeds can be reached on their network.
I have seen several hosts in the past simply have two NICs (network interface cards), each supporting a gigabit but connected to the same *1-gigabit line*. In which case, you'd only get 1-gigabit, not 2.

So please do make sure before buying that it can actually exceed a gigabit in speed at one point in time to avoid disappointment.

As for 1-gigabit, this is far more common so is usually what it says on the tin, but it'd still be a good idea to check it out first.

i7 CPUs

i7's are indeed good processors, but unless you are encoding video or similar, please do look for a xeon instead.

An i7 is not a server-grade CPU, it is not built to the same reliable standard that a xeon is. A xeon will always be better for a server unless you're encoding media (i7's sometimes perform better due to hyperthreading, but the new xeons also have HT).

The new xeons are sometimes labelled as i7's so don't just go avoiding them all together, actually check the model if you care. Obviously not everyone cares what the CPU is, i just mean if you do.

L-series Xeons

Small note, if an intel CPU on a server deal you're looking at contains the letter 'L', it is likely an energy-saving/low-power CPU. So expect lower performance than a regular processor (cheaper for the provider to run though as it will use less power).

Lots of RAM

If the server you want/have contains more than 12GB of RAM, I would strongly recommend getting your host to reduce that amount and subtract the cost from your monthly bill.

It is rare that anyone on here actually needs that much RAM so get rid of it and save money. It is fairly cheap these days though, so if you only save a few dollars, keep it I guess.

VDS, VPS, difference?

Some hosts sell 'VDS' rather than 'VPS'.

A VDS is a VPS. It was originally a synonym, meant the exact same thing.
However, these days it usually means the following:
- A VPS can burst resources and shares them. So it is allocated memory, on-the-fly, meaning you get it as you use it. You share the whole memory with every other VPS.
- A VDS cannot burst (usually) and is allocated dedicated resources. Meaning it is allocated one fixed amount of memory, one block which it shares with nobody and occupies at all times. So to the physical system, that chunk of memory is always allocated even though the VPS (aka 'VDS') may not have maxed out its memory.

So in this case, the benefit is you are guaranteed resources with a VDS. For example, the host can even allocate specific cores to you on the CPU which no other VPS may use. Basically your resources are dedicated to you, hence the name, virtual dedicated server.

DMCA

Oh DMCA, you silly little thing.
I don't need to say much about this except the following few points:
- Don't just go find the most remote location you can find with the least law enforcement possible to avoid these things. 99% of you will be fine in The Netherlands, Sweden and possibly even Switzerland or Germany. The more remote/far-away you go, the worse the network becomes generally, it is not worth it.
- If you have a lot of content, just remove the reported posts, it is a LOT easier than trying to avoid such notices.
- It is an american act, it does not apply in any other country. Datacenters/providers just choose to enforce it to avoid problems, they aren't required to by law unless they are in the US.

Specific Datacenters

Sometimes it is a good idea to look for servers/hosting in a specific DC, though for most of you this won't matter (and if you think it does, you're likely exaggerating it).

However, the common good ones are as follows:

Netherlands - Leaseweb (evoswitch), Softlayer (ams01, amsterdam)
USA - Any equinix datacenter, softlayer, each are in several states
Sweden - PRQ (reasonably good) and possibly interxion (haven't tried it)
France - OVH (Kimsufi is their cheaper, less professional side)
Germany - Hetzner (Very good provider), Intergenia (huge provider)

There are many, many more but these are the 'common' ones used mostly.

Litespeed, Lighttpd, Nginx, Apache

Honestly, since Apache2, there isn't such a noticeable difference in speed between these when serving *static content*. When serving dynamic content, the non-apache servers often perform better.

Litespeed costs and in my opinion is a pointless choice. It is like the middle, between Apache and the rest, there's no use for it.

My favourite is Nginx because it is very speedy, light and easy to configure. It is also very customisable, really, you can do many advanced configurations which apache may struggle with.

I'd recommend Lighttpd or Nginx with PHP-FPM and PHP5.

Cloud Hosting

Think of this as a buzzword, with filehosts too, not just regular hosts.
Very few of the hosts and filehosts on here, if any, are actually based on clouds, they simply think the term is a marketing keyword and use it.

If you were to actually look at their systems, I can guarantee almost all of them would have no form of cloud setup. Instead, they'll be standard, regular hosts, like every other host, just claiming to be on the 'cloud' as an attempt to attract customers and sound modern.

Half of them don't even know what a hypervisor or cloud toolkit is, nevermind actually having one setup. So yeah, assume it is nothing more than a buzzword unless actually proven otherwise.

Choosing a good host

This is purely my opinion, so choose to follow it or not, entirely upto you.

If I were to choose a host here, I would do the following:
- Prefer hosts who provide quick support via their website, NOT aim, msn, etc. I do not consider instant messaging to be professional, however, skype is an exception as it has a use (actual voice chat with your host).
- Read customer posts in the thread beforehand, obvious thing to do but very important
- If you need a fast network, require evidence of it beforehand (from a customer is better as they have experienced it themselves), ask in the thread.
- Never go for the cheapest host you can find, ever. This doesn't mean the cheap ones are bad, however. My point is actually to research the host rather than picking the cheapest and buying immediately.

Pro tip bombardment

Hope this thread helped you.

JmZ

JmZ Reviewed by JmZ on 24th Jun 2012. General Hosting Tips So these things bug me occasionally because people don't bother even thinking about them. Here's a short list of tips in relation to purchasing hosting. RDP RDP is not a service, it is not a product, it is a protocol. It is included in all modern distributions of windows (server), it is included in all windows VPSes everywhere. Understand this, when you buy RDA/RDP, you are purchasing a windows account on a large server which happens to have RDP access enabled. Buying a windows VPS Rating: 5

[Flash]

Im 12 and what is this

[AdRianaLiMaaa]

Simply put... Thank you!

[mintcold]

hey Jmz thanks for such a helpful post , can you please help me out with what to choose between xeon and i7 ?

I need Hypeerthreading for sure , but other than that what are the other pros /cons of the two as a server processor ?

[JmZ]

The X34xx, W35xx, W36xx, (E/X/W)55xx, (E/X)56xx and E3-xxxx processors generally support hyperthreading.

The main difference between an i7 and a xeon is the fact that xeons support ECC memory (see below) and dual-processor configurations, also they often support larger amounts of memory.

ECC (error correcting code) is a memory feature, it allows your memory to detect and fix small errors. May not sound very important because, after all, your desktop doesn't have it and runs fine, right? But it is an extremely important thing to have on servers for maximum reliability and stability.

These hosts which sell i7's (and therefore don't have ECC) do so because an i7-based system is often cheaper to build. Reason being, ECC RAM costs more, as do the motherboards and processors which support it.

If you can get a cheap i7-based server, go ahead if its really worth it. But if you can get a xeon for the same price or a little more, I would recommend you get that instead.

Also you might want to note that any intel processor containing the letter 'L' in the model number is more than likely a low-power model. Meaning it will run at a lower clock and such, to save power and increase efficiency (so it will likely be slower).

[mintcold]

Thanks a lot JmZ , I had a feeling of xeon being better ....

[JmZ]

Glad I helped.

I added the note about the L-series CPUs to the main post now too.
Since I see those being sold a lot recently.

[DLow]

Very well said and explained JmZ

your one hell of a administrator to this community

[augustusrome]

Good Info. Keep updating this thread so that it will be very useful for all, especially n00b.

if possible provide DC information brief info.

Thanks

[subha86]

thanks for useful information.