Where do I start or "set a new home linux server"

Where do you start setting your new Linux VPS ? Well let's start with which distro should i be using ?

For me it was my old friend Ubuntu .I'm an Ubuntu user for a couple of years now  , I'm used to the shell commands and some environment settings so i choose Ubuntu 8.04 LTS server.

It came bare naked !

Just an openSSH server installed

So i had installed :

• LAMP ,apache ,mysql ,php5
  
• wordpress on it
  
• postfix as MTA
• mailscanner + spamassin for mail filtering
  
• dovcot for pop3s
• and some basic shorewall predefined rules
• MRTG for traffic
  
• and as a mistake clamav
  

All went smoothly without any issues except clamav lib which turned up to be too much resource consuming and had it removed from the VPS.

I had to have  a fall back for my mail so i set up a Google apps account and added a MX record with higher number so in case my mail server will be unavailable all mail will be routed to Google apps

Step 3 Xen or Open VZ

Long time since i had this one publish ,sorry

Well next is to decide which technology should my VPS be hosted on .
I decided to go for Xen technology rather then a OpenVZ.
You should google for differences ,but for me it is mainly preferring stability over performance .


Edit :A year after that decision ,had proved it self since i hadn't got a downtime except un expected power interruption.

Choose (suitable ,reliable and cheap) VPS provider

Choosing the suitable VPS provider was the second step .I first had to define what were the priorities i want for my VPS.
I decided that they are :
1) Cheaper then ADSL line. Previous post explains it
2) Reliable. I don't want to be frustrate for unavailability
3) Low network latency
4) Nice to have: Linux geeks operators

After some Googling i found those options :



Well XenVZ was suiable for the praiorities I've set and just had a nice sale which duobles the RAM size and cuts by half the price .
More than that ,this renting conditions are not time limited .

I had 2 more tasks before signing up :

• Decide which visualization technology suites my needs ( OpenVZ or Xen )
• Check the minimum virtual hardware needed

My choice for visualization technology was Xen ,i will elaborate more on the next post .
For the hardware I've set a small ubuntu 8.04 ( i moved all my linux machines to Ubuntu after 4 years of CentOS 'ing ) VMware with the XenVZ Bronze package ( 10 Gigs of disk ,128 MB RAM ) and install my wordpress LAMP including all the plug-ins .Added Postfix MTA + dovecot +mailscanner and run it for 2-3 days for stability. I've tried loading it to simulate the highest load (which it is quite low since it is a home server :2-3 mails a minute+ 2 concurent web site viewers ).

Well it did it quite well :-)

So I've signed up for the bronze package with 10 gigs of disk space 256 MB RAM (double RAM offer ) for £6.99 a month.
After 6 moths I'm quite happy for that decision.They are professionals ! no networks glitzes ,High availability ,Good support when needed ,no low resources.
I still cautious so I'm paying month by month (which it is also a nice feature of not being obligated to pay for long time in advance)