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Wanting to learn server administration. VPS or Dedicated?




Posted by ahill45601, 09-01-2016, 09:19 PM
I am wanting to start playing around with server administration. I have a managed VPS so I have played around with it a bit. I am wanting to get a low end VPS or dedicated server to test. My question is there much difference in initial setup? I wanted to get a dedi so I could learn from the beginning. But before I did, I wanted to ask if there is any difference other than sharing resources. The reason for this question is if there is anything different or extra in setting it up I want to go with the dedicated. If not then I can save a few bucks and just get a VPS. I am looking at the budget providers and the dedi is $10 and the VPS starts at $3. Price at that point isn't important but why spend more if I don't need too?

Posted by net, 09-01-2016, 10:09 PM
$10 for a dedicated server? How many cores you like? You want it at least Intel E5?

Posted by ahill45601, 09-01-2016, 11:46 PM
It is at wholesaleinternet. AMD 248 Preconfigured 2.2 Ghz - 2 processors 2 Cores / 2 Threads Just getting my feet wet and it is only for testing it out and getting familiar with servers and maybe test a few sites. I really have no idea what the minimum specs should be for this purpose. Would this not work?

Posted by madRoosterTony, 09-01-2016, 11:51 PM
Depending on what OS you are wanting to learn to start, I would look at the minimum requirements for that OS and then double it for resources giving you enough room to play. There is nothing worst when trying to learn then having to wait on the server to respond. In saying, once the core OS is installed, the management side is the same for VPS and Dedicated.

Posted by ahill45601, 09-02-2016, 12:18 AM
Thanks for your response. I am wanting to use centos. The only description for that particular server is the processor I listed above, 4gb ram, 250gb hdd. Surely that would work wouldn't it? But if after installing the OS the functions are the same should I save the few bucks and get a vps instead? Nothing else is different?

Posted by DennisTT, 09-02-2016, 12:33 AM
For learning, I would say a VPS would be more cost-efficient and easier. And many VPS providers will have a control panel for you to quickly reload your VPS with (another) operating system in case you mess something up, or you want to try out another OS.

Posted by EugeneWHZ, 09-02-2016, 08:17 AM
From the one hand (finance related side) that is right statement and there is no need to pay more, but from the other hand you chose VPS or dedicated server with certain configuration not just because you like the price (can afford this) - you chose that because your web project or web application requires that. So all mentored point are important and you need to take them into account.

Posted by ahill45601, 09-02-2016, 11:37 AM
Thanks for the help. Guess I will get a cheap VPS to fool around with. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss something in setup so when I do get to a dedi I would know where to start.

Posted by Mujahed-Developer, 09-02-2016, 12:21 PM
1- Dedicated OR even VPS might be just a waste of money if your purpose of buying is just learning, you can use any virtualization environment to setup virtual machines on your local computers, start from there, typically as a web developer, we usually use vagrant with virtualbox or VMware to create a development environment for building web applications, maybe that is more suitable for you, as if you messed up something in your server all you have to do is to re-create it, plus it won't cost you anything. 2- If you're really serious about learning server administration, search for RHCA/RHCE courses, there are tons of cheap non-official courses (Official courses cost a lot)..

Posted by whmcsguru, 09-02-2016, 02:05 PM
Neither Buy an old PC, put Linux on it. Or just remove Windows entirely, surround yourself in Linux

Posted by ahill45601, 09-02-2016, 09:10 PM
Even though I knew, I didn't think of using an old PC. and thanks for pointed me to those programs, I'm gonna check em out now! Thanks a lot guys.

Posted by cglegion, 09-03-2016, 02:26 AM
I actually agree with this suggestion. :-D

Posted by Purevoltage, 09-03-2016, 01:11 PM
If you are wanting to get something to play around with and learn nothing beats a cheap VPS that way if you mess up something badly you can wipe it reinstall in a minute and be on your way again.

Posted by TrentaHost, 09-03-2016, 03:51 PM
I would suggest a Bargain Dedicated Box - There are may providers out there where you cna pick upa good box for $40-$50/Mo. I would avoid the cheaper ones especially those with a track record of failing hard drives, eve though it's not a live box, you might be in the middle of something when all of sudden BOOM all of your data is gone.

Posted by ahill45601, 09-03-2016, 11:49 PM
Dug out an old Dell and getting ready to get this makeshift up and running. We'll see how it goes!

Posted by jitesh21, 09-05-2016, 06:39 AM
It's good that you want to learn server administration, if you have a Windows machine which has a pretty good processor and memory? You can actually install small piece of software called VMware workstation or virtual box in your pc, then you can run whatever Linux distribution you want. Start with installing a Lamp server by yourself, by completing your Web server project you should have got pretty good touch with the Linux, then move yourself up by trying some complicated setups. You can find various guides for all kinda installations and maintenance.

Posted by SenseiSteve, 09-06-2016, 03:02 PM
Sounds like a plan. Good luck with your project

Posted by whmcsguru, 09-06-2016, 04:49 PM
Great advice. If you immerse yourself in the system, you will be oh so thankful later on. I know I am. Spent a few years with nothing but *ix in front of me, best choice I ever made. Can't get away with it now, too many proprietary systems, but damn was that fun, and eventful

Posted by ZippyTheChicken, 11-30-2016, 02:14 AM
you know this is a very serious question and it is good that you are asking it. I use to run my own servers back in the day.. slackware.. redhat.. centos .... I am pretty old so much of what we had back then is what is bare minimum today... Then I started blogging professionally and I found that there wasn't really time to perform both tasks. Either I was writing about a subject matter that is completely off topic for my blog or I was researching new methods, learning shell scripts, php, Bind, pop and smtp.. It got to the point I actually started walking away from what was making me money and getting involved in something that I was a small fish in a big pond.. its better to be a medium sized fish in a small pond if you want to make money online. I had a few friends that were into the tech side so I offloaded them much of what I had and they used it well and progressed. I moved back to managed services .. different levels of cPanel that means all I do is login and make setting changes and I don't have to worry about all of the updates and security problems in core packages. I mean you really have to watch the security alerts.. apply patches... and you have to take your own precautions.. It is an amazing amount of work .. late nights .. lost weekends .. weeks where you wonder what day it is... trying to deal with zerodays.. trying to deal with things no one has ever seen. Done right it really does take a team.. often even that is not enough.. you have to worry about traveling to your colo late at night because a drive goes out.. or you have flakey memory.. or whatever... You can automate a lot of stuff but the more you do.. the more you find you need to do... I applaud your interest and efforts and I am not trying to warn you away from it because if you can do it then you will do well.. but know your limits... do your best but know your limits and if you feel its too much then there are other alternatives. First thing I would do if I was you is run the distro you expect to deploy or use.. at home. You should have a local install that is a mirror of your server that way you can test before deployment and you can use it to recover your server if things go wrong. You can play on their dime by getting a $3 a month account and poking around but really you should do this .. have a local mirror at home. Other than that I won't try to give you points about everything else because what you will find is that changes happen fast enough that once you are happy with your ability to do something a new method will be needed. So find resources to keep up on these things.. WHT is a good place for conversation but you will really need much more in depth information to be a qualified server admin.. With that said.. I have my own problems with consideration of AWS as a resort of last options coming up in about 3 years.. I figure by that time unless I can optimize my content in a way that allows it to grow about 10x I will need to move to AWS just to keep myself online.. well anyway it seems like the best direction at this point.. and honestly with all that AWS is I am getting a bit lost in the best way to deploy it.. Wish you luck.. Make that local VPS or Dual Boot or Dedicated server at home that you can root into.. and find a large amount of resources for information.. those resources are getting really scarce today.. sites being closed or bought.. its not the same way it was 10 or even 5 years ago if you needed to find really good information on these subjects.

Posted by Mozaru, 12-02-2016, 01:59 AM
Thnx for the advice. I also looking for a dedicated server, though I have no exp. Now I know where should I start.



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