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I'm not currently a customer, but I've watched them for a while (friends with one of their staff, full disclosure) and will be going to them when I need to move off my DSL.

Not the cheapest but they do offer a discount for open source developers

http://rimuhosting.com/order/startorder1.jsp

I'm not even getting a discount to plug them ;)

If you're going to go the VPS route, I suggest RimuHosting. The have absolutely amazing tech support (I've never waited more than a half-hour or so for support, without using the emergency option), great performance, actively monitor their servers, and do a great job keeping the hardware and networking running. They're willing to compile custom kernels for you (mine has ipsec and tun/tap support for openvpn), provide a nice admin panel for dns/mx/general server statistics, and apparently will help you with software installation and configuration without (in general) charging you.

I've been with them for a few years now, and have absolutely nothing negative to say.

Mainly because I'm still using shared hosting so I'm stuck with what they have but I've found this host http://rimuhosting.com/ which I think I'll be going with in about 6 months. Then I'll use what I want.

Did you look at eapps at all? Basic hosting starts at $9.90/month for a Linux VPS. They offer MySQL and PostgreSQL, or you can always install whatever else you want on it.

Mainly because I'm still using shared hosting so I'm stuck with what they have but I've found this host http://rimuhosting.com/ which I think I'll be going with in about 6 months. Then I'll use what I want.

I use RimuHosting. They are a bit pricey, but they have been unbelievably reliable and their support is actually competent, quick and knowledgeable.

Meanwhile as an innocent bystander, I am labelled as SPAM by these lazy blocking services.

Xen's performance overhead is about 3-4% of the CPU. So sure things could be improved. But even if VMWare had no overhead (which it probably does) the performance difference is not something you'd really notice unless doing technical benchmarks.

In our hosting setup we have found that Xen is reliable, performs well, and the VPSs are about as functionaly identical as a 'real' dedicated server as you can get.

If your needs happen to be running Linux virtual machines and you're comfortable with the Xen tools then Xen is a great product. Glad to hear VMWare is also improving their products. Competition = good.

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Xen-based Linux hosting and proud of it

UML Works great with Java apps. We've been hosting Java user's on UML VPSs since 2003 (latterly we are using Xen).

The version of UML we are using does not have NPTL (/lib/tls) support. This is probably what you're referring to. I've seen patches for NPTL support, so this is either fully supported now or 'on its way'.

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Great Java Hosting (with or without /lib/tls)

On the other hand...

I recently hired two guys based primarily on their online presence.

I was looking for a couple of people to do support. Both of them applied. I googled them. They both had blogs. Their blogs demonstrated that a) they could write well (their jobs involve providing support via email) b) that they had a bit of personality and c) that they were smart people, passionate about Linux (which is our focus).

I hired both these guys without ever meeting them face-to-face. Being able to google them, see what projects they've been involved in, get a feel for how they deal with other people (e.g. in mailing list posts, etc) helped me start getting a handle on them. These guys got their jobs over dozens of other candidates who had great resumes, but were 'invisible' on the web.

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We're hiring Linux geeks

Develop on OSX (or anything else...), run production on Linux. That seems to be the standard modus operandi.

We use a Xen virtual private server (VPS) RimuHosting for production. The guys there seem very knowledgeable about running Rails (at least for a web host). They set up everything for us. Plus, it's nice having total control over everything on your server; even root access.

We tried a host that offered just a shared environment (A2), but Rails would hog the CPU and memory like crazy. And they wouldn't let us run FCGI in a shared environment b/c they said it didn't play nice with others. So we had to run SCGI which wasn't stable. It was a major pain, and I wouldn't recommend a shared environment for any production Rails app that gets even modest usage.

I manage a bunch of Linux servers. When out and about I've had to just rely on whomever else was on call to respond whenever there is a problem. Or I've had to lug around my 12kg Athlon 64 notebook then head for the nearest phone plug and desk whenever there was a page.

Recently, (ok it was an xmas present to myself) I picked up a PPC HTC Apache. It runs WM5.

I've loaded it up with a few choice pieces of software to help get me the tools I need to manage or assist with pretty much any issue that would arise. Those apps include:

• Pocketty for ssh2 (twisted their arm to give me a beta, I wish they'd take my money...)
• agile messenger for IM (we co-ordinate between staff and communicate with customers via IM). IM beats sms for brief conversations any day.
• an imap client - using the one provided with WM5 for now. It handles the inbox and sending. I haven't managed to get it to display the contents of other folders yet.
• sms alerts (using the standard messaging software on the phone)
• IE for browsing - but no tabs (in fact only one open page at a time), and poor enough javascript support that ajax-based websites aren't a happening thing.

With these tools I'm often sorely tempted to leave behind my shoulder breaking laptop in favor of slipping the 200g HTC into my pocket when day tripping somewhere.

Now if only I could get tabbed web browsing, a 1024x768 screen, and a touch typable keyboard that then laptop could be relegated to being a dedicated Age of Mythology client for the kids.

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Got yourself your own Linux server yet?

The instant migrations are based on the vps being migrated between two host servers sharing the same storage system/SAN.

If you don't have a shared storage system holding your domU file system then you'd have to move that over as well (e.g. 15 minutes or so for a 4GB file system).

Oh and if you can't route the IPs betweens the two different hosts then you'd have to change the IPs to boot.

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Xen-based VPS hosting

The publically available summary of the research doesn't give much information on whom was surveyed. Perhaps the survey group was primarily composed of small businesses, which make up the largest number of enterprises here. Those businesses would likely not be using servers, which is where you'd expect to find more Linux users (cf. the desktop).

The survey aside, there are lots of companies using Linux in New Zealand (including yours truly). In a week's time we are hosting one of the three biggest Linux conferences right here in Dunedin. And even companies like Microsoft are making the most of Linux down here.

The end is perhaps not quite nigh.

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One of those rare antipodean companies using Linux

The publically available summary of the research doesn't give much information on whom was surveyed. Perhaps the survey group was primarily composed of small businesses, which make up the largest number of enterprises here. Those businesses would likely not be using servers, which is where you'd expect to find more Linux users (cf. the desktop).

The survey aside, there are lots of companies using Linux in New Zealand (including yours truly). In a week's time we are hosting one of the three biggest Linux conferences right here in Dunedin. And even companies like Microsoft are making the most of Linux down here.

The end is perhaps not quite nigh.

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One of those rare antipodean companies using Linux

They have similar goals, but they're pretty different technically. For example, with Xen you have to partition the memory space quite rigidly - each virtual machine gets 128MB or whatever. They can't borrow from others memory that's not being used. So if you look at a Xen-based virtualization provider like RimuHosting, you'll see that their highest virtualized configuration gives you 320MB of memory. If you look at a Virtuozzo-based one like JohnCompanies, you'll see the other extreme:

[slamb@scooby slamb]$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 8275068 8206096 68972 0 1696704 1678948
-/+ buffers/cache: 4830444 3444624
Swap: 6144852 4097468 2047384

That's one of the most obvious differences. Another is that Virtuozzo's rather customized kernel tends to lag behind - my virtual server is a 2.4 release that annoyingly lacks NPTL. I imagine that's what they're trying to address with OpenVZ and mainstream kernel inclusion.

(Incidentally, both the hosting companies I linked to are nice places with open source developer discounts.)

Got an email from one of the data centers we use (highly recommended dc, btw) yesterday. They report their electricity rates have risen 50% since 2002. Effective from 1 December they'll be charging an extra $6/server (for individually co-loed servers) or $1.25/amp on cabinets/racks.

You wouldn't want to be a $29/month dedicated server provider soaking up that kind of cost increase.

We happen to use mostly dual Xeon servers. They come with 500W power supplies and I'm pretty sure they soak up a good proportion of that power. The power price increases appear to be yet another reason to switch to AMD (with their CPUs' lower power consumption).

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Powerful and Power efficient VPSs

Buy and read the New Scientist magazine. They cover complex scientific topics. And they convey them in clear (even readable) language. You will soon find that good science and good writing are not mutually exclusive.

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VPS Hosting Anyone?

It was great to read the 'market for lemons' post. It takes a fair bit of experience in the 'industry' to be able to pick the good hosts from the bad. And unless hosting customers are savvy enough to tell a good host apart from a bad one the good ones will indeed be driven out of the market.

Here is my advice for finding a good host.

• Ignore the 'review sites'. Or at least take them the reviews with a major grain of salt. Most 'review' sites are indeed just paid advertising sites. 'Top Hosts' are typically just the hosts that paid the most for the listing.
• Look for a host with a few years in the business. It means the host has gotten past the first 6 month hurdle were probably 99% of all webhosts just up and disappear (losing money, getting bored of the job, selling out to a bigger outfit, etc). Obviously a new business may be good, but you will improve your odds by picking an older business. In addition to proving themselves survivors they will likely have gotten their procedures and server setups nicely tuned, plus they will have a bit of experience behind them.
• Look for multiple contact details on their site. Phone, email, tickets. Most webhosts will work from home, so you may or not see a physical address (which isn't necessarily bad). A physical (office) address may indicate a larger organisation (which isn't necessarily good).
• Look for forums or some way of users making public comments/questions about a site. It indicates the host has some confidence in their ability. And it is likely you'll see problem reports (quite normal, no need to get alarmed) and how the host deals with them (which is what you should really be interested in). A lack of forums may not indicate a bad host (they could just be shy).
• Google for the prospective host. You'll find people recommending them, or hosted by them. You may find positive/negative comments about the host. As has been mentioned, research them on web hosting talk. Take any comments with a grain of salt: host enough people for long enough and _someone_ is going to be unhappy about how they were treated. Look for common themes in what people are saying about the host.
• If you have the time setup some kind of uptime monitoring on the host. Preferably try to figure out the server they are setting up new customers on. It may not be the same server as their domain.
• Pop in a pre-sales question. Ask a few intelligent questions. See what response you get. The response may be well written or may indicate the author is a l337 h4xor kid trying out the hosting biz. The response should indicate the host knows what they are talking about. Good questions to ask: what do you do about server failures? what network outages have you had? And describe your backup setup. Problems happen, denial could very well be an indication of dishonesty.
• Check their prices. Deals that are too good to be true probably are. Look for middle of the road and up pricing (and be aware that there are plenty of high priced hosts that have pretty bad reputations).
• Check their resource allocations. 'Unlimited' is bad (or rather it is not really possible despite what the host will say). 'Unmetered' is the more honest phrase (it typically mean, when applied to bandwidth that the server is on a fixed bandwidth pipe and you can use as much as you can get. When the bandwidth is maxed out your transfers will just be throttled.

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Disclaimer: Take all this advice with a grain of salt, since I happen to run a VPS hosting outfit.

You should check out getting a serious upgrade (for less money!) to the current CodeMonster promotion: 1 free domain registration, 15 full domains, 75 subdomains, 7680 MB Disk, 192 GB Transfer, 3000 Mailboxes, 375 Users, MIVA merchant E-Commerce, etc. for 16/mo if you pay 2 years in advance, 20/month if you pay 1 year.

PHP4/5, RoR, CVS, anon FTP server, etc. -- I've been looking around for shared hosting for all of my "little" sites to live on, and this is now it (I signed up about 10 minutes ago). If you're signing up and feeling generous you can say "jtheory" referred you... thanks.

BTW, no Java/JSP support (for those making assumptions based on my username...), but I only use Java for larger sites anyway.

For that I'm getting a little fed up with my current (little & local) host, and thinking of moving to RimuHosting.com - I can get a decent VPS for a good rate, and they have Java experience. Anyone have any experience with them?

The only satellite based internet access I'm aware of is where the satellite brodcasts (i.e. you download from it) and your connection uploads via your phone line (typically via a slow line since if you had an adsl capable line then you would probably be the cheaper and faster ADSL connection/cable provider).

So when they report that a cell phone can communicate with the satellite at 10Mbps, surely they are meaning the cellphone can download at that rate. And presumably it'll be doing that rate with the local cell tower acting as the satellite proxy. Either that or satellite phones are more common place over in nihon than I'd imagined.

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VPS Hosting using good old fashioned wires for connectivity

I personally use http://www.rimuhosting.com/ - they've worked quite well for me. Good prices, good servers. :)

After a few hours of messing around with xorg.conf, I managed to get my CRT/LCD display up and running in dual headed/Xinerama mode on my Radeon9600pro.

Fast foward a few months and I upgrade from FC3 to 4. X performance is now not even usable. I grab the latest ati drivers. After a few hours more in xorg.conf I get X starting up, but no matter what I try dual headed displays elude me.

The solution I eventually found was a cheap nvidia card purchase on trademe. I still needed a few more hours in xorg.conf, but ultimately I did get that dual headed setup back.

Until there is some change to the driver status quo I'll be buying nvidia over ati on my Linux systems.

Want better Linux driver support? Vote for Linux friendly vendors using your checkbook at your local computer store.

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Linux Friendly VPS Hosting

Java 5.0 support means that it will run faster, and help you make programs faster, that run faster, too, in a nutshell.

Incorrect. Eclipse 3.0 has always run just fine on a java5 jvm. And it gets the small speed increase that VM imparts.

JDK 5 support means that the editor 'knows' about the new java5 langauage features. And moreover the editor can refactor code using that knowledge.

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Tomcat Hosting

One in a million? So telecom says. But you're talking about a loop going around the whole North Island. That's a lot of cable. At any point in the loop it is subject to being dug up, eaten by rats, or affected by an equipment malfunction. The odds of any of those are, what?, once every 30 days. You probably never notice any single outage because of the redundancy. But the odds of a dual failure, hence are 1/30days*1/30=1/900days=1/2.4 years. Hardly one in a million. For it to be that there would be a fault only once every thousand days. And that is not the telecom I know and, well, have to use.

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Working to provide reliable VPS hosting

The best comparison of the dual core reviews I've read is over at the great anandtech site.

AMD's push with dual core into the server markets half a year before Intel's dual core Xeon arrives is going to tempt a lot of IT departments out there.

On the desktop side, we are extremely excited about the Athlon 64 X2. The 4400+ that we compared here today had no problem competing with and outperforming Intel's fastest dual core CPUs in most cases

The real problem is that AMD has nothing cheaper than $530 that is available in dual core, and this is where Intel wins out. With dual core Pentium D CPUs starting at $241, Intel will be able to bring extremely solid multitasking performance to much lower price points than AMD will. And from what we've seen, it looks like that price advantage will continue for quite some time. It all boils down to economics, and in the sense of manufacturing capacity, Intel has AMD beat - thus allowing for much more aggressively priced volume dual core solutions.

Conclusion: AMD have better chips. But they don't have the manufacturing capacity to bring them out in volume. So they focus on their higher margin chips. Meanwhile Intel keeps from losing face by selling at the volume, lower-priced end of the market. At least until AMD get some new fab plants up and running.

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VPS Hosting on Dual Xeon Hardware - but just for the time being :)

If you have yet to read the 25-page FA, may I present the precis:

Database hits are expensive. Reduce them where possible. For example, cache static lookup data.

The simplicity of the point however is lost in the complexity of the article. It covers web.xml settings, servlet classes, list value loaders, persistence backends for said loaders, data source 'helpers' for said loaders, custom object classes for the loaders, several subclasses for said object classes, and a jsp page (to boot). Phew.

The author refers to this design as a quick and easy approach. It is not. If you are not familiar with Java and read this article, please do not be put off. He could have demonstrated the point with a far simpler example. E.g. static variable, sql statement, jsp code, done.

[The author] has worked with IBM Global Services for one year, and has five years of experience in J2EE-related technologies. And it shows. I dread to think how much a fully realized IBM Global Services project would cost should all its consultants apply this sized sledgehammer to each small task. Hopefully the article was not written up on the client's dime as well.

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Java Hosting

I had previously read Perdido Street Station. PSS was a little hard to get into. But Mieville's writing is such that you can't help but be drawn into the strange milieu of New Crobuzon. I ended up liking it enough that I bought Iron Council on the spot when I saw it.

I am reading Iron Council now. Again, it is quite hard getting into. The story at the start jumps around temporally and in location. About a third of the way in it settles into a more linear narrative which I find easier to get involved in. After reading PSS I am probably getting more out of the writing than someone hitting New Crobuzon for the first time. With the second book I think Mieville is better able to 'toss off' a fleeting reference to something and for that to actually mean something to the reader.

Right now I'd say I'll persevere to the end. I like Mieville's writing style. I like the setting. I would prefer I cared a bit more about the characters. And it would be nice if the plot felt like it were building somewhere. I'm driven to finish mostly to find out where the story is going. And a little by wanting to find out more about New Crobuzon. 6/10 so far....

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Your Own Linux Server for $20/month

Presuming you're not trolling...

But we will be hosting lots of servers for our customers with some RHEL4-based distro.

I want to make sure that when an update comes out from the source, that I am not wholly dependant on a middle man that not be able to or capable of a prompt update release.

I'm still testing our recompile version. If it works out, then great. Otherwise, I'm confident now that even running a non-North American Enterprise Linux Vendor version of RHEL4 I can always compile and distribute the errata udpates I need. (Well maybe except for a few kde packages, dbus and iproute which are spitting out heinous c++ errors at the mo).

Just been poring over the new RPM versions...

I see FC4 includes MySQL 4.1.10 a nice wee jump up from 3.23. Apparently RedHat are now happy with the MySQL licensing terms.

It has Eclipse 3.1, dovecot, bash 3 (with debugger), Tomcat 5 (but only 5.0, not the declared stable 5.5.7), Xen 2. And that is about all that caught my eye.

Having just been recompiling the RHEL4 sources I'm struck by how similar the versions all are. I'm presuming that rhel4 split off fc4 or vice versa a month or two back. I'd be curious how/if they co-ordinate all the patches and source code between the two different brands.

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FC3 (now!) and RHEL4-based (soon!) VPSs

Budget at least several hours sys admin work per server you manage each time a new version comes out to perform the upgrade.

Allow for the odd issue to creep in. e.g. pre-existing functionality not working, or not working the same.

And add in a bit of hair loss for the odd problem that crops up during the new distro upgrade. e.g. FC2->FC3 introduced udev which seems to cause the odd hassle.

So, if you are 'hosting' with a distro that changes every several months, then be prepared for the extra work.

We offer a choice of distros for our VPSs. And some advice on choosing between them.

We recommend people use Fedora if they like the latest versions of software and want to upgrade their software frequently. If follows that if you are running a hosting operation where you don't want to interrupt/change a working setup then FC is probably not the right distro for you.

We recommend WBEL if they want an enterprise distribution that is stable, widely supported and will have updated RPMs for fix bugs and security issues for the next several years. WBEL is derived from RHEL sources. WBEL alternatives include CentOS. Or rpmbuild --rebuild your own (just got a few udpates SRPMS to go on my own RHEL4 recompile...).

We recommend Debian for people that prefer it. i.e. if you are familiar with Debian then you'll know whether it suits you or not. If you are not familiar with debian then you'll probably find things 'easier' on a RedHat based distro.

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Which distro do you want on your shiny new VPS?

Budget at least several hours sys admin work per server you manage each time a new version comes out to perform the upgrade.

Allow for the odd issue to creep in. e.g. pre-existing functionality not working, or not working the same.

And add in a bit of hair loss for the odd problem that crops up during the new distro upgrade. e.g. FC2->FC3 introduced udev which seems to cause the odd hassle.

So, if you are 'hosting' with a distro that changes every several months, then be prepared for the extra work.

We offer a choice of distros for our VPSs. And some advice on choosing between them.

We recommend people use Fedora if they like the latest versions of software and want to upgrade their software frequently. If follows that if you are running a hosting operation where you don't want to interrupt/change a working setup then FC is probably not the right distro for you.

We recommend WBEL if they want an enterprise distribution that is stable, widely supported and will have updated RPMs for fix bugs and security issues for the next several years. WBEL is derived from RHEL sources. WBEL alternatives include CentOS. Or rpmbuild --rebuild your own (just got a few udpates SRPMS to go on my own RHEL4 recompile...).

We recommend Debian for people that prefer it. i.e. if you are familiar with Debian then you'll know whether it suits you or not. If you are not familiar with debian then you'll probably find things 'easier' on a RedHat based distro.

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Which distro do you want on your shiny new VPS?

+1 to parent. We recommend lftp for use with our backup service (link includes commands for enabling/disabling tls support) since it supports all the goodies like tls, scripting, and mirroring in both directions.

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Linux VPS Hosting

+1 to parent. We recommend lftp for use with our backup service (link includes commands for enabling/disabling tls support) since it supports all the goodies like tls, scripting, and mirroring in both directions.

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Linux VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server hosting providers could use this. I believe most of them are using User Mode Linux. Mine is. That would benefit those of us who need that level of hosting.

An advertisement is an invitation to treat. Not an offer. You do not need to stand by it.

Under the Fair Trading Act you need to ensure your advertisement is truthful. And correct it if it is not.

I think you'll find that the consumer in NZ is well protected from unscrupulus advertisers. We aren't any stupider than anywhere else.

Actually, while people are quite critical about our politicians the laws they have made follow common sense.

The fair trading act is a good example. It pre-dates the www as we know it. But it legislates the fundamentals. And those apply equally online and real world.

Consumers by and large know what to expect - and get it (Fair Go guests notwithstanding).

And NZ businesses, one of which I am happy to run, work within a pretty straight forward framework. There isn't that much paper work to deal with (GST returns a few times a year and tax returns). Employment law is pretty much common sense (and easy to comply with when you have great staff and a good working relationship with them). There are no special licenses I need to operate my business. I can buy and sell products and services internationally without restrictions.

I've worked other places *cough*US*cough* and I would be nowhere near as comfortable working within their legal frameworks. Not without an army of accountants and lawyers behind me.

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An NZ-based Linux webhost

I apologize if this sounds like an advertisement, but have you looked into dedicated hosting services? Or the cheaper option is VPS hosting from places like RimuHosting or Linode.com? User mode linux in any of these two VPS plans can actually be very cost effective, especially if you run lots of sites each with low bandwidth needs since apache virtual hosting is allowed. Peter at RimuHosting is really knowledgeable and can help you setup the site the way you want it and will even help tweak it to its max performance. The cost is really affordable -- just skimp on Starbucks a couple times a month and you have it paid for.

And in a not unrelated story: Hacker takes 3 minutes to get your cash

A New Zealand computer hacker has accessed the private bank accounts of dozens of unsuspecting Kiwis, showing how easy it is to break into our internet banking system.

The hacker installed software in a Wellington internet cafe that allowed him to gather the user names and passwords of people banking online at the cafe.

Police e-crime national manager Maarten Kleintjes says he has been urging banks "for years" to introduce systems that ensure internet banking is safe, but most have been slow to respond.

Kleintjes says the problem is that internet banking access relies on a simple password "which can easily be stolen". Other countries use "two-factor identification" where, in addition to a password, the customer is given a new security password for each internet banking session.

Only two local banks, ASB and BankDirect, have a two-part identification system, where the customer is sent a text with a security password to use before transferring money.

Online bankers can follow the advice on bank websites about using anti-virus software to detect and avoid key-logging programmes on home computers, but the software provides no guarantees. Kleintjes says it is "unreasonable and unrealistic" to expect all customers to know how to do this. He said the banks should introduce safe systems that have been available overseas for years.

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Linux VPS Hosting you can Bank On

My steps for web design/web server on shoestring budget (steps 4 and 5 are for those who just want a design).

1. Learn linux enough to manage a server--all the docs and how-to's you ever need are on the web, don't buy books (unless you want a standalone easy quick reference).
2. Buy a domain name from godaddy.com.
3. Get a VPS plan from rimuhosting.com or the multitude of other VPS providers. I prefer to have Debian installed in the VPS because it's minimal in disk space usage and packages can easily be installed with apt-get (i.e. you have have to muck around to try to find rpm's or tar.gz files)--you'll need to apt-get apache to get the webserver up. You'll also need to install a content management engine like wordpress, moveabletype, drupal, geekblog, etc.
4. With the money you saved by NOT buying books on how to design, purchase a web logo from The Logo Company or any comparable business that supplies you the logo for your site. They include full ownership of your logo (to file for trademark if you want) and all the vector graphics files you need to take it from there and build your own templates, CSS, etc. This is the most important part of the "design" process because you will use your logo to assemble your website -- it has the color palette that you want and the overall theme that will be persistent in your site.
5. Using the logo as "inspiration", create the CSS for the content management engine such as wordpress, moveabletype, geekblog, drupal, etc. Drop the CSS into your server.

Obviously, there are lots of in between steps I didn't care to mention, but the main steps are listed. Overall, for the startup cost and the first month of your web page going live, you shouldn't need to spend more than $105 USD ($75 for the logo, $20 per month for the VPS, $10 for a year's worth of domain name service) -- the price of 3 or 4 books.

Apache's Ant may be worth a look. It handles dependancies very well. It may not be so great with timing of jobs (cron + ant?) or handling jobs running in parallel (ant plus a custom 'run task in the background'?).

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Linux Server + Persistence => Solution

Web _servers_ have been ussing SSL certs since day one. They are commonplace for web users verifying the identity of a web server.

But they can also be used for identifying the identify of the web _user_.

If client certs were more widely used by users, and more widely supported by web sites (a catch-22 situation I guess) then we can bypass usernames/passwords completely if we wish. And rely on the client certificate for identification purposes.

Then I won't have to keep coming up with unique passwords for the billion and one web sites I am a member at.

Speaking of which:
echo "example.com:mypassword" | md5sum | cut -c1-6

That will generate a unique password per site. And you still let you easily recall what password you used. s/example.com/whateverdomainyouaresigningonat/ig

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Linux VPS Hosting for geeks

None of the topics mentioned in the review really seem to be Linux specific. Why not just call it "Java Application Development" (period, no "on Linux")?

There are some things that I think would be worth covering though, in a book about Java/Linux. Particularly for someone coming from a development of an app in a Windows Environment to deploying an app in a production Linux environment. Since often they will know all they need about Java. But won't be very familiar with Linux. And may not know the best way to do things in a 'Linux' way.

Some examples...

Init Scripts: Setting up init scripts to stop/start your Java services (e.g. getting tomcat to run on boot up). That differs a lot from how you'd do it with services on Windows.

Permissions I: Often on windows things will be run as root/Administrator. On Linux the better way is to have Java services run as a non-root user. e.g. run Tomcat as tomcat not root. There are some implications to this. e.g. you an unprivileged user cannot listen on addresses with sub-1000 port numbers. The solution is something like iptables or mod_jk2.

Permissions II: Another permissions issue (that I see crop up a lot with people moving from the Windows dev machine to one of our Linux servers for productions) is file permissions. Users being not being able to read/write config/data files that they had been able to see/use well enough on Windows. i.e. a paragraph on the almighty chown -R would be handy.

Command Lines: A page or two on running things from the command line would be a great thing. Often people working on Linux servers are doing so remotely. And won't have a GUI. And often they are only familiar with launching their app from the ide. So knowing about 'java' and 'javac' would be handy. And mention the need for colons between dir names not semi-colons. e.g. java -cp /myclasses:/3rdparty.jar mainclass.

Automating Tasks Users moving from a windows/dev environment to a Linux/production environment would also be well served by a page or two on automation tools. e.g. using ant to automate the process of getting code out of CVS and deploying it. e.g. cron for automating the process of running Java jobs on a regular basis.

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Java Hosting on Linux, Simple Enough Even For Windows Users

None of the topics mentioned in the review really seem to be Linux specific. Why not just call it "Java Application Development" (period, no "on Linux")?

There are some things that I think would be worth covering though, in a book about Java/Linux. Particularly for someone coming from a development of an app in a Windows Environment to deploying an app in a production Linux environment. Since often they will know all they need about Java. But won't be very familiar with Linux. And may not know the best way to do things in a 'Linux' way.

Some examples...

Init Scripts: Setting up init scripts to stop/start your Java services (e.g. getting tomcat to run on boot up). That differs a lot from how you'd do it with services on Windows.

Permissions I: Often on windows things will be run as root/Administrator. On Linux the better way is to have Java services run as a non-root user. e.g. run Tomcat as tomcat not root. There are some implications to this. e.g. you an unprivileged user cannot listen on addresses with sub-1000 port numbers. The solution is something like iptables or mod_jk2.

Permissions II: Another permissions issue (that I see crop up a lot with people moving from the Windows dev machine to one of our Linux servers for productions) is file permissions. Users being not being able to read/write config/data files that they had been able to see/use well enough on Windows. i.e. a paragraph on the almighty chown -R would be handy.

Command Lines: A page or two on running things from the command line would be a great thing. Often people working on Linux servers are doing so remotely. And won't have a GUI. And often they are only familiar with launching their app from the ide. So knowing about 'java' and 'javac' would be handy. And mention the need for colons between dir names not semi-colons. e.g. java -cp /myclasses:/3rdparty.jar mainclass.

Automating Tasks Users moving from a windows/dev environment to a Linux/production environment would also be well served by a page or two on automation tools. e.g. using ant to automate the process of getting code out of CVS and deploying it. e.g. cron for automating the process of running Java jobs on a regular basis.

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Java Hosting on Linux, Simple Enough Even For Windows Users

You have to feel sorry for Declan. The duty team roster has him doing a 24 hour shift today.

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Linux VPS Hosting with 24x7 support, so we know how he feels.

If you need to figure out where in the sky those planets are, try kstars. It is one of the better planetarium-type apps out there.

Now if only the 'summer' skies over New Zealand would clear for a night, I can actually make use of my shiny new telescope.

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Stellar Linux VPS Hosting

As has been pointed out, the fee RedHat charge is for their services. If you can forgo the services and the brand there are freely (beer/speech) available alternatives.

Whitebox Enterprise Linux 3 has taken the RedHat Enterprise Linux 3 source RPMs, removed trademarks and RedHat artwork and produced their own binary distro of those source RPMs. The resulting server is RHEL3 RPM compatible (which is useful if you are using 3rd party repositories.

WhiteBox Linux release erratta fixes following on from any that RH release. So the distro is kept up to date (using up2date or yum, or if you're like me, apt)

There are other projects with RHEL3 based distros as well.

Don't you just love the GPL?

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WBEL3 Based Linux VPSs

I don't get this. It will just lead to a general slowing down of the services running on the Internet.

Where do people think that email is being sent from? A dedicated server that the user has somewhere dedicated solely to sending email?

Most people will be sending email through their ISP. And ISP that was coping with x,xxxx,xxxx pieces of email a day will suddenly now have to redo their email architecture to cope with the extra computational cost involved.

Other people send email using their webhost. The extra computational overhead will now mean that other users on the server will not have as much CPU to utilise and their sites will work more slowly.

What needs to happen is for more emails to be signed with people's digital identities. Then someone needs to create a network/service where people can 'vouch' for certain identities. Thus you can build up an associative trust network. And you spam filter can may a more informed judgement call on the validatily of the email it processes.

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Fast Linux Virtual Private Servers

I manage a lot of servers remotely. I started out using the hardware RAID support on my server's mobos. But there were issues with that.

First, it was hard getting Linux driver support (I think drivers were available, but it was a matter of downloading them. And I don't beleive they worked on the 2.6 kernel's I used).

Then the RAID setup required BIOS settings. When you only have remote access to a server (and no KVM-o-IP) that means you need to work through a tech at the DC. Not, umm, ideal.

And finally, there was the issue of 'what if I need to move these disks to a different server'. One that doesn't have the same raid controller. Well, it wouldn't work.

Anyway, I ended up using software raid. I've used it now on a few dozen servers. And I'm really happy with it. Performance seems fine, albeit I'm not using it in really IO critical environments like a dedicated database server. In in 99% of cases I'd now use software raid in preference to hardware raid.

What follows are a few tips I'd like to pass along that may be a help with getting a software raid setup...

If you get the chance setup RAID on / and /boot via your OS installer (on a new system). Doing it afterwards is a real pain.

Build RAID support and RAID1,and RAID5 into the kernel (not as modules). You'll need that if you boot from a raid1 boot partition. Note: if you are using RAID5 you'll need RAID1 built in (since I beleive in the event of a failed disk the raid personaility swaps from RAID5 to RAID1).

With a 2.6 kernel build I've been getting "no raid1 module" errors at the make install phase when building with a RAID-ed / or /boot. The 'fix' is to compile the RAID support you need into the kernel (not as modules) then run: /sbin/mkinitrd -f /boot/initrd-2.6.8.1.img 2.6.8.1 --omit-raid-modules (substituting your kernel image name/version).

Every now and then I've had the kernel spit a drive out a raid array. I've found that sometimes the kernel may be being overly cautious. You can often raidhotremove then raidhotadd it back again. And you may never see a problem again. If you do, it probably really is time to replace the disk.

Rebuilding a RAID array goes smoothly. It happens in the background when the Linux machine is in multi user mode. The md code rebuild guarantees a minimum rebuild rate. From memory it takes about an hour or two to do a 200GB RAID1 array.

You can see the RAID rebuild status in /proc/mdstat. I run a very simple script to check the RAID status each day and send out an email if it is broken.

If you are using a RAID-ed /boot, grab the latest lilo since IIRC it has better RAID support than what is in the distros I use.

Hard drive-wise I've been happy with Seagate Barracudas. I've had to replace a few failed Western Digital drives. (Just my recommendation from experience, it could just have been good/bad luck on my part).

One neat trick with Software raid is that your drives don't have to be the same size. You do RAID on partitions. And your raid array sizes itself according to the smallest common denominator in the array.

Tip: always create a bit of spare space on any device you are RAID-ing. e.g. a 4GB swap partition. Then if you have a drive fail and it needs to be replaced, and your replacement varies in size slightly you'll still be able to use it. Not all 40/120/200GB drives are created with equal sizes :).

In summary: Software RAID=good. Decent performance. I've had no real kernel bugs with it. No need for BIOS access. Easy to move drives between servers. Easy to monitor failures. Non-intrusive/minimal downtime when recovering a failed devi

How about IPMI?

The marketing blurb goes something like this:

[IPMI] will allow for remote monitoring, management and recovery capabilities, regardless of the status or health of the server. New features such as enhanced security using leading authentication and encryption mechanisms in combination with remote console viewing will help reduce operational risk by securing remote operations. Moreover, with IPMI being implemented at the silicon level, it deals with monitoring basic server parts such as power supplies, fans, voltage and temperature irrespective of the type or health of the CPU or operating system.

Supermicro have a sub $60 daughter card (for their motherboards only) that seems to offer console access over LAN using 'out of band' bandwidth, whatever that is. There are other vendors offering 'IPMI-enabled' mobos as well.

Has anyone used one of these? I'm considering getting a few cards for the SuperMicros I colocate. And wonder how the seial console access works over a WAN, getting it setup, securing it, etc. And what support, server-side, there is for IPMI based monitoring.

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Hosting VPS servers with SSH console access

UML support was added to the 2.6 kernel a while back (2.5.34 in Sep 2002).

Since then the mainline kernel has lagged behind the latest UML releases on user-mode-linux.sf.net.

Over the 2.6.8 to 2.6.9 timeframe BlaisorBlade (aka Paolo Giarrusso) has worked with Andrew Morton and Jeff Dike to bring the mainline kernel up to date with the latest UML changes. (To the point where the 2.6.9 kernel is more current than the latest 'official' UML release). I would guess this was the biggest, in terms of lines of code, change in 2.6.9. Most of the changes just touched the 'um' architecture though. So changes are pretty isolated from other arch-es.

This may be of interest to you if you run chrooted systems anywhere (UML may be more secure). Or if you are a kernel hacker (so much easier to debug things that run in a user process).

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(UML-based) VPS Hosting

Build PHP as a CGI, and print #!/path/to/php at the top of every php file. (Like you do with Perl) Now wrap it with suExec and you're all set. Observe the *slight* performance hit.

Is the performance hit really all that *slight* if you run PHP as a CGI rather than an Apache module? I had the impression that it was quite significant but I could be wrong.

Anyway, the security of PHP (and I guess potentially other scripting engines) running as an Apache module on cheap PHP shared hosting is a very real problem. My solution to it has been to move to Virtual Private Servers. The prices are comparable to good quality shared hosting and its infinitely more flexible. I'm a happy customer at Linode but others I've used or looked at are:

Rimu Hosting
Rose Hosting
Digital Daze