Hosting issues, need advice

[Dark Cognitive]

I currently have around 15 very small niche sites hosted on one of MediaTemple's GridServer shared hosting packages.

Over the year or 2 that i've been with MT, it's became obvious that their gridservice is just not suited to sites which use sql databases (all my sites are wordpress sites). They continually time out and go down for sometimes hours at a time, other times the page loading time is excruciatingly slow, like 20 seconds or more.

Its not as if my sites are 'high traffic' sites either. Most of them receive under 100 uniques a day, with a couple reaching maybe 300 uniques... nothing intensive.

So i'm considering a new hosting solution. Media Temple adivsed me before i even signed up that their gridservers would handle at least 50 small low traffic wordpress sites on each account, this obviously is NOT the case since they are severely struggling with 15, and i'm not the only one with issues, there a ton of other users complaining daily in their support forums.

I'm thinking about going the VPS route. Can anyone with experience give me an idea on how many sites i should be able to host on a VPS, bearing in mind they are all small low traffic niche sites, or if you think this is a bad idea, what would you recommend?.


I'm so pissed off right now. I have a load of work to do to my sites today, and they are all down/unreachable..... this happens regularly with Media Temple so i'm jumping ship... i've given them 2 years to sort their infrastructure out and nothing has improved.

 

[subigo]

MT has been shit for at least a year now.

A VPS would probably be fine, but it depends on a lot of factors. How many plugins do you use, how resource intensive are your themes, how many WP installs will there be, etc... Every one of those factors will add to how much RAM you're using. And if you need a control panel (cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk), that's going to use up 200-500MB of RAM itself.

If you went barebones (no panel), had simple themes and few to no plugins, you could probably do 50 wordpress installs on a mid-sized VPS.

You might want to give this a read: Bootstraping WordPress/Nginx/PHP/MySQL on a Cheap VPS with lowendscript – Low End Box

 

[Dark Cognitive]

I use a minimal amount of plugins, google xml sitemaps, analytics, wp super cache, askimet, all in one SEO pack. And the majority of the themes are extremely basic ones with adsense integrated. Bluesense etc.

I would prefer a control panel simply because i'm new to VPS's etc... BUT i'm willing to go barebones and learn as much as i can, i figure i'll need to do this in the future anyways so theres no harm in starting now.

Thanks for replying and i'll check out your post you linked to

 

[Dark Cognitive]

I went ahead and purchased a VM-768 from ZenSix... i seen the link in your sig Subigo and liked the no-bs attitude on the sales page.

Its possibly even you i was talking to via support?.

Anyways, seems pretty good so far although its all new to me. Tutorials are excellent though, and i'm almost ready to throw my first site up so we'll see how it goes.

 

[subigo]

I went ahead and purchased a VM-768 from ZenSix... i seen the link in your sig Subigo and liked the no-bs attitude on the sales page.

Its possibly even you i was talking to via support?.

Anyways, seems pretty good so far although its all new to me. Tutorials are excellent though, and i'm almost ready to throw my first site up so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks

If you have any questions about how to do something, just update this thread. I check the Hosting & Domains forum everyday. It's not managed support, but I'll still help with simple things if needed.

 

[DKPMO]

Subigo posting useful posts? Impossible! I thought all you are here for is trolling conservatives and defending terrorists.

Now that I see ZenSix is open for business again, should we re-instate the boycott? I forgot what was the original reason to do it, but I could look it up!

 

[subigo]

Subigo posting useful posts? Impossible! I thought all you are here for is trolling conservatives and defending terrorists.

Now that I see ZenSix is open for business again, should we re-instate the boycott? I forgot what was the original reason to do it, but I could look it up!

If by "we" you mean "you"... knock yourself out.

And keep this crap in the STS section or you'll get banned.

 

[DKPMO]

If by "we" you mean "you"... knock yourself out.

And keep this crap in the STS section or you'll get banned.

Whoa! It is you who needs to decide whether you are here for trolling or doing business.

 

[patrick24601]

For W3 Cache (if that is the one you are using) make sure you know how to use it well. Cache objects and database calls. Minify JS and CSS as per the instructions. Update your .htaccess per their install instructions so it caches more static objects. Most people just install and let it run but it can do so much more.

All cloud hosting is is a glorified VPS anyways. Any VPS you get will be better than where you are. HTTPme takes care of their people. Been there for years.

 

[subigo]

Whoa! It is you who needs to decide whether you are here for trolling or doing business.

You obviously haven't been on WF long enough to understand that:

STS = apes throwing their shit around
OTHER FORUMS = normal posting

I'm not trying to be a dick, just telling you how it is. I've seen a ton of people banned for bringing STS into other forum sections. In here I help you. In STS I make you cry.

 

[Rexibit]

I would prefer a control panel simply because i'm new to VPS's etc... BUT i'm willing to go barebones and learn as much as i can, i figure i'll need to do this in the future anyways so theres no harm in starting now.

Give this a read for a good description of shell commands. You'll mainly be using "vim", "cd", and "ls -li" for most of your time with SSH.

On my VPSs I use the CPX control panel. It's a little different in the beginning than cPanel in the naming conventions of how to set up multiple websites, but it's a lot better on resources and is so much easier than WebMin. It also gives you pretty good control over your Firewall (I keep mine on high settings) without needing to configure the rules yourself via SSH.

I don't know if Zensix is using a VPS v2 configuration though. Here's the information on how to install it if you don't have a control panel already installed and vinstall is enabled on the VPS.

You want to close off all but web, mail, and sftp ports. The last thing you want are people port sniffing you and DDOS'ing your server.

In STS I make you cry.

Aww, you know you're really just a cuddly little fur ball with a big mouth. Just look at you're avatar.

 

[subigo]

Give this a read for a good description of shell commands. You'll mainly be using "vim", "cd", and "ls -li" for most of your time with SSH.

On my VPSs I use the CPX control panel. It's a little different in the beginning than cPanel in the naming conventions of how to set up multiple websites, but it's a lot better on resources and is so much easier than WebMin. It also gives you pretty good control over your Firewall (I keep mine on high settings) without needing to configure the rules yourself via SSH.

I don't know if Zensix is using a VPS v2 configuration though. Here's the information on how to install it if you don't have a control panel already installed and vinstall is enabled on the VPS.

You want to close off all but web, mail, and sftp ports. The last thing you want are people port sniffing you and DDOS'ing your server.

Aww, you know you're really just a cuddly little fur ball with a big mouth. Just look at you're avatar.

We use OpenVZ for all of our VPSs, so it's going to be using the Linux kernel. I had to look up "VPS v2" just to see what it was. Apparently it's what Verio offers and it's a FreeBSD based virtualization? Is it just what they call a FreeBSD jail?

As for CPX, never heard of that either and couldn't find much information on it. We do however offer cheap DirectAdmin licenses if anyone needs it (overkill in my opinion).

And for a firewall, I just have people install CSF. About as simple and light on resources as you can get.

 

[Rexibit]

Yeah, I use Verio for my hosting. It works out pretty well for offering hosting to my web development clients, as well as being able to get the reseller discount when I setup a new VPS for myself. I'm mainly there for being able to get technical issues resolved quickly. I hate having to wait on support tickets at 2AM in the morning if something goes wrong.

I think they customized their v2 configuration for their own needs, but it's a server configuration. You're right, there's not much information on it, but there's a few other hosts using it. At least that's what my account rep said when I asked about it last year. I forget who he named.

My particular Linux VPSs run Redhat Linux, but they do offer FreeBSD.

I was actually typing that CPX part out thinking that I could link to a YUM install page, but couldn't find it so I added in the VPS v2 info.

 

[DKPMO]

You obviously haven't been on WF long enough to understand that:

STS = apes throwing their shit around
OTHER FORUMS = normal posting

I'm not trying to be a dick, just telling you how it is. I've seen a ton of people banned for bringing STS into other forum sections. In here I help you. In STS I make you cry.

Deal. I'll do my best to make you cry in STS.

 

[subigo]

Yeah, I use Verio for my hosting. It works out pretty well for offering hosting to my web development clients, as well as being able to get the reseller discount when I setup a new VPS for myself. I'm mainly there for being able to get technical issues resolved quickly. I hate having to wait on support tickets at 2AM in the morning if something goes wrong.

I think they customized their v2 configuration for their own needs, but it's a server configuration. You're right, there's not much information on it, but there's a few other hosts using it. At least that's what my account rep said when I asked about it last year. I forget who he named.

My particular Linux VPSs run Redhat Linux, but they do offer FreeBSD.

I was actually typing that CPX part out thinking that I could link to a YUM install page, but couldn't find it so I added in the VPS v2 info.

So is this what CPX looks like? It's the only image I could find: http://support.verio.com/imgtemp/106.gif

I wish I could find more information on it. I take it it's free?

And speaking of YUM, I was just in the middle of making a YUM tutorial for a client that asked how to use it. Dark Cognitive, you didn't ask for it, but this will help you out too:

#zenssh - YUM Package Manager

 

[Dark Cognitive]

Give this a read for a good description of shell commands. You'll mainly be using "vim", "cd", and "ls -li" for most of your time with SSH.

On my VPSs I use the CPX control panel. It's a little different in the beginning than cPanel in the naming conventions of how to set up multiple websites, but it's a lot better on resources and is so much easier than WebMin. It also gives you pretty good control over your Firewall (I keep mine on high settings) without needing to configure the rules yourself via SSH.

I don't know if Zensix is using a VPS v2 configuration though. Here's the information on how to install it if you don't have a control panel already installed and vinstall is enabled on the VPS.

You want to close off all but web, mail, and sftp ports. The last thing you want are people port sniffing you and DDOS'ing your server.

Thanks for the list of shell commands, i know that is definately going to come in handy.

And for a firewall, I just have people install CSF. About as simple and light on resources as you can get.

Is CSF free?, do you have a link where i can download / read up about it?

And speaking of YUM, I was just in the middle of making a YUM tutorial for a client that asked how to use it. Dark Cognitive, you didn't ask for it, but this will help you out too:

#zenssh - YUM Package Manager

Thanks, I'll check that out.

I just quickly threw up a wordpress installation, one initial problem i have is that wordpress asks for my FTP information in order to update plugins etc from the dashboard. Whats the best way to go about this? Just install/update the plugins manually via ssh or do i need to install some sort of FTP daemon?

Thanks for the help guys, this is all pretty much new to me so i'm just trying to get the 'basics' learned first. Google isnt the greatest of help when you dont know jack shit about linux, so many distro's etc its a bit confusing at the moment.


Still, i'm liking getting back into doing some command line stuff, reminds me of using DOS back in the day, lmao

 

[subigo]

Is CSF free?, do you have a link where i can download / read up about it?

I just quickly threw up a wordpress installation, one initial problem i have is that wordpress asks for my FTP information in order to update plugins etc from the dashboard. Whats the best way to go about this? Just install/update the plugins manually via ssh or do i need to install some sort of FTP daemon?

CSF is free and pretty simple to use, but you honestly don't really need it (just not enough services or open ports to really be needed). I don't even run a firewall on my personal VPSs. If you *do* end up needing a firewall, CSF is easy to install and configure... So I'll try to do an article on it sometime in the future.

I haven't personally used Wordpress in a long time and when I did, I updating things manually. Is there not an option for the auto-upgrade to be done via SSH instead of FTP?

EDIT: Apparently there's a section of the wp-config.php that you can change that allows you to bypass the login credentials and do a direct update to Wordpress.

This guy gives details on what to change: Blazing Fast WordPress Upgrades Without a Login | Blog Smarter

 

[Dark Cognitive]

Ok, i wont bother with the firewall atm, i was just just a bit paranoid with me being new to all this that i'd somehow be leaving stuff wide open to attack, although i have changed the port ssh is running on etc to stop the majority of script kiddies login attempts.

EDIT: Apparently there's a section of the wp-config.php that you can change that allows you to bypass the login credentials and do a direct update to Wordpress.

This guy gives details on what to change: Blazing Fast WordPress Upgrades Without a Login | Blog Smarter

I tried that, but it didnt work. Wordpress couldnt create the upgrade directory, so i did it manually, then it couldnt create / delete files etc (depending on whether i was installing or deleting a plugin.).

I found a solution though !.

First i installed ssh2 via pecl. This didnt work initally, as it said it was missing a #c compiler, so i did a bit of googling and worked out how to install gcc via YUM. After doing that, ssh2 installed perfectly.

I then followed this tutorial: Wordpress Tutorial: Using SSH to Install/Upgrade

After about an hour of me being a retard, and working out how to create the proper files / directories, i finally got it all done and lo and behold, it works!.

Wordpress now allows me to select SSH as an upgrade option instead of FTP/SFTP, and after adding a few DEFINE rules in wp-config it now skips that stage altogether and does it automatically.... sweet!

 

[subigo]

Ok, i wont bother with the firewall atm, i was just just a bit paranoid with me being new to all this that i'd somehow be leaving stuff wide open to attack, although i have changed the port ssh is running on etc to stop the majority of script kiddies login attempts.

I tried that, but it didnt work. Wordpress couldnt create the upgrade directory, so i did it manually, then it couldnt create / delete files etc (depending on whether i was installing or deleting a plugin.).

I found a solution though !.

First i installed ssh2 via pecl. This didnt work initally, as it said it was missing a #c compiler, so i did a bit of googling and worked out how to install gcc via YUM. After doing that, ssh2 installed perfectly.

I then followed this tutorial: Wordpress Tutorial: Using SSH to Install/Upgrade

After about an hour of me being a retard, and working out how to create the proper files / directories, i finally got it all done and lo and behold, it works!.

Wordpress now allows me to select SSH as an upgrade option instead of FTP/SFTP, and after adding a few DEFINE rules in wp-config it now skips that stage altogether and does it automatically.... sweet!

I'm glad you found a workaround.

The reason Wordpress can't create/delete/etc files and folders is because it runs under the Apache user and your files are chown'd to either root or a user you created.

A simple fix would be to just chown the wordpress folder to apache:apache (command: "chown -R apache:apache wordpressfolder").

Since I haven't messed with the auto-update feature before I just gave it a try and it worked. Just add the "define" lines to the wp-config.php file and chown the wordpress folder to apache:apache and you'll be good to go.

But as you've found, there's a million ways to accomplish a single task in Linux. Most people would have just given up and went back to shared hosting if they couldn't figure something out. So kudos to you.

 

[Dark Cognitive]

I'm glad you found a workaround.

The reason Wordpress can't create/delete/etc files and folders is because it runs under the Apache user and your files are chown'd to either root or a user you created.

A simple fix would be to just chown the wordpress folder to apache:apache (command: "chown -R apache:apache wordpressfolder").

That seems to be a quicker solution to the one i found. If i'm installing wordpress into the root of a domain, eg: domain.com/ would i chown the domain.com folder or the www folder?