Console Login

Server Administration Articles

Technical insights and best practices for Server Administration

Server Administration

OpenVZ vs. Xen: Why Architecture Matters for Your Norwegian VPS

It is March 2010. The VPS market is flooded with cheap containers. We dissect the technical reality of OpenVZ, memory management pitfalls, and why serious implementations in Norway demand better isolation.

Paranoia is a Virtue: The 2010 Guide to Locking Down Your Linux VPS

Script kiddies don't sleep, and neither should your firewall. A battle-hardened guide to securing CentOS and Debian servers against modern threats, from iptables strategies to hardware isolation.

Sleep Soundly: The Paranoid SysAdmin's Guide to Bulletproof Server Backups

RAID is not a backup. If you accidentally drop a database table at 3 AM, mirroring just replicates the error instantly. Here is how to architect a fail-safe backup strategy using rsync, automysqlbackup, and Norwegian remote storage.

Shared Hosting is Killing Your Performance: Why Serious Admins Move to VPS

Is your site crawling because a neighbor is running a heavy script? We break down the architectural limits of shared hosting and why Xen-based virtualization is the only logical step up for Norwegian businesses in 2010.

Xen Virtualization: The SysAdmin's Guide to True Isolation

Stop gambling with oversold containers. Discover why Xen paravirtualization is the definitive choice for performance, stability, and Norwegian data compliance in 2010.

Surviving the Digg Effect: Bulletproof Load Balancing with HAProxy 1.3

Stop relying on a single point of failure. Learn how to configure HAProxy for robust load balancing on CentOS 5, ensuring your Norwegian business stays online when traffic spikes.

Stop Overselling My RAM: The Definitive Guide to Xen Virtualization in 2010

Tired of 'Burst RAM' marketing tricks crashing your MySQL service? We dissect the Xen hypervisor, explain why strict resource allocation beats OpenVZ, and how to configure DomU for true stability.

Silence the Pager: Proactive Monitoring with Nagios and Munin

Stop reacting to downtime at 3 AM. Learn how to combine Nagios for immediate alerting and Munin for historical trending to build a bulletproof monitoring stack on your Norwegian VPS.

Scaling LAMP: Saving Your Server from the Apache Death Spiral with Nginx

Is your Apache server thrashing swap every time traffic spikes? Stop throwing RAM at the problem. Learn how to deploy Nginx 0.7 as a reverse proxy to handle thousands of concurrent connections while keeping your backend lean.

Apache 2.2 vs Lighttpd: The Battle for Throughput on Linux VPS

Is your Apache process list eating all your RAM? We benchmark the industry giant against the lightweight challenger, Lighttpd, to determine the best web server architecture for high-traffic Norwegian sites in 2010.

The Watchmen of Your Infrastructure: Mastering Nagios and Munin for Bulletproof Uptime

Stop relying on customer complaints to know when your server is down. We dive deep into configuring Nagios 3 and Munin to visualize performance and alert you before the crash happens.

Lock It Down: Essential Linux Server Hardening for the Paranoid Admin (2010 Edition)

Default installations are a security risk. Learn the critical steps to harden your CentOS and Debian servers using iptables, SSH keys, and Fail2Ban before your IP hits a botnet list.

Surviving the Slashdot Effect: High Availability with HAProxy and Keepalived

Learn how to architect a bulletproof load balancing setup using HAProxy 1.3 and Keepalived. We cover layer 7 balancing, VRRP failover, and why low-latency hardware in Oslo is critical for Norwegian traffic.

Why KVM is the Future of Virtualization: Escaping the OpenVZ Trap in 2010

Tired of fighting for CPU cycles in oversold containers? We explore why Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is the superior choice for production workloads in Norway, offering true isolation and kernel-level control.

Stop Guessing: Deep Server Log Analysis with AWStats on Linux

Client-side trackers miss 30% of your traffic. Learn how to configure AWStats on CentOS and Debian to uncover botnets, bandwidth theft, and 404 errors, ensuring your Norway-based infrastructure remains compliant and performant.

The I/O Bottleneck: Why Your 'Cloud' Storage is Killing Application Performance

While everyone obsesses over CPU cycles, disk latency is the silent killer of web applications in 2010. We dissect SAN vs. Local RAID-10, analyze the impact of 'noisy neighbors' on shared storage, and explain why hosting your data on Norwegian soil is critical for compliance with Datatilsynet.

OpenVZ vs. Xen: The Reality of Burst RAM and 'Noisy Neighbors' in 2010

Is OpenVZ reliable for production in 2010? We dissect the shared kernel architecture, analyze /proc/user_beancounters, and explain why hardware RAID-10 is critical for container performance in Norway.

Sleep Through the Night: The Bulletproof Monitoring Stack (Nagios + Munin)

Stop guessing why your server crashed. Learn to implement the industry-standard monitoring combo of Nagios 3 and Munin to visualize performance, track load spikes, and catch failures before your customers do.

Stop Grepping Blindly: Master Server Log Analysis with AWStats on CentOS

Raw access logs tell a story, but only if you have the tools to read them. We break down how to configure AWStats for deep traffic insights, optimize log rotation to save disk space, and why high I/O performance is critical for analysis.

Stop Guessing: analyzing Server Logs with AWStats on CentOS & Debian

Google Analytics misses 30% of your traffic. Learn how to deploy AWStats for raw, server-side truth, configure Perl parsers for performance, and why distinct I/O isolation matters for log analysis.

Stop Sharing Your Kernel: Why KVM is the Future of Norwegian Hosting

Tired of 'noisy neighbors' crashing your production database? We dissect why OpenVZ is failing professional sysadmins and why the industry shift to Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is the only path forward for stability in 2010.

The Xen Supremacy: A Battle-Hardened Guide to Real Virtualization

Forget oversold containers. In 2009, true performance demands Xen paravirtualization. We dive deep into dom0 tuning, I/O schedulers, and why hardware isolation is the only way to survive the Digg effect.

Scaling Beyond Apache: Implementing PHP-FPM and Nginx for High-Traffic Loads

Is mod_php causing your server to swap? We analyze the shift to the LEMP stack, specifically optimizing PHP-FPM pool configurations on CentOS 5 and Debian Lenny for maximum throughput.

Stop Bleeding Latency: The Truth About DNS and .NO Domains in 2009

DNS is the single most overlooked bottleneck in Norwegian hosting. Learn how to configure BIND 9 for speed, navigate Norid regulations, and why your nameserver location defines your performance.

Sleep Through the Night: The Ultimate Nagios & Munin Guide for Norwegian SysAdmins

Stop guessing why your server crashed at 3 AM. We break down the battle-tested combination of Nagios 3 and Munin to visualize load, alert on latency, and securing your infrastructure against failures.

Building a Fortress: The Definitive Postfix Configuration Guide for Norwegian Sysadmins

Stop losing business to blacklisted shared IPs. Master the art of deploying a hardened Postfix SMTP server on CentOS 5 with proper SASL auth, RBLs, and latency-optimized settings.

OpenVZ vs. Xen: The Truth About Container Virtualization in 2009

Is your budget VPS holding your application back? We analyze the technical trade-offs of OpenVZ containers versus hardware virtualization, the risks of 'noisy neighbors', and why kernel independence matters for your hosting strategy in Norway.

Apache 2.2 vs Lighttpd: The Battle for Concurrency in High-Load Environments

Is the memory footprint of the Prefork MPM killing your VPS performance? We benchmark the industry-standard Apache against the event-driven architecture of Lighttpd 1.4 to see which server handles the 'Slashdot Effect' without swapping.

Locking Down Your Box: The Definitive Linux Hardening Guide for 2009

Stop relying on obscurity. From iptables to SSH keys, here is how the pros secure RHEL and Debian systems against the rising tide of botnets.

OpenVZ vs. Xen: Why Your Cheap VPS is Killing Performance

Is your virtual server suffering from mysterious slowdowns? We dive deep into the 'noisy neighbor' problem inherent in OpenVZ containers and why hardware virtualization via Xen might be the only viable choice for serious Norwegian deployments in 2009.