Using VPS.NET’s DNS Servers with the cPanel DNS Plugin

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Terry Myers

DNS is something no one likes to play with; it's messy, you don't always know of any problems right away, and sometimes, due to propagation, you think you have problems when you really don't. The only other thing just as fun may be the complicated world of email. Luckily we've worked hard to make our DNS system so easy a baby could use it, and have built out a plugin that automatically syncs your cPanel/WHM based server to our DNS system, automating the entire process. There is some setup involved, but I'm here to walk you through it all.

Before we get started, I'll explain the advantages of using the VPS.NET DNS servers compared to hosting them locally on your machine.

1.) Redundancy - Multiple servers in 13 different cities.
2.) Faster - The server located in the nearest city always responds, decreasing DNS resolution time.
3.) DDOS protected - Your nameservers will be protected from DDOS attacks targetted at taking down your nameservers.
4.) Resource consumption - Your server is no longer handling DNS requests, so there's more resources to use in other areas.

For our demonstration server, I'm simply running CentOS 5.5 with cPanel/WHM installed. Nothing special.

First step is to login to SSH using the root password provided. Then we can download the cPanel DNS Plugin.

cd /usr/src
wget http://www.vps.net/plugins/vps-net-dns-1.2.2.tgz
tar -xvzf vps-net-dns-1.2.2.tgz
cd vps-net-dns-1.2.2
sh install.sh

That's all that is necessary to do via command line. The rest of the configuration can be done through cPanel/WHM. Since this is a fresh cPanel server, I'll also be going through the initial Nameserver/DNS configuration section of cPanel.

The first step of the cPanel/WHM configuration is to setup your resolvers. This is not absolutely necessary, but it's definitely recommended. We also recommend using the Google DNS servers as resolvers. They're free, fast and extremely reliable.

Next we can select the nameserver service to use. Since our DNS will be hosted on a completely different server, we can select the disabled option.

Next, input the nameservers you are wishing to use for your domains.

In the next section, cPanel/WHM will ask you if you want to create the A entries for your nameservers and host name. It is not necessary to do it now, so you can skip the section. We will be doing it manually later through the manage my DNS section in the VPS.NET control panel. Upon hitting next, you will be finished with the DNS configuration of your server, however we still need to configure the DNS module.

To configure the DNS plugins, load WHM and scroll to the bottom to the plugins section and then choose the VPS.NET DNS Module. Once loaded, we need to fill the information required to connect to the API. Your VPS.NET username will be the email address you login to the VPS.NET control panel with, and then API key can be generated in the plugin section of the VPS.NET control panel.

After configuration, you will see the DNS Plugin sync up with the VPS.NET DNS servers. The final step is to manually create the A entries for the nameservers and the hostname.

For the nameservers you will want to use the IP address 67.228.254.4 for your primary name server and 67.228.255.5 as your secondary nameserver.

Moving to the Cloud: Creating your first account with your cPanel VPS

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Terry Myers

Creating your first account is one of the final steps you need to take before your website will be live on the cloud. Thankfully, it's also one of the easier tasks involved. We'll go through the steps of creating an account in both cPanel/WHM.

First login to WHM (Web Host Manager), which is the administrative interface for the cPanel control panel. To do so, you just need to go http://ipaddress.com:2086, where you'll be prompted for the root password. Once you login to WHM, go to the "Create a New Account" section.

The first steps to create your account are to enter your domain, and preferred login information.

If you have pre-defined packages, which set your resource specifications, you can set them in the next step.

If you have installed the RVSkin set, you can select from a list of RVSkins for your control panel theme. If you haven't purchased the RVSkin set, x3 is a default cPanel which still has the full functionality.

In the final section, if you're running an offsite mail server, this is the section you'll set it in using the remote mail exchanger option. If the VPS itself is hosting the mail server (and most will be), then you'll just use the local mail exchanger option.

At this point, you'll want to double check all the options to make sure that everything is correct. If it is, hit that "Create Account" button and watch WHM do it's thing. Once it has completed, you'll see the following confirmation page (and no, I do not use 123$$$terry as my password).

Don't worry ISP Manager users - you're up next week!

So you really want to meet us?

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Terry Myers

Thankfully Nick has finally finished up the VPS.NET 2010 Summer Tour Schedule, and I'm pleased to announce it to all of you!

HostingCon - Austin, Texas, United States
July 19th - 21st - http://www.hostingcon.com

Ditlev, Nick and I will all be attending HostingCon, which is the premier conference for the hosting services industry. This year will be the 6th HostingCon held, and is projected to have over 1,500 attendees, and more than 120 exhibitors (don't worry, we'll be the coolest!). We're not only going to be exhibiting at HostingCon, but we also have a few special events planned, and I expect there will be a few impromptu outings as well. Texas is Nick's home state, so I can't even begin to imagine what sort of fun we'll be having. It's not too late to register; hear there's a few rooms still open at the hotels, and my schedule is still completely free and clear!

cPanel Conference - Houston, Texas, United States
October 4th - 6th - http://www.cpanel.net

cPanel is undoubtedly the leading control panel for web hosting, and their conference last year was a huge success. We'll be there representing VPS.NET, learning about future developments from cPanel, and how to maximize all of it's value. I don't want to steal anymore of cPanel's thunder, especially since they haven't even announced the dates the conference (... and I just did!), but I hear VPS.NET will be doing it BIG there!

Of course, Nick and I are always out and about looking for something to do in our respective areas. Nick's in London, UK at the UK2Group office. I'm located offsite in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. If you're in the area of either us, get in touch. We'll find a way to meet up with you.

Contact Info:
Nick Nelson, Managing Director
Email: Nick (at) vps.net
Twitter: @Snickn

Terry Myers, Chief Evangelist
Email: Terry (at) vps.net
Twitter: @IGoByTerry

Addon Services Available

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Terry Myers

One of the great things at VPS.NET (At least I think so) is the number of addon services that are available to you. Whether it be control panels, software, hardware, and so on, we've tried to bring you a number of different options so you're able to configure a setup that works for your needs and caters to your business. And as we grow, we're continuously adding new services to keep up with the demands of our clients. Because of this, there may be a lot of people out there who may be unaware of some new cool services we've added.

Control Panels

cPanel - cPanel is likely the most recognizable control panel available on the market today. cPanel provides a front end interface to manage your websites files, email address, mysql databases, and many other tasks. Along with the client side management, cPanel also comes with the WHM (Web Hosting Manager) interface, which provides an interface to for server administrators and resellers to perform many different tasks, such as setting up new websites, updating Apache, and other server-side software. Each cPanel license is $10 per month.

ISPManager - ISPManager is a low resource consuming control panel software with a multi-level user system. It provides a graphical interface for server administrators, resellers and individual clients. Like cPanel, you have the ability to administrate certain functions of the web server, and each individual website. ISPManager licenses are available free at VPS.NET.

DirectAdmin - DirectAdmin provides a GUI for managing both your server and your website, while consuming minimal resources. DirectAdmin provides access for administrators, resellers, and individual users. DirectAdmin is $10 a month.

Server Administration

Pro-active, Fully Managed Administration - We realize not everyone wants to worry about their server - they want to worry about their website. We offer a fully managed hosting solution where we'll handle the migration of your website to VPS.NET, the initial VPS server setup, and then monthly security overhauls to make sure everything is running properly. With this, we also offer a 100% SLA. This solution is available for $99 a month with a $45 setup fee.

On Demand Server Administration - In addition to the fully managed solution, we have on demand administration that you're able to use when you run into a problem. On demand administration is good for kernel upgrades, PHP/Perl Installation and Configuration, Control Panel Installation and Configuration, Backup/Migration Assistance, Software Installation or Web Server Assistance. On Demand tickets are $10 each and last for 24 hours.

Server Monitoring

Server Density - Server Density is an addon tool that allows you to easily monitor your server for abnormalities through your email and/or your iPhone. Inside of Server Density you're able to track CPU Load, Memory Utilization, processes, disk usage, network traffic, and apache & nginx status. Server Density is available for $7.50 a month.

DotDefender - DotDefender is a software that monitors and logs your servers traffic, detecting any suspicious traffic activity. DotDefender is capable of running a website specific rule set, limiting the number of false intrusion detection attempts. DotDefender licenses are available for $15 a month.

Backups

Snapshot Backups - Snapshot backups are easy and effective. Using snapshot backups, VPS.NET will take a"snapshot" of your VPS node once a day, every day, and at the end of the month will retain one daily, one weekly, one monthly and then a day of your choice for backup. When restoring, individual files cannot be restored. We can only restore an entire backup. Snapshot backups are available for $5 a month.

Rsync Backups - With Rsync backups, we give you offsite backup space capable of backing up your entire VPS Node. You're then able to use Rsync, Duplicity, or any other backup script available to automatically backup your VPS. With Rsync you're able to restore individual files. Rsync backups are $5 a month.

R1Soft Backups - R1Soft backups are the "enterprise" version of our backup solutions, with continuos data protection through a graphical interface. Multiple copies of individual files are kept on hand and can be restored as necessary. R1Soft has a license charge of $15 per month.

Control Panel Addons

Softaculous - Softaculous is a script auto-installer that has a repository of over 130 commonly installed website scripts. It integrates directly in with both cPanel & ISPManager. Licensing is available at $9 a year.

Rvskin - The Rvskin set "beautifies" cPanel, offering you 2 additional skins in 7 different colors. Even more advantageous is the Rvskin set is available in 25 different languages. Rvskin is only available for users running cPanel and is $18 a year.

Misc.

Lightspeed Web Server - LiteSpeed Web Server is the leading high-performance, high-scalability web server. It is completely Apache interchangeable so LiteSpeed Web Server can quickly replace a major bottleneck in your existing web delivery platform. Litespeed is a drop in replacement for Apache on cPanel servers. Lightspeed licenses are only available for users running cPanel and can be purchased for $14 a month.

CodeBase - Codebase is a source code hosting and project management platform. While a CodeBase account usually runs you $79 a year, VPS.NET subscribers are able to get one free of charge.

FusionIO Node - FusionIO is solid state, high performance database hosting solution. With the solid state technology, your databases are able to be transferred and processed significantly faster, dramatically speeding up dynamic content driven websites. FusionIO nodes are available in both Atlanta and London and are $50 for every 2 Gigabytes of Storage Space.

HostBill - For company's out there selling web hosting services off of our VPS Nodes, I highly recommend you look into HostBill. It's a great client management system, with payment gateway support, and a complete support suite. Best of all, it's available free of charge at VPS.NET.