Tag Archives: Dedicated Servers

System Engineering

How To Map Domain Names When Name Servers Don’t Work?

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Domain mapping is a process that allows you to use a domain name on your website or web service on any hosting option such as cPanel Webhosting, Plesk Windows Hosting, Webhosting Plus, VPS, or Dedicated Server. It is generally done by updating the name servers on domain names to point to the server where you are hosting or planning to host your website.

Sometimes on self-managed servers and advanced hostings, the nameserver needs complex configurations to work, these settings might not be easy for general users. If adding custom name servers doesn’t work for you, you can set your domain name to work simply by editing its DNS zone.

In this case, you don’t need to edit or use custom name servers but make some changes in the DNS zone file and it will start working with default nameservers provided during the time of registration.

The first thing you need to do is log in to your VPS or Dedicated Server and copy its IP address which you will find on the My Products -> Servers -> Manage page. If you have a hosting, the IP address would be visible on the cPanel’s information page.

Once you have the IP address the next step is to log in to your domain account and click the ‘Manage‘ button to open up domain details.

DNS 1

Select the DNS Zone File tab to edit your domain’s zone information. Click the ‘Add Record‘ button present in the zone file section and add records as shown in the following screenshot.

DNS 2

The examples:

  • Hostname – www, record type – A address, ***.***.***.*** (IP)
  • Hostname – @, record type – A Address, ***.***.***.*** (IP)
  • Hostname – *, record type – A Address, ***.***.***.*** (IP)

Don’t forget to replace the ***.***.***.*** with your server’s IP address. You can add records one by one by clicking the ‘Add Another’ button. Once DNS records are added, save changes, log out, and wait for the DNS propagation.

DNS propagation refers to the process by which changes made to Domain Name System (DNS) records are distributed and adopted across the internet. When you make changes to your DNS records, such as updating the IP address associated with a domain or adding new records, these changes need to be propagated to DNS servers worldwide to ensure that internet users can reach your website or services using the updated information.

This might take up to 24 hours to complete but generally at Sangkrit.net, it starts working for you in a few minutes.

System Engineering

Creating New cPanel Hosting Accounts From WHM Of VPS & Dedicated Server

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cPanel equips you with an easy interface to manage your domains and websites. The cPanel account at Sangkrit.net gives you access to a number of free applications to let you easily make different types of websites in a very short interval of time and that too without any technical skills.

But do you know you can also create separate cPanel hosting accounts on your Sangkrit.net VPS or Dedicated Server by using the WHM interface? Each cPanel account can have its primary domain and each can be given the privilege to host multiple domains. You can also set resource limits over new cPanel accounts. This includes disk space, bandwidth, email accounts, and more. You can either use the package defaults or customize these limits as per your requirements.

To create a new cPanel account you will need to set the following things:

  1. Domain: The domain name for the new cPanel account.
  2. Username: A username for the new account.
  3. Password: A strong password for the new account or you may also use the password generator.
  4. Email: An email address associated with the account.
  5. Package: The hosting package or resource allocation for the account. If needed, you can create custom packages in WHM.
  6. Settings: You may also configure any additional settings such as selecting a theme, enabling or disabling DNS clustering, and more.

Then simply follow these steps to create a new cPanel account:

  1. Login to your Sangkrit.net Account
  2. Click the Servers tab
  3. Click Manage button
  4. You will be directed to your server’s admin panel
  5. Click Account Functions or use the search box to find it
  6. Click Create a New Account
  7. Fill up the mandatory fields and click Create

Now the Web Host Manager will display you a results page outlining your new Account. Next, you will see Account Creation Complete!!! at the bottom of the screen. Simply repeat the steps to create more cPanel accounts.

The accounts you create are accessible from the Servers tab on your Sangkrit.net products page. Go back to step no. 1, and you will see all your cPanel accounts are listed there. The new account holders would be able to log in to cPanel with the provided username and password to manage their website, email, and other hosting-related services.

System Engineering

Configuring Reverse DNS On WHM Servers: VPS & Dedicated

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DNS i.e., the Domain Name Server also known as Domain Name System is the hierarchical and decentralized system of identifying systems reachable through the Internet Protocol networks.

It works by looking up your website by finding its domain name and then locating its associated IP address. Whereas, the reverse DNS first looks up for an IP address and then locates the associated domain name.

The reverse DNS is actually a process that involves the conversion of an IP address back into a domain name. While the traditional DNS translates domain names (like – example.com) into IP addresses (like 132.0.3.1), reverse DNS does the opposite – it translates IP addresses into domain names.

The Reverse DNS is mainly used for:

  1. Email Servers: Reverse DNS is commonly used by email servers to verify the legitimacy of incoming emails. Many email servers check if the reverse DNS entry of the IP address sending the email matches the domain from which the email claims to be sent. This helps in preventing spam and identifying potential sources of malicious or fraudulent emails.
  2. Network Troubleshooting: Network administrators use reverse DNS to understand the domain names associated with specific IP addresses. This can aid in troubleshooting network issues, identifying the source of network problems, or verifying the ownership of particular IP addresses.
  3. Security: Reverse DNS can provide additional information about the server sending traffic to your network. It’s used in security measures to analyze and filter incoming traffic based on the domain names associated with the IP addresses. This can be helpful in identifying and blocking potentially harmful or unauthorized access attempts.
  4. Logging and Analytics: Some systems and applications use reverse DNS to log the domain names of incoming connections, providing more meaningful information in logs and analytics.
  5. Online Reputation: Some online services use reverse DNS as a factor in determining the reputation of an IP address. A well-configured reverse DNS entry can contribute positively to an IP address’s reputation, while a lack of reverse DNS or misconfigured entries might affect it negatively.

Setting up reverse DNS involves creating a PTR (Pointer) record in the DNS zone files, and linking an IP address to a domain name. This PTR record helps establish a connection between the IP address and the domain name it represents.

It’s important to note that the accuracy and presence of reverse DNS entries can vary. Some organizations maintain proper reverse DNS entries for their IP addresses, while others might not. Additionally, the process of setting up and managing reverse DNS might involve coordination with the hosting provider or internet service provider.

But at Sangkrit.net you don’t have to worry about that, you can easily setup the reverse DNS by following a few easy steps, and the round-the-clock online support is also available to help you in case you feel stuck anywhere.

How To Setup Reverse DNS?

At Sangkrit.net, you can easily set up a reverse DNS (RDNS) lookup for your Dedicated Server. To start, simply login to your Sangkrit.net account and follow these steps:

  1. Visit your My Products page
  2. Click Servers
  3. Next to your server, click Manage
  4. Enter the domain name you want to be associated with the server IP address, in the DNS record field
  5. Now click Update

The system will start an automated process of completing the reverse DNS setup. This can take up to 48 hours for the changes to propagate to your server.

If you have multiple IP addresses on your server, repeat the process for each IP address you want to set up Reverse DNS for.

Now the traditional process of setting up reverse DNS is a little bit different, you may follow that also:

  1. Log in to WHM: Access your WHM control panel using your administrator credentials.
  2. Navigate to “DNS Functions”: In WHM, search for or locate the “DNS Functions” section. This is where you’ll manage DNS-related settings.
  3. Edit DNS Zone: Under “DNS Functions,” click on “Edit DNS Zone.” This will allow you to modify the DNS zone files for the domain.
  4. Select IP Address: Choose the IP address for which you want to set up Reverse DNS (PTR record). Click “Edit.”
  5. Add PTR Record: In the DNS zone editor, you’ll see the existing DNS records. To add a PTR record, scroll down to the “Add New Entries Below this Line” section.
  6. Enter PTR Record Details: Fill in the following information to create the PTR record: Name: Enter the last segment of the IP address in reverse, followed by “in-addr.arpa.” For example, if the IP is 192.0.2.1, the name would be “1.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa.” TTL: Set the Time to Live for the record.
  7. Save Changes: Once you’ve entered the PTR record details, click the “Save” or “Save Zone File” button to save the changes.
  8. Update DNS Zone: After saving the changes, WHM will update the DNS zone file with the new PTR record.
  9. Verify PTR Record: You can verify the PTR record by using the “dig” command in the terminal or through online DNS lookup tools. It might take some time for the DNS changes to propagate across the internet.

You should also know that, when you run your own email server, and configure DNS to point to your domain name, there are some servers that are going to reject emails from IP addresses when not having an rDNS. The reverse DNS also helps when you need to troubleshoot your network while running a traceroute etc.

Reverse DNS is a useful mechanism that adds an extra layer of information and security to online communication and networking processes.

System Engineering

How To Assign A System Administrator To Manage Your Website & Server?

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When you subscribe to a Webhosting, Cloud, VPS, or Dedicated Server at Sangkrit.net, the system provides you with an option to assign someone as your programmer or system administrator to work on your behalf on your websites, without accessing your private information or anything you need to keep private.

When do you need a Manager?

The fully managed dedicated servers offer you complete support. The Managed WordPress and Website Builders are so easy that you can do everything on your own. But still, if you want a manager to look after your product, design your website, or manage your WHM-cPanel-less server from the command line then you can subscribe to the online support by sending an email to the system at Sangkrit.net.

You can invite your programmer to work as your system administrator and look after your products. Such as opening and using your products, creating website, editing code on your behalf without viewing or changing your personal account information like your payment method and password.

How to add a System Administrator?

  1. Login to your Sangkrit.net account and visit this page here.
  2. Select ‘Invite to Access’ from the people who can access my account section
  3. Enter the Name and Email address of the programmer you’re inviting
  4. Select an access level to make sure how much access you are providing him, you may read the explanation of access levels to know more about each level of access
  5. Select Invite and the system will send an email invitation to the person you are providing access to your account
  6. Once the person accepts your invitation, the system will let you know and he would be able to manage your products

How to cancel an invitation?

All pending invitations can be canceled by either you or an existing delegate by selecting the cancel option. The invitations which are not accepted within 48 to 72 hours will expire automatically.

How to remove a system administrator?

You can cancel the access anytime by logging in to your Sangkrit.net account and visiting the same page here.

Then from the people who can access my account section, select the ‘Edit’ option visible next to the name of the delegate you want to remove, now click the ‘Delete’ option visible under the ‘Save’ button.

The person you are assigning your manager must have a Sangkrit.net account in order to accept your invitation. In case they don’t have one, the system automatically prompts them to create one.

Homeschool

Webhosting Options To Power Your Specific Business Purpose

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You have already learned how many types of webhosting options are there. Now this lesson clarifies what webhosting services can be used at what specific purpose in your business. Hosting your website on a Dedicated Server is the best thing you can do but if your budget is small, many other options are also available for you.

Webhosting For New & Small Businesses

The shared hosting is cheap and can power new and small websites that just entered the internet. These hostings can be subscribed as simple cPanel Hosting or Plesk Hosting from Sangkrit.net.

Once you register or transfer your domain name at Sangkrit.net, you can subscribe to the hosting and your account will guide you how to set it up to work. The one-click application installer will auto-install WordPress and you can bring your business online yourself very easily.

Apart from this a Website Builder offers you an easier way of doing the same. It can be a choice for businesses looking for quickly building an informative website with a responsive mobile friendly design, want to sell products or receive payments online.

Webhosting For Growing Businesses

When your business grows and you start to receive good traffic, you will at least need a VPS i.e. Virtual Private Server. It offers you more resources than a shared hosting option such as cPanel and Plesk hosting, we have already discussed them above. Now VPS is something that gives you more RAM, multiple CPUs, and greater processing power so that you don’t face downtime due to a lack of resources.

Apart from VPS, WordPress Hosting is an easier option if you want a straightforward interface of preinstalled WordPress with no worries of SSL security setups, malware scanning and backups, etc.

A Managed WordPress plan can be a choice of each individual who wants to bring his business online, startup as a blogger to earn money, or want to start an Ecommerce shop. Managed WordPress is for anyone who wants to startup and grow online.

Dedicated Hosting For High Traffic Websites

A Dedicated Server is the best hosting option because on a shared hosting, the resources are shared between multiple users. A server powers multiple shared hostings that means multiple users host their websites on the same server by susbcribing to a shared hosting option.

On a VPS you get more resources as its hosting packages are more powerful but still the resources are shared.

Whereas on a Dedicated Server, all resources are allowcated only to you and that gives you more proccessing power so that your website don’t go down when a large number of requests are made in a small time.

Apart from this, Webhosting Plus is a fresh option especially created for the users who don’t have a budget of leasing Dedicated Servers or they are not use to it. Webhosting Plus offers you higher resources, with an easier interface than of a Dedicated Server and it is also cheaper than that.

System Engineering

Server Management Made Easy & Affordable At Sangkrit.net

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A dedicated server is like your own computing machine. It is easy to use if you know how to. In olden times when people use to host a large website with heavy traffic, they use to spend thousands of dollars in setting up their own server.

Time changed and those bare metal servers came up with lease and subscription options so that anyone can subscribe to them online and host his domains.

That has made things easier, as you get a control panel such as Plesk or cPanel WHM and that can make the server manageable for everyone but not always as there are times when you get stuck in something and you only have the command line to resolve the issue. Here, Fully Managed Dedicated Server and Webhosting Plus save you from facing such issues.

Fully Managed Dedicated Servers

You won’t face such problems in Sangkrit.net because here you can subscribe Fully Managed Dedicated Server option offering you round-the-clock online support from the experts. And to make things even simpler for everyone the Webhosting Plus option is now available with a super easy control panel.

Webhosting Plus

The Webhosting Plus offers you the speed of a server accessible to you with a simple control panel as you get on a shared hosting option. This hosting is an ideal option for users who don’t have good tech skills or cannot afford a fully managed dedicated server.

This is a powerful hosting and all its plans include a one-click install option so that you can simp,y install WordPress on any domain of yours to start a business or eCommerce website. Its simple backup and restore option allows you to upload or transfer your website. Uptime is just like a server, 99.9%. Security monitoring is 24/7, SSL is free and you can easily set it up to work. You also get the benefit of daily backups to keep files and content of your website safe.

Overall Webhosting Plus is for those who don’t have any idea on how to work with servers, whose budget is limited but at the same time need a powerful hosting option.

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What Webhosting Do I Need?

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Web hosting provides you space for hosting your domain. It stores your website files. Sangkrit.net has hostings for everyone, from low budget offering limited resources to options that can handle very heavy traffic.

What hosting option you need depends on your budget. You are here for achieving success and for that you will certainly need a Dedicated Server at some point in time especially when your success starts. Having it beforehand can save you from issues that you will face while moving to a bigger hosting option everytime you require more RAM, more processing power and more database space because of sudden increase in traffic.

Still, if your budget is less, you may go for other hosting options based on your present time need. There are hosting options for everyone and this lesson will explain you how one differ from the other and what exactly you need as it is going to impact your website’s availability, and performance.

Cheapest Hosting Options

cPanel Starter is the cheapest hosting option that enables you to host one website. Cheapest doesn’t mean its worthless, it is good for hosting one website of any kind, the bandwidth is unmetered and storage is 30GB which is good as your first step online.

You can use it for hosting any dynamic website such as an eCommerce store or WordPress, Joomla or Magento etc.

cPanel Economy, this is second cheapest option. It lets you host one domain but gives you 10 MySQL databases, and 100 email accounts capacity. The core difference between cPanel Starter and cPanel Economy is that cPanel Starter gives you the power to host one website i.e. one domain having one database.

Whereas, cPanel Economy lets you host one domain but 10 MySQL databases which means you can create 10 websites on separate databases using a subdomain (example: sudomain.yourdomain.com) or subdirectory (yourdomain.com/subdirectory) option. You may create more websites using different table prefixes on one database. Well that you can do on cPanel Starter too if you want to host multiple subdomain or subdirectory sites on one database. But see the storage capacity of the database is limited.

cPanel Deluxe, lets you host unlimited websites which means you can add unlimited domains but the database limit is 25. That means you can either run 25 websites on 25 separate databases or host more websites (that’s what is unlimited) by using one database for multiple websites and you have 25 databases so you can run many websites here also. It lets you create 500 email accounts.

cPanel Ultimate enables you to add unlimited domains and lets you create unlimited databases. Gives you 1 year of free SSL subscription, more processing power, and 1000 email accounts that you can create on your own domain.

WordPress Hosting

Also called Managed WordPress, these hosting options lets you start your own website or online store in minutes.

They save you from the hassles of configuring and managing WordPress installations. They give you dashboard access with the power to start your website on your own without the need of hiring a web developer. They offer automatic setup, backups, and software updates paired with 24/7, online support.

The WordPress Hosting options include:

  1. WordPress Basic – Good for hosting one website with a capacity of handling 25,000 visitors a month
  2. WordPress Deluxe – One website with a capacity of handling 100,000 visitors a month
  3. WordPress Ultimate – One website with unlimited visits
  4. WordPress Ecommerce – Ideal for starting your own online shop i.e eCommerce website
  5. WordPress Developer – You can start and manage 5 different WordPress sites
  6. WordPress Pro – Lets you manage up to 25 different WordPress sites

Webhosting Plus

The Webhosting Plus offers you the simplicity of cPanel hosting with resources that you generally get on a server. It includes more dedicated resources than WordPress or cPanel hosting we discussed above.

This is a great option if you are hitting or going to hit massive traffic, you need more power and resources but at the same time, you don’t know how to manage a server and you don’t want to hire a system administrator.

It also includes multiple plans starting from 4GB RAM to 32GB RAM with the power of up to 16 CPUs:

  1. Webhosting Plus Launch – 4GB RAM with 2 CPUs
  2. Webhosting Plus Enhance – 8GB RAM with 4 CPUs
  3. Webhosting Plus Grow – 16GB RAM with 8 CPUs
  4. Webhosting Plus Expand – 32GB RAM with 16 CPUs

This hosting option is easier to manage just like other cPanel hostings.

VPS & Dedicated Servers

These give you complete control and no resources are shared with other users. A common hosting plan you purchase is located on a server running multiple hostings whereas on a dedicated server all resources are only for your use.

You can build multiple cPanel hostings, allocate resources to each hosting plan, you can decide how many domains each webhosting can have and how much server resources a website or hosting can utilize or you can simply allocate all server resources to your main website.

There various type of servers with higher-lower RAM and space options. But the subscription is of only two types: Self Managed and Fully Managed.

Self-Managed Servers: – These give you command line control. To manage this type of server you may either learn system engineering or hire a system administrator or you can simplify things for yourself by adding the cPanel WHM option.

Fully-Managed Servers: These servers come with round-the-clock dedicated online support from experts.

Subscribing a VPS or Dedicated Server is just like purchasing a computer machine. So while subscribing to a server what you should see is its RAM, storage option such as HDD or SSD, and processor.

System Engineering

Get The Benefit Of Dynamic Caching On Sangkrit.net VPS & Dedicated Servers

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Now every server owner at Sangkrit.net can easily accelerate his websites by caching both static and dynamic content to reduce the load on the servers.

So if you buy any Linux-based VPS or Dedicated Server, you can enable caching for yourself and also your clients by providing a caching button on every hosting account you make on your server. You and your users can simply turn this button on to turn on catching, no other configuration is required.

Follow these steps:

  1. Login to your SANGKRIT.net account
  2. Visit your ‘My Products’ page
  3. Click the ‘Servers’ option
  4. Next to ‘Server Actions’ click ‘Launch WHM’
  5. Open ‘Nginx Manager’ from the software section menu on the left
  6. You can now enable the caching

The page allows you to enable the caching on any or all hosting accounts running on your server You can also enable cache by default for all hosting accounts or click the ‘User Settings’ tab to enable NGINX caching selectively on accounts. It also provides you the option to selectively or collectively delete your server’s cache.

Every cPanel user account created by you on your VPS or Dedicated Server will also provide an option to enable caching over the websites running on that hosting account.

System Engineering

Using The Upgraded Hostnames On Your Sangkrit.net Server

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The hostnames will upgrade shortly so if you are still using legacy hostnames you will need to update them to the new format i.e. the reversal of the IP octets.

You can update the hostname for your VPS or Dedicated Server. You can do that simply by logging into your Sangkrit.net account and then following these steps:

  1. Visit your ‘My Products’ page
  2. Select ‘Servers’
  3. Next to your server click select ‘Manage’ 
  4. Select the ‘Settings’ option next to the ‘Dashboard’ section, the default page
  5. From the Server section click Change which is next to Hostname
  6. Now type or paste the new hostname in the Server Hostname field,
  7. Select Save

The hostname should meet the requirements, the server tests the hostname, and then only it accepts to save it. After you have successfully saved all the changes, the new hostname will appear in the Settings section.

System Engineering

Link Multiple Servers Using Configuration Cluster On Your Dedicated Server

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The Configuration Cluster is a server interface that enables you to link the master server to other additional servers. On your Dedicated Server, you can easily add a server to the configuration cluster by following these steps:

  1. Login to your server
  2. Click ‘Create’ at the top-right corner of the configuration cluster servers table
  3. Type the server name in the ‘Server’ text box
  4. Type the server’s root-level account username in the User text box
  5. Paste the server’s API token
  6. Alternatively, you can enter a remote access key in the API Token or in the Remote Access Key box

Remember, API token can be generated in the WHM’s Manage API Tokens interface. Simply navigate to WHM -> Home -> Development -> Manage API Tokens page.

If you own a Linux-based dedicated server at Sangkrit.net, you can simply copy the changes made to the master server to all other servers by navigating to WHM -> Home -> Server Configuration -> Update Preferences settings on the master server. This simply outs all changes to all servers on the cluster.

Homeschool

Lease Dedicated Servers For Yourself & Your Clients

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There are a number of hosting options available for you to select as per your budget from Sangkrit.net. Each type of hosting has its own benefits and limitations but a dedicated server is built to deliver optimal performance to your business, and you are free to reconfigure it in the way you want.

Why You Should Lease Dedicated Servers For Yourself & Your Clients?

A dedicated server is like having your own house where you can set up everything in the way you want. You can lease a server and configure it to your or your client’s web applications such as WordPress, eCommerce, Gaming, Video Streaming, or anything else. There are self-managed, managed, and fully managed servers.

On managed servers, you get WHM i.e. web host manager and cPanel for easily managing your client’s websites and applications. Whereas on a fully managed server you also get a professional team to help you out with complicated tasks.

Your Target Audience

As a Sangkrit outlet, you can offer a dedicated server to any of your clients but big enterprise-level businesses are more suitable targets for you. By suggesting a dedicated server you are offering them complete isolation i.e. no sharing of resources and full power over their hosting option.

Every Linux-based managed dedicated server offers you

  • Dedicated IP address
  • Single-tenant infrastructure
  • Command line as well as World Host Manager & custom cPanels
  • Higher levels of security
  • DDoS protection
  • Backup options

Give Optimal Performace To Your Websites & Apps

A dedicated server is built to provide you with optimal performance. You get the advantage of full processing power with metal servers from a tenant having root privileges for establishing complete command on the server, reaching up to the kernel. You can change the configuration of the server, and install-uninstall software because you have all exclusive access to it.

How To Lease Dedicated Server?

Simply visit the dedicated server’s page at Sangkrit.net, select your server and click the ‘Configure Your Server’ button. Here you will be asked to select your options such as operating system, control panel, and support team.

Once you do that, simply click the ‘Checkout’ button and make the payment. That’s it, you will now see the server listed on the products page of your Sangkrit.net account.

System Engineering

When Multiple HTTPS Servers Listen On A Single IP Address

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In SSL protocol conduct, a typical problem occurs when two or more configured HTTPS servers listen on a single IP address.

server {
    listen          443 ssl;
    server_name     www.yoursite.com;
    ssl_certificate www.yoursite.com.crt;
    ...
}

server {
    listen          443 ssl;
    server_name     www.yoursite.org;
    ssl_certificate www.yoursite.org.crt;
    ...
}

As shown above, what exactly happens here is that the client browser starts to receive the default server’s certificate (www.yoursite.com) regardless of the name of the server requested.

This is pushed by SSL protocol conduct. Here, the connection via SSL is made before the browser sends another HTTP request and Nginx does not know the server name requested. Hence, it may only offer the default server’s certificate.

Here’s the solution:

server {
    listen          192.168.1.1:443 ssl;
    server_name     www.yoursite.com;
    ssl_certificate www.yoursite.com.crt;
    ...
}

server {
    listen          192.168.1.2:443 ssl;
    server_name     www.yoursite.org;
    ssl_certificate www.yoursite.org.crt;
    ...
}

Above given is the ancientest and most powerful way used for resolving this issue. Here a separate IP address is assigned for each HTTPS server.

System Engineering

Updating Nginx Server Configuration To Use The SSL You Have Purchased

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You need to update the config file on your server to use the SSL certificate you are subscribed to. This can be done by accessing the command line SSH and opening the Nginx config file for the domain you are installing the SSL certificate.

Simply run the following command: 

sudo vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourwebsite.com

Now update the config file to use the SSL certificate:

server {
        listen 80;
        server_name yourwebsite.com;
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;

    server_name yourwebsite.com;
    ssl_certificate     /etc/nginx/ssl/yourwebsite.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/yourwebsite.key;

    root /usr/share/nginx/yourwebsite.com/;
    index index.php  index.html index.htm;

}

The next step is to save the file using this command:

wq!

And then restart your Nginx server with this command:

sudo service nginx restart

That’s it.

System Engineering

Configuring SSL & Intermediate Certificates On Nginx Server

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In the previous lesson, you learned about installing and configuring Nginx on your dedicated server. Now this lesson is on installing SSL and other standard certificates.

The first thing you need to do is get an SSL certificate from Sangkrit.net, once you subscribe to it and your certificate request is approved just download it to install those files on your dedicated server.

To download and install your certificate files follow these steps:

  1. Visit your Sangkrit.net product page
  2. Select SSL Certificates
  3. Select Manage next to the certificate you need to download
  4. Select a Server type
  5. Click the Download Zip File option
  6. Your certificate would start downloading now.
  7. Copy the SSL certificate file and the certificate bundle file to the Nginx server
  8. You already have a key file on the server which you got when you generated your certificate request.
  9. Now edit your Nginx configuration to reference these files

Your certificate is installed now. Remember, the actual configuration file you edit depends on your version of Nginx, your OS platform, or the method you are using to install Nginx.

System Engineering

Installing & Configuring Nginx On Your Dedicated Server

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Nginx is a web server that is also used as a reverse proxy option. It also balances the load on your dedicated server and acts as a mail proxy as well as an HTTP cache. It is software used for high performance on your server.

This lesson will guide you in installing and configuring Nginx and for that, you are going to need the root privileges. You will also require to set up your CentOS server to use the EPEL Repository which stands for Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux.

To install EPEL simply run this command:

sudo yum install epel-release

You can read more about its configuration steps here. Earlier we installed yum as a package manager but it does not include any new version of Nginx in its default repository so installing EPEL will make sure that Nginx on CentOS remains up to date.

You are ready to install Nginx

Now you are ready to install Nginx on your server, simply run the following command:

sudo yum install nginx

Next, start Nginx:

Nginx doesn’t start on its own, so you will need to run a command for starting Nginx on your server:

sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start

To make sure Nginx is properly installed on your server, just direct your browser to your server’s IP address. If you see the words, “Welcome to Nginx”, it means you have Nginx installed and working.

System Engineering

Installing & Configuring Apache On Your Dedicated Server

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Before installing PHP or MySQL, the first thing you need to do is install Apache on your dedicated server. In order to do that you simply need to access the command line of your server and log in as the root user:

  1. Connect your server via SSH
  2. Run this command: sudo su –
  3. Enter your server password

You now have root access.

Once you have that, you can install Apache using the ‘Yum‘ command:

[root@admin]# yum install httpd
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, langpacks
base
| 3.6 kB 00:00:00
extras
| 3.4 kB 00:00:00
updates
| 3.4 kB 00:00:00
extras/7/x86_64/primary_d
| 121 kB 00:00:00
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirror.sigmanet.com
* extras: linux.mirrors.es.net
* updates: mirror.eboundhost.com
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package httpd.x86_64 0:2.4.6-45.el7.centos will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: httpd-tools = 2.4.6-45.el7.centos for package:
httpd-2.4.6-45.el7.centos.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: /etc/mime.types for package: httpd-2.4.645.el7.centos.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package httpd-tools.x86_64 0:2.4.6-45.el7.centos will be installed
---> Package mailcap.noarch 0:2.1.41-2.el7 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Installed:
httpd.x86_64 0:2.4.6-45.el7.centos

Dependency Installed:
httpd-tools.x86_64 0:2.4.6-45.el7.centos
mailcap.noarch 0:2.1.41-2.el7

Complete!
[root@admin]#

Once Apache is installed, the next thing you need to do is configure it and then make sure it works on your server, use the following command:

[root@admin]# systemctl start httpd && systemctl enable httpd

To make sure the Apache services are running on your server:

[root@admin] sudo systemctl status httpd

This will show you an active status if the service is running on your dedicated server.

System Engineering

Verifying The Presence Of Required PHP Libraries On Your Dedicated Server

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In the previous lesson, you have learned about getting yourself to know whether the Memcached service on your server is installed and listening to Port 11211.

Now this lesson is on checking the presence of the required PHP libraries needed to make Memcached work for you.

You can verify the installation from SSH. Another important thing is to make sure to use the same version of PHP as the website you want to use Memcached on.

On a dedicated server having WHM/cPanel with PHP version 7.3, the following command is used with the output as shown:

[root@server[~]: ea-php73 -i | grep "memcached" /opt/cpanel/ea-php73/root/etc/php.d/memcached.ini,
memcached
memcached support => enabled

Verifying Memcached service & PHP libraries are working

From the command line, telnet to the Memcached service.

[root@server ~]# telnet localhost 11211

This output will be returned, and you will be connected to the Memcached service.

Trying ::1...
telnet: connect to address ::1: Connection refused
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.

Enter the command stats. A full page of output will appear, but towards the middle, look for the lines STAT bytes_read and STAT bytes_written.

stats
STAT pid 6374
STAT uptime 37567
...
...
STAT bytes_read 3733268975
STAT bytes_written 6526192728
STAT limit_maxbytes 1073741824
...
...
END

When you see a big amount of data is read and written, that means Memcached is working.

Entering the command stats again is going to show changes to these values.

And when you are seeing a very tiny amount of data read and written, or the values of 0, that means Memcached is not functioning good.

stats
STAT pid 30601
STAT uptime 603941
...
...
STAT bytes_read 7
STAT bytes_written 0
STAT limit_maxbytes 1073741824
...
...
END

Use quit to return to a standard prompt.

quit
Connection closed by foreign host.
[root@server ~]#

So that is how you can know that the caching is working as expected.

Homeschool, System Engineering

Know Whether Your Server’s Memcached Service Is Listening On Port 11211

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If you’re not sure whether your dedicated server‘s Memcached service is listening on port 11211 i.e. it is installed and running properly, there are some easy tests you can do to make sure everything is operating fine.

Before you start, enable the administrator access on your server (in case you have not), connect via SSH then switch to the root user.

Next, in the command line, type the following command and PRESS ENTER:

telnet localhost 11211

This will report to you back that it was able to connect to the service.

[root@server[~]: telnet localhost 11211
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.

In case, if it’s not installed properly, you will see something like this:

[root@transfer[~]: telnet localhost 11211
Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet: connect to address 127.0.0.1: Connection refused

And you will not be able to connect to the service.

In the next lesson, you will learn about testing the presence of the needed PHP libraries to make Memcached work for you.

System Engineering

Configured Memcached PHP Libraries On Your Server, Next What?

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In the previous lessons, you have learned about installing Memcached PHP Libraries and configuring Memcached Daemon on your dedicated server. Now next steps are to configure your apps and websites to use them so that you can get their real benefit.

So once you get the Memcached Daemon and PHP libraries installed on your CentOS-based dedicated server, you are required to configure your PHP application to use Memcached. In case you don’t it, Memcached is going to use your server resources without providing you any of the advantages.

Before starting, the system recommends you take a backup of your websites and then follow the changes outlined below.

WordPress users can take its benefit simply by using a plugin called W3 Total Cache Plugin. Yes, there are many other plugins as well but the system finds it best for most of its users. If in case this plugin doesn’t suit you or it is in conflict with some other plugin you are using, it that’s your case then you can choose some other plugin such as Batcache, Cachify, Memcached-Redux, etc.

In this lesson, you will learn about configuring the first and the best one i.e. W3 Total Cache. Simply start by installing-activating the plugin and then to configure, navigate to the Performance -> General Settings page.

Next, make sure the Enable tickbox is checked and Memcached is selected with the cache method for:

  • Page Cache
  • Object Cache
  • Database Cache
  • Fragment Cache

Once you do this, your website starts to use the Memcached services for imporving the performace of your website at the same time reducing the load on your dedicated server.

System Engineering

How Memcached Daemon Works On Your Dedicated Server?

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The loading of files and code on your dedicated server take lots of its resources, this resource usage can be reduced by using an object caching system and when you do that, the performance of your server automatically increases. This happens because then your server needs fewer resources to run web applications.

Memcached is a free high-performance, distributed memory object caching system which is generic in nature. It is planned for speeding up dynamic web applications simply by alleviating your database load.

Earlier you learned about configuring the Memcached PHP Libraries on your dedicated server. Now this lesson will let you know what is Memcached and how you can easily install it on your CentOS-based dedicated server at Sangkrit.net.

On CentOS servers, installation of the Memcached daemon is performed via command line and it is freed of any control panel you may be using such as WHM or cPanel, etc.

How this all works for you?

The cache data is simply stored in the hardware units such as RAM and that can also be used in correlation with a software segment.

As we have explained before, the primary purpose of cache is to increase the retrival of information stored in the form of data by minimizing the requirment to access the lower layers of storage every time a new request is made by the client.

Yes, this data is not the actual data stored on your server but it is a subset of data copied from the databases having the real data fed by your application.

This is like when you keep actual notes in your diary or anywhere else but you remember those notes anyway in your mind. So when the time comes when you need those notes; Instead of opening your diary again and finding them you directly make use of them because you already remember them anyway.

Hence, the main advantage of caching is to speed up loading and minimize the system resource usage that is generally needed to load any request such as a web page of your website or application.

System Engineering

Configuring Memcached PHP Libraries On Your Dedicated Server

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The dedicated servers at SANGKRIT.net offer you the option to configure your object caching system in the way that suits you best.

The lesson will guide you on how and why configuring Memcached PHP Libraries on your Linux-based dedicated server benefits you.

Memcached is one free object caching system that can be installed on your server for improving the performance of your website. It only works when you install the daemon, install the PHP libraries and configure your PHP application correctly.

You can easily do all that by following these steps:

  1. Login to your SANGKRIT.net account
  2. Visit your My Products page
  3. Click the Servers option
  4. Click Manage
  5. Open WHM

Next, on the WHM panel follow these steps:

  1. From the Software section on the left, select EasyApache 4
  2. Click the Customize button present in the Currently Installed Packages section.
  3. Click PHP Libraries on the left
  4. Type Memcached in the search box
  5. Click the button to install Memcached on the desired versions of PHP
  6. Click the Review button on the left,
  7. Click the Provision button at the bottom of the page

The installation should be complete now.

Apart from this, you should also know that the same modules can also be installed with yum in SSH. But be very conscious about the naming convention i.e. ea-php72-php-memcached. It must be installed on each version of PHP.

The next coming lesson will help you in the process of installing and managing the Memcached Daemon.