If you’re looking for an all-inclusive solution to power your website(s), look no further, as you’ve found just what you’re looking for! With the newest technology available today, it’s now possible to launch a Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), which is essentially a virtual appliance that provides everything you need to get up and running quickly and easily.
Here’s what you’re getting:
- One VDS with pre-installed Nginx web server and PHP 7.0.
- One domain name
- 25GB of free space
- 1 private IPv4 address
- 5x Euro Hosting
- 1x Year of Pro Hosting
- Free daily backup
- 99.9% network uptime guarantee
- DDOS Protected By Cloudflare
- 1 Cloudflare Workers Plan Get Started
Why VDS?
Most web hosting companies offer you a Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) along with your web hosting plan. Basically, a VDS is just what it sounds like: it’s a dedicated server that’s been assigned to you, and you can run whatever you want on it. This means you don’t have to worry about performance issues, as everything will be handled by the VDS company, and you can focus on operating your website.
While it’s true that there are many advantages to using a VDS for hosting your website, perhaps the biggest reason why you should consider using a VDS is the fact that it comes with an included DDos Protection Guarantee.
What Is DDos Attack?
If you’re not familiar, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack is when a hacker or cyber-criminal takes advantage of a hosting company’s servers to send a large amount of traffic to a target website, typically a major news organization or corporate website. The attack attempts to either slow down the website or put it in a state of “Denial of Service”, which means the website or service cannot respond to visitors and remains unavailable to anyone trying to access it. In some cases, the attacks can even cause damage to a website’s infrastructure.
How Does Cloudflare DDos Protection Work?
To protect against DDOS attacks, the popular web host company Cloudflare offers a free DDOS Protection plan that’s attached to your VDS. When a user or attacker tries to break into your website using a DDOS attack, the VDS first contacts Cloudflare’s servers, which then determines the nature of the attack and whether or not your site is the target of the attack. If Cloudflare determines that your site is the target of a DDOS attack, it will take measures to protect it. These measures can range from pro-actively defending your site against the attack to blocking the malicious traffic altogether.
Step One: Install Nginx Web Server And PHP 7.0
As part of the Cloudflare DDOS Protection program, your VDS will be pre-installed with Nginx web server and PHP 7.0. These are the most popular open-source web servers currently in use, and they’re both free. You’ll notice that we didn’t install any Windows software on your VDS, as it is a virtual appliance and not a physical computer. Linux is the operating system of choice for most VDS owners, followed by Unix and then macOS.
Step Two: Create A DNS Record For Your Domain Name
A domain name is what you’ll use to identify your website when you’re navigating to it online. For example, imagine you have a website called “blog.example.com”. When someone tries to visit this site in a web browser, their computer will first look for a domain name system (DNS) record, which is basically a file that contains the IP address of the website. When your DNS record indicates that the IP address is associated with your VDS, you’ll know that the request came from a computer that’s been assigned to you by your web host company.
Step Three: Configure Nginx
Once you have Nginx installed and configured, you can use the online resources that came with the software or the command line interface (CLI) to manage and configure your VDS. You’ll want to make sure that your VDS has a static IP address, either from your web host company or via Dynamic DNS. If you’re using a publicly-assigned IP address from your web host company, make sure that you notify them so that it can be reserved for your use. If you’re not sure where to begin, use the built-in resources that the software provides.
Bonus Step: Set Up Automatically Generated Secur…
You can also use the CLI to set up automatically generated security keys for your SESV3 account. These keys are used to encrypt all of the sensitive information that you store on your server, so it’s critical that they be unique and strong. You’ll learn more about securing your server in our upcoming tutorial on creating a private blog using WordPress.
How Much Does It Cost?
As far as pricing, you can get a Basic VDS plan for just $5.95 per month with a free domain and 25GB of storage, plus you’ll get a free private IPv4 address. The plan includes 1 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB SSD. The Advanced plan is just $13.95 per month with all the same features as the Basic plan plus a free dedicated IP address.
To get the most out of your VDS, you’ll want to invest in the Pro plan, which costs $19.45 per month and includes all the features as the Advanced plan plus 5x the storage (100GB).
Is There Anything Else I Should Know About?
If you have any other questions about using a VDS for hosting your website, please don’t hesitate to ask. To get started, simply visit this link and enter your email address to begin the sign-up process.