VPS Archives - JUJU Host

What is a Dedicated Server?

What is a dedicated server? Glad you asked! This page outlines what a dedicated server is, and explains the benefits of dedicated server hosting over shared hosting.

Dedicated server hosting refers to a type of web hosting plan where you are allocated a whole server to yourself. Therefore, a “dedicated server” refers to the “dedicated” server that you rent (or purchase) in order to host your website (or websites).

Dedicated server hosting can give you more control over your website. It can also help to ensure that other customers’ websites don’t impact on your website. Using dedicated servers is much more expensive than shared hosting, but if your site receives lots of traffic or you have other requirements (such as extra security requirements), dedicated server hosting could be for you.

With dedicated server hosting, you are able to log in to your dedicated server just as you would log in to your own computer. Once logged in, you can install and configure software as you wish.

Dedicated Server with Managed Hosting

Some dedicated server hosting plans are fully managed, meaning that your web hosting company performs regular administration duties, such as initial server setup, patching, anti-virus, security scanning, monitoring, and more.

Other dedicated server plans are self managed – you are responsible for the server setup, patching, anti-virus, etc

As you might expect, fully managed plans can be much more expensive than a self-hosted option. However, unless you have the time and inclination to look after your server 24/7, you might be better off looking for some sort of managed hosting plan.

Some dedicated server hosting plans are managed by default, others are self managed with an optional “service plan”, meaning, you pay extra for your web host to manage your server. Some of these self managed plans have various “add ons” that you can pick and choose. For example, you could add on a backup plan, a server maintenance plan, a security scanning service, etc. With these options, your web hosting company will perform these duties as outlined on a regular basis (for example, weekly or monthly) or perhaps on a one-off basis as required by yourself.

Example of Dedicated Server Hosting

To get a better idea of what’s included with dedicated server hosting, check out these dedicated servers at our partner site, ZappyHost.

What is a Dedicated Server – Another Definition

The term “dedicated server” can also mean a single computer within a network that is reserved for a specific purpose. For example, within a network, you could have a computer dedicated to printer resources, another computer dedicated to Internet connections, another computer serving as a firewall, etc. These computers would all be dedicated servers, as the whole computer is allocated for a specific task within the network.

What is a Virtual Dedicated Server?

A virtual dedicated server is a variation on the dedicated server concept. Instead of hiring the whole physical server, you hire a virtual server.

A virtual dedicated server is also referred to as a virtual private server (VPS). To learn more about VPS hosting, see What is VPS Hosting?.

How to import and export a database via SSH

You can easily import/export your database using phpMyAdmin menu in cPanel. To do so, follow the instructions here. It allows processing only the databases that do not exceed 50Mb. If your database is bigger, you will need to use SSH commands.

Shell access is disabled on Shared servers by default, so if shell access was not enabled for your account previously, first of all, enable it with the help of this article.

The next step is to log into your account via SSH. This tutorial will guide you through this process.

Note that before performing an export or import, you will need to assign a database to a user. You can do it in cPanel > MySQL Databases menu > Add a User to a Database option:

Make sure that you enable All Privileges option:

You can find more instructions on database creation and assigning it to a user here.

In order to import a database, use the following command:

mysql -u dbusername -pdbpassword dbname < /path/to/file/file.sql

You can also use:

mysql -u dbusername -p’dbpassword’ dbname < /path/to/file/file.sql

mysql -u dbusername -p dbname < /path/to/file/file.sql

In order to export, use this one:

mysqldump -u dbusername -pdbpassword dbname > /path/to/file/file.sql

The variable in italics are the following:

dbusername: the name of a database user assigned to this database (it should be in the format of CPANELUSERNAME_DATABASEUSER), or your cPanel username
dbpassword: the database user password (if you use a database user as a username) or your cPanel password (if you use your cPanel username as a username)

NOTE: No space between -p key and the password if you enter it in the command.

dbname: the name of your database you are importing to or exporting from. It should be created in your cPanel. The format is the following: CPANELUSERNAME_DATABASENAME
/path/to/file/file.sql: the path to the mysql dump that you are importing to (then a new file will be created) or exporting from your cPanel account. Here you can use both relative and absolute path formats. If you are in the folder with the file, you can just type the file name with the extension. With the absolute path, for example, it will be the following: /home/CPANEL_USERNAME/public_html/database.sql

If you do not receive any error or notification after pressing Enter, it means that the command was performed successfully.

Let us provide with an example.

We will use the following settings:

dbusername: nctests_user (as a database user), nctests (as a cPanel username)
dbpassword: 123qwe
dbname: nctests_database
path to the file: /home/nctests/public_html/databases/db_file.sql

After defining all the variables, the command will look the following way:

Database import

mysql -u nctests_user -p123qwe nctests_database < /home/nctests/public_html/databases/db_file.sql

NOTE: You can also use the following command:

mysql -u nctests_user -p nctests_database < /home/nctests/public_html/databases/db_file.sql

This way, you need to enter the password in the next line:

Database export

mysqldump -u nctests_user -p123qwe nctests_database > /home/nctests/public_html/databases/db_file.sql

NOTE: You can also use the following command:

mysqldump -u nctests_user -p nctests_database > /home/nctests/public_html/databases/db_file.sql

This way, you need to enter the password in the next line:

That’s it!

What is the difference between shared hosting and VPS?

It is the same difference as between a dedicated server and usual shared hosting.

With a VPS, you receive all the power of dedicated hosting with the ability to have your own set of services and customizable disk space. With shared hosting, you have limited administrative access and can’t customize software configurations, while with a VPS you can perform any actions from your control panel and don’t need to contact technical support with every single request.

Why should I choose VPS hosting?

Virtual Private Server is the right choice for developers, webmasters, resellers and simply for those who run resource-intensive websites. We use KVM and VMware technologies for virtualization, that is why each VPS performs and executes exactly like an independent physical machine and therefore offers security and flexibility for your sites, independence from neighbors, full control over your hosting environment and power of a dedicated server at an affordable price. KVM delivers 133% increase in disk speed performance comparing to XEN technology. Both KVM and VMware VPSs has got their own customers, and we respect all those customers.

What is a VPS?

With a VPS, you open a world of possibilities that would not be possible on shared hosting because of restrictions.

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. This refers to the partitioning of a physical server into multiple servers. In effect, each one acts just like a dedicated server, you get all the features of a dedicated server but at a lower price. Each VPS has its own operating system, and each can be rebooted separately. These operating systems each receive a specific share of the resources of the physical server, no more and no less, they are isolated from each other so that one cannot interfere with another. If one VPS experiences problems or tries to use too much memory or CPU resources, it has no effect on the others.

There are many advantages to selecting a VPS, it costs less than a fully dedicated server and provides a great deal of freedom and flexibility over the limitations and restrictions of shared hosting. You are limited only by the capabilities of the VPS, so select one powerful enough to meet your needs. You can always upgrade later if you decide it becomes necessary.

As for virtualization technologies we offer KVM VPS servers.

Since you are supposed to manage your VPS yourself, we recommend you have a good understanding of Linux commands and are familiar with the WHM/cPanel control panel. You can get a VPS without WHM/cPanel, but in this case, you would need to have very advanced knowledge of Linux.

If you don’t feel you have the technical expertise necessary to manage your own VPS, there is no need to let that stop you – you can select full management for an additional fee.

You won’t have root access, and it will act much like a shared hosting plan, but you will still make the decisions.

cPanel is required if you choose full management for a VPS.

How to move WordPress from a subfolder

This article will take you through the process of moving your WordPress website from the subfolderyourdomain.com/wp to the domain root – yourdomain.com:

NOTE: Before proceeding with any changes, make sure that you generate a full backup of your website. If you’ve created your site using Softaculous script installer, feel free to refer to this guide as well (step #4 – Backup software).

for cPanel paper_lantern theme:
Re-installation
Redirection
File migration and Database update

Re-installation

If you just installed your website and have done no or little development, WordPress re-installation will be the easiest way out.

You just need to go back to cPanel > Exclusive for Namecheap Customers section > Softaculous Apps Installer menu:

Create a new one, make sure the In Directory field is empty and proceed with the installation:

Do not forget to uninstall /subfolder website by hitting the red cross in All Installations menu:

Redirection

If the website is pretty much done and re-installation is not acceptable, you can set up a hidden redirect – the installation will remain in the subfolder, but your website homepage will be yourdomain.com.

Take into account that this redirect will make /subfolder disappear only on the homepage, links will still have it – e.g., yourdomain.com/subfolder/contactus.

If it sounds alright to you, add the following redirect to .htaccess file in the domain web root (replacing yourdomain.com with your actual domain name and subfolder with your subfolder):

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?yourdomain.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(/|\.[^/]*)$
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/$1/ [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?yourdomain.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/subfolder/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /subfolder/$1

1. Navigate to Files section > File Manager:

2. Move to the root folder for your WordPress installation – public_html in case it is the main domain for your account.

Once there, make sure that Show Hidden files (dotfiles) option is enabled in Settings menu:

3. Locate .htaccess file, right-click > Edit:

4. If there is no .htaccess file located in your File manager, feel free to create a new one using File option:

You are ready to add the redirect rule and save it.

File migration and Database update

If the option above does not work for you, and you would like to make sure there is no /subfolder on your website, you can go this way.

NOTE: We highly recommend to back up website files and the database before proceeding.

1. File migration

Go to your website folder using FTP or File Manager:

Select All files > Move them to the domain document root (in our example, from public_html/wp_subfolderto public_html):

Once done, go back to the domain document root to make sure all files have been moved:

2. Database update

You can update old URL references with the new ones in the database either using search and replace scripts or using text editors. Below we provide the guidelines using the latter:

1. To begin with, you will need to locate the database associated with your website. Right-click on the file > View or Edit option:

You will see the database name in this line:

3. The next steps is to download the backup of the database. It can be done in your cPanel > Files section > Backup menu:

4. Unzip the downloaded file. Now you can open .sql file with some text editor and update all the URL references.

Hit Ctrl + F and select Replace option. Fill out the corresponding fields, Find – your old domain, Replace – your new domain) and hit Replace All:

5. Once done, you should get the output like this:

Make sure that you save the changes.

6. Now you can upload the updated database to your cPanel account. To be on the safe side, we suggest creating a new database (instead of dropping the existing one) and connect it to your WordPress side.

To do so, move to Databases section > MySQL Databases menu:

7. Follow the steps below to create a new database and user for it:

Keep these details, you will need to use them a bit later.

8. After that you can upload the database using phpMyAdmin menu in Databases section:

9. Select the newly created database from the list on the left and use switch to Import tab. There you will need to use Browse option to pick up the database .sql file from your local device:

NOTE: If your database is more than 50Mb, import the database following the steps in this guide.

10. Once done, you will need to update wp-config.php file in your installation root folder:

The fields to be changed are:

define ‘DB_NAME’ line – the name of the new database you’ve created in MySQL Databases menu.
define ‘DB_USER’ line – the name of the new user you you’ve created in MySQL Databases menu.
define ‘DB_PASSWORD’ line – the new password you’ve set for database user in MySQL Databases menu.

Save the changes and feel free to check your website.

If everything is working fine, you may delete the old database you used for the website.

11. It is also advised to re-generate the permalinks to make sure they have the new URL. You can do it in your WordPress dashboard in Settings menu > Permalinks.

So if you had Post name, you need to switch it to Plain, for instance, save the changes and then revert everything back:

for cPanel x3 theme:

Re-installation
Redirection
File migration and Database update

Re-installation

If you just installed your website and have done no or little development, WordPress re-installation will be the easiest way out.

You just need to go back to cPanel > Software/Services section > Softaculous > WordPress, make sure the In Directory field is empty and proceed with the installation.

Do not forget to uninstall the /wp website in Softaculous once done:

Redirection

If the website is pretty much done and re-installation is not acceptable, you can set up a hidden redirect – the installation will remain in the /wp subfolder, but your website homepage will be yourdomain.com.

Take into account that this redirect will make /wp disappear only on the homepage, links will still have it – e.g., yourdomain.com/wp/contactus.

If it sounds alright to you, add the following redirect to the .htaccess file in the domain web root (replacing yourdomain.com with your actual domain name and wp with your subfolder)

File migration and Database update

If the variants above do not work for you, and you would like to make sure there is no /wp on your website, you can go with this option.

We highly recommend to back up website files and the database before proceeding.

1. File migration

Go to your website folder using FTP or File Manager:

Select All files > Move them to the domain document root (in our example, from public_html/wp to public_html):

Once done, go back to the domain document root to make sure all files have been moved:

2. Database update

You can update old URL references with the new ones in the database either using search and replace scripts or using text editors.

Below we provide the guidelines using the latter.

Check what database is used for your WordPress website. You can check it in the wp-config.php file located in the WordPress installation folder:

Go to cPanel > Databases section > phpMyAdmin.

Select the database in question and click on Export > Go:

The database will be downloaded to your computer. Now you need to open it and update all yourdomain.com/wp references with yourdomain.com.Once opened, click Ctrl+F and choose the tab Replace. Fill out the fields below correspondingly > Replace All:

Once done, the prompt below will display the result:

Save the updated database and exit the application.
Now go back to cPanel > Databases section > phpMyAdmin and select your database.
Check all tables using the option below and select Drop from the drop-down menu:

On the next page, confirm the actions by clicking Yes:

Once the old tables are dropped, go back and select the database > Import:

Choose the updated database from your computer files to upload > Go:

You will see a green status bar – this will indicate that the database has been successfully imported. On your right, a database tables tree will appear:

Go back to your website and refresh the page to check the results:

How to install Composer on shared servers

Composer is a tool for dependency management in PHP. It allows you to declare the libraries your project depends on, and it will manage (install/update) them for you. Composer is not a package manager in the same sense as Yum or Apt are. Yes, it deals with ‘packages’ or libraries, but it manages them on a per-project basis, installing them in a directory (e.g., vendor) inside your project. By default, it will never install anything globally. Thus, it is a dependency manager.

To install Composer:

1. SSH access should be enabled for your hosting account with us. Follow the steps provided in this article to switch SSH access on.

2. To access your account via SSH, download and install one of the available SSH clients. You can find the list of free SSH clients here. In case you are using a Unix-based OS (Linux or OSX), you can easily run the Terminal application and connect to the server using the command:

ssh username@servername -pPORT

ssh – command for logging into the remote server
username – your cPanel username
servername– name of the server where your hosting account is located (you can find it using this tutorial)
PORT – connection port – 21098 for a Shared Hosting servers, 22 – for a VPS/Dedicated server

3. Open your SSH client, put your domain name or the IP address of the server into the Host Name field, enter 21098 or 22 into the Port field, choose SSH as your connection type and press the Open button:

4. If you receive PuTTY Security Alert, press Yes:

When prompted, enter your cPanel username and password (when you enter the password, it is automatically hidden for security purposes):

5. Composer requires PHP 5.5+ version, so we need to check whether the needed version is set up. Type the php -v command in PuTTY (or in Terminal) and you will get the following output:

6. If you need to change PHP version, log in to your cPanel, navigate to Software and Services section >> Select PHP Version menu:

7. Select 5.5-7.2 version from the drop-down menu and then click on the Set as current button:

NOTE: Composer requires allow_url_fopen. It is enabled by default for all php versions on our shared servers. Still, you may check if it is On by going to Switch to PHP Settings in Select PHP version menu:

You can also find additional information about PHP selector here.

8. Next, navigate to the folder you want to install Composer in. In our example, we will install Composer in public_html:

cd public_html

9. Now, you will need to find or create the php.ini file and some values to it. Log in to cPanel and navigate File Manager menu:

10. Go to the folder your Composer will be installed in and create a new file named php.ini using the +File button:

11. Open it by right-clicking the created php.ini file >> Edit:

12. Then add the following values to the file and hit the Save Changes button:

max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
memory_limit = 512M
suhosin.executor.include.whitelist = phar
detect_unicode = Off

13. When all the preparations are done, you are ready to install Composer. Open PuTTY window where you have logged into your cPanel account and fill in the following command:

php -r “readfile(‘https://getcomposer.org/installer’);” | php -c php.ini

This will execute the Composer installation:

To run composer commands use:

php composer.phar

In case you get a notification Some settings on your machine make Composer unable to work properly, make sure that the PHP version is 5.5 or higher and all the changes in the php.ini file are saved.