When Windows Server 2008 is adopted by more people I will combine Admin Reports Forum into the new forum to make a one stop shop for all your Windows Server needs.

Be one of the first to register at the new Windows Server 2008 Forum.

First thing you need to do is open Windows DNS Manager if it already isn’t open.

Start > Administrative Tools > DNS

In the left window of the DNS manager expand the forward zones folder and right click the zone you want add records to.

Select Properties. Now the first thing we want to do configure the Start of Authority(SOA). When you setup the zone it set defaults that are not rfc compliant. Lets get that done first.

The first section is the serial number. You should set each section as follows:

• Serial number should be in yyyymmdd01 format. Set the year, then month, then day and finally an 2 digit number that will increment every update. Start with 01
• Primary server should be ns.yourmain.tld or whatever you called the name server. Default was the domain name. You can use the default if the root domain is actually registered as a name server for you domain
• Responsible party would be the DNS admin email, Normally hostmaster.yourdomain.tld.
• Refresh interval set to 20 minutes.
• Retry interval set to 15 minutes.
• Expires after set to 14 days.
• Minimum time to live(TTL) set to 1 hour.
• TTL for this record should be default so you shouldn’t have to change it. It should be 0 :1 :0 :0.

Those are minimum values and can be changed if you feel the need. With those values if you use a site like DNS Reports you won’t get any errors.

Lets add some other records now.

I am sure most of you by now know there is a LKM (Loadable Kernel Module) exploit that is nasty and hard as heck to clean.

Read this thread at Webhosting Talk. Make sure you read it through as there is a users there that has investigated several boxes.

The original story first broke a week or so ago at TheRegister and then again a couple days ago at TheChannelRegister.

Now it seems this problem is not easily fixable yet it is very easy for your server to be infected if you are targeted.

Here is where Windows comes into this. The injected javascript looks for exploit, some already patched and one that is new. If you run any of the vulnerable software on your home computer you could be exploited and not even know it.
The vulnerable lie in these components and software

MSIE ADODB

VML

MSIE WebViewFolderIcon

MSIE RealPlayer

QuickTime

AOL Superbuddy

The first 4 are directly related to IE and were patched a while ago. Although patched some people don’t keep up so they’ll get infected.
I’m not familiar with AOL SuperBuddy so I don’t know if it is patched.

The QuickTime exploit is new as of Jan. 10TH and the alert was revised today, Jan 18TH. and affects the QuickTime Updater as well as Qucktime.

In conclusion if you have a server check the sites on it for inclusion of random javascript. Read the article or thread at WHT so you’ll know what to look for. If you’re on a shared host make sure your site isn’t serving the js.

For people using IE, I’m not sure if Firefox will make you vulnerable and from what I’ve read no one knows, make sure you either shutoff javascript or make sure all exploits are fixed. Uninstall Quicktime and QuickTime Updater. If you have it installed and make sure QuickTime is patched with the patched with the newest versions.

I hope no one that reads this is exploited.

Getting everything ready to transfer and transferring the files.

Login to the server. Put a new index page up letting your users know you are moving the site. The best way to do this is to create a new directory and configure your server to serve pages from the new directory. If you sites are in wwwroot then create a new directory out of wwwroot and configure IIS to serve pages out of it.

Use a zip utility and compress the wwwroot dir. After you have that done the best thing to do is start the transfer of the zip to the new server. Use FTP or connect server to server with RDP. At this point you’re better off using FTP. Once the transfer starts you can move on the next task.

Shutdown mysql. Once it is shutdown head into the mysql directory and zip the data dir. If you don’t have access to the data dir because you are on a shared server you can use mysqldump to dump the databases.
To dump all the databases open a command box and give this command.

mysqldump -u[username] -p[password] –all-databases > C:\path\to\save\mysql.mysql

Depending on the size of your database this can take some time. Once the dump completes zip it and start the transfer to the new server. This the most time consuming part of the whole process if you have large databases. While this step is in progress you can create the xml files with IIS manger for you sites and transfer them over. If you use Apache transfer your httpd.conf file.

IIS Manager has a feature to save your site configuration to file. This handy to transfer all the meta data to the new server. While you are waiting for the files to transfer open IIS Manager. Right click your website and select Tasks > Save Configuration to File. Select where you want it saved and use .xml as the extension. If you have several website do the same for all of them. Also do this for your FTP sites and if you created any custom AppPools do the same to save them. Once that is done zip them all up and transfer to the new server. If your using Apache transfer httpd.conf. . Once you have the xml files transfered connect to the new server. Even if the mysql transfer isn’t complete transfer isn’t complete login to the new server anyway and continue to the next section.

Setting everything up on the new server.

If all your files have transfered then great. If you mysql files are still transfering that’s ok. You can still setup the websites.
Extract the wwwroot files on the new server into where you want to serve your pages from. Make sure to keep the directory structure the same as what is was on the old server. Once that is done extract the configuration xml files into any working dir.
Open IIS manager, right click Websites and select new > website from file. Use the browse button to navigate to the xml file for the websites and click read file. It will show you websites. Click Import. This will setup your websites with the same metadata of the old server. Do the same for your FTP sites and AppPools. IIS is now ready to server your pages. If you are using Apache extract the files into Apache webroot and overwrite httpd.conf with the one you transfered.

Next thing to do is to set up your database. If your database is still transfering have yourself a cup of coffee. Nothing you can do but wait at this point. Unless of course if you run your own DNS then you should use this time to set up the DNS. Don’t change the DNS at the registrar until all files have transfered and are setup. DNS propagates fairly fast, within a few minutes, and the last thing you want is to start serving pages on the new server if everything isn’t there.

Once the database is transfered extract the zip. Shutdown mysql. Overwrite the current mysq\data dir with the one you just extracted. If you transfered a mysqldump file then leave mysql running and run this command.

mysql -u[user] -p[password] < C\path-to-extracted-dump\mysql.mysql

Again depending on the size of the dump file this could take a while. Once that completes open a browser on the server and check localhost to make sure everything is working. Make sure mysql is running first.

If your paths on the old server are different on the new server, say your wwwroot was in D: instead of C:, then right click each website in IIS manager and correct the home directory path.
If your site shows up on localhost with no errors then change your DNS to point to the new IP. You’re all done.

The launch of the system, confirmed by sources familiar with the plan, is scheduled to take place at a press event in New York. The blade server upgrade is key to Big Blue’s attempt to stay ahead in the strategically important and fast-growing market. Blades are clearly a priority for Big Blue: In an interview earlier this month, Susan Whitney, IBM’s top Intel server executive, was quick to stress the company’s blade server prowess.

At the same February event, IBM is also expected to announce its new JS21 blade server, which is the first model to incorporate IBM’s PowerPC 970MP processor. The chip uses dual processing engines, or cores, unlike the model used in the most recent blade, the JS20.

In addition, IBM is expected to promote its Blade.org collaboration aimed at making the BladeCenter line into something akin to an industry standard–even if Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Sun Microsystems, the three other major server sellers, shun the design.

IBM declined to comment for this story. However, Big Blue said last year that it planned an overhaul expected to improve the BladeCenter’s networking and flexibility. In particular, the communications “backplane,” which links the blades to each other and to an external network, is expected to increase data transfer capacity tenfold to 40 gigabits per second. Earlier blade models will fit into the new BladeCenter chassis, and new blade servers will fit into the older chassis.

Blade servers fit side-by-side into a chassis that typically supplies shared resources, such as power and external connections, to networks and storage systems. In their earliest days, they were simple low-end systems. Now they’ve become high-end models with emergency backup features, fitted with blades using as many as four processors, and built-in high-speed networking.

Blades involve considerable engineering challenges in both hardware and management software. Because of that, the major server manufacturers–which collectively dominate with about 80 percent of revenue in the server market–see blades as a key way to distance themselves farther from lesser companies that have more generic designs.

Read the rest at cNet.

Premium Hosting is ideal for those customers that have one very large and/or busy sites for example bloggs, forums and online businesses. The only sites that are not suitable are audio and video downloading or streaming websites or free/ mail providers as these sites could still monopolize the server resources.

If your website has outgrown shared hosting then Premium Hosting is definitely the most economical alternative. As most websites are not suitable for a reseller package, premium posting is a much cheaper alternative than having to get your own server.

Premium Hosting is very similar to shared hosing except the packages come with far more bandwidth (traffic) allowance and they are guaranteed to have a maximum number of accounts on each server. The benefit of premium hosting is the fact that you are sharing the server with far less accounts (normally just 30-70), therefore your website can have high traffic without effecting the server speed or causing downtime.

The other great thing about premium hosting is that is requires no extra technical knowledge and of course you still have peace of mind knowing that you still have 24 hour technical support (of course this depends on the host you choose). The last benefit of premium hosting is the fact there are several different packages to choose from, this means you only have to pay for the resources that you need at a given time. As soon as your website grows even further it is very easy to upgrade with only a slight increase in cost, which means your costs are always kept to a minimum.

Reseller Hosting Benefits

Reseller hosting is designed for individuals who wish to split up the resources allocated in their plan and resell each of these parts individually. Resellers are normally web designers, or customers that have many websites or entrepreneurs who wish to start their own web host company. (Reseller hosting is also not suitable for audio, video downloading or video streaming websites and free/email providers for the same reason as above)

With reseller hosting you can host unlimited domains, so you decided how many accounts you want to create and you decide the price you want to resell them for. The great thing about resellers packages is the fact that the web host will continue to provide the technical support to these customers anonymously, which means you don’t have to worry about getting your own staff. Each of the resellers customers has their own control panel, personalized email and FTP accounts, fantastico scripts. The reseller can even have their own name servers which makes them look very professional. The other benefit of reselling is that although it requires slightly more knowledge of the industry, there is always technical support close at hand.

Dedicated Server the benefits

If you get a dedicated server this means you are the only user of that server. However as you are not splitting the monthly costs with others users, the actual price is of course higher. The price you pay depends on the quality of the server and whether it is managed or not (always be sure that the server you get is from a reputable company). This option is for websites that are not suitable for the other two options, or for those people who just want more control or higher security for their server. There are two different types of dedicated servers available.

An unmanaged Server is generally cheaper, however you must know first hand how to run your server (or hire a system administrator that does) as you will be responsible for all the server side problems and configurations. The second option is a managed server. Although this option still requires technical knowledge, you have peace of mind knowing that your web host will always have technicians there to assist you, which means you do not need to hire your own administrator.

With a dedicated server you have full root access so you can modify the configuration of the server to whatever suits you best. You can also install any software or scripts that you choose ( all of which are not possible with shared hosting). There are many other benefits to having a dedicated server, first there is reliability. If you are the sole user of a server, you never have to worry that another persons website is going to affect the speed, uptime or security of your server. Often your server will come with more than one CPU (check with individual web host though) which means your site (s) will have greater performance, pages will load much quicker and your scripts will run much faster. An example would be Dual AMD Opterons, Dual Xeons, Dual Pentium4’s and such.

Conclusion

As your website continues to grow, you can now have peace of mind knowing that there is always a suitable alternative available for you.

About The Author- Sarah Kirk is vice president of Micfo.com LLC, an international web hosting provider. Founded in 1999 Micfo.com LLC has quickly grown to become an award winning company with over 30,000 customers worldwide offering a range of services including shared
web hosting, premium hosting, cpanel reseller hosting and dedicated servers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Kirk

Your next important step is finding the Web Host for your site, The Right One..

A web host is a service provider that places your web site on a computer that is connected to Internet. This then gives people who surf Internet a way to access your website.

Finding the best host for your company’s Web site is one of the most important steps when taking your business online. Not only will your host be responsible for placing your company’s site on the Internet; it will also be responsible for keeping it there and being available to potential customers.

Now, let us take a look at the steps to be followed when choosing the right web host:

1. Create an online plan for your site. What you are going to sell, number of items, methods of payment and the features of your site. Then determine the possibilities for your site’s expansion over the next six months, the next year and the next five years. Look into these factors before short-listing your probable host.

Disk Space/Storage refers to the amount of space given by a web-hosting plan for your web site’s pages, images, and any additional files. Take this into consideration when determining the total number of files you will be using for your website and their sizes. If you are planning on creating a website with a lot of video or audio files, you will need a lot of disk space. Check whether your host can meet this requirement.

Programming Languages such as ASP, PHP, Perl/CGI, JSP and ColdFusion are used to create a lot of popular scripts (software) to help your website function. Make sure your web host supports the language used by you. Also, if you are planning on selling services or products from your website, make sure the web hosting plan you choose offers some type of ecommerce solution.

2. Now that you have checked out all your requirements, pick your top five responses. Surprisingly, many of the hosts you submit a request for a proposal to won’t respond by your set deadline. Ignore them and look at the responses you receive and pick the five best.

3. Ask for references. Take your short list of hosts and ask them for the names of some of their clients — then pick up the phone and see what the host’s clients have to say. Be sure to inquire how good the host is at making the site available online.

4. Test their customer service. Pick up the phone and call customer support at 2 a.m. Drop customer support an e-mail to see how fast they respond to you. Do what it takes to feel comfortable with your service provider before you enter into any type of business relationship.

Choosing the right Web host is easier if you approach it the way you would approach any other major purchase for your business. It can mean the difference between success and failure for your online venture.

Article Source:
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=141071
Author:
Mansi Aggarwal

First thing you need to do is buy the hardware. No need to spend a lot of money. You should easily be able to build a home server for less than $500. The first thing you’ll need is a motherboard. You should buy a motherboard that has integrated graphics. Most motherboards will have this. For a server you don’t need the latest and greatest video adapter. You can get a cheap motherboard with integrated graphics for less than $100. Here is one example of a MSI socket 775 motherboard for under $100. It has everything you need and supports the newest Pentium 4 LGA775 processors that are 64BIT enabled. There are many other options for cheaper than that if you want to run an older Pentium 4 or an Athlon XP processor. Just make sure it has integrated graphics and intergrated network.
All you need now is a hard drive, floppy and cdrw. It is always a good idea to have a floppy in a home server to flash the bios or save small files. You don’t need one of you are going to build a server and send it off to a colo. A cdrw is a good idea so that you can make a hard copy backup of you site files and database. Once you have the server built and running you can read Backing Up Your Data With cwRsync and sync2nas to have a live copy of your site running at home. You can then back that up to CD with a burner installed.
Any size hard drive will do. They are relatively cheap. here is a 120 Gig for less than $100. Other than those items you’ll need memory. Any amount is fine, but, I would suggest 1 Gig or more.
Now you have the hardware so lets put it all together.