Basic Sever question for experts

I am a novice

[AjiNIMC]

Hi,

I am novice but helping myself to learn more about server management. I want to run my sites on dedicated servers, also I want to manage it myself.

Can you please help me with

1. Processor
   
2. Hard disk
   
3. OS
   
4. RAM
   
5. Others
   

Also I am planning to run centos, so what all processes will you keep active for optimized performance? Here is a list to help you with:-

1. NetworkManager
   
2. acpid
   
3. anacron
   
4. apmd
   
5. asterisk
   
6. atd
   
7. auditd
   
8. autofs
   
9. bluetooth
   
10. chargen
    
11. chargen-udp
    
12. crond
    
13. cups-lpd
    
14. daytime
    
15. daytime-udp
    
16. dhcpd
    
17. dhcrelay
    
18. diskdump
    
19. echo
    
20. echo-udp
    
21. eklogin
    
22. ez-ipupdate
    
23. gssftp
    
24. haldaemon
    
25. httpd
    
26. ibmasm
    
27. ipmi
    
28. iptables
    
29. ircd
    
30. irda
    
31. irqbalance
    
32. isdn
    
33. klogin
    
34. krb5-telnet
    
35. kshell
    
36. kudzu
    
37. lm_sensors
    
38. mdmonitor
    
39. mdmpd
    
40. messagebus
    
41. microcode_ctl
    
42. munin-node
    
43. mysqld
    
44. named
    
45. netdump
    
46. netfs
    
47. netplugd
    
48. network
    
49. nfs
    
50. nfslock
    
51. nscd
    
52. ntpd
    
53. openibd
    
54. pcmcia
    
55. portmap
    
56. psacct
    
57. rawdevices
    
58. readahead
    
59. readahead_early
    
60. rhnsd
    
61. rpcgssd
    
62. rpcidmapd
    
63. rsync
    
64. saslauthd
    
65. sendmail
    
66. smartd
    
67. snmpd
    
68. snmptrapd
    
69. sshd
    
70. syslog
    
71. sysstat
    
72. tftp
    
73. time
    
74. time-udp
    
75. vsftpd
    
76. xfs
    
77. xinetd
    
78. ypbind
    
79. yum
    
80. zaptel
    

Thanks,
AjiNIMC

[mcavic]

A better question is what will you do for bandwidth? Do you want to colocate the server in a data center, or run it in your home or office?

A datacenter will usually provide better backup power, connectivity, and air conditioning, all three of which are essential.

If you do run it in your home or office, you'll need a business-class connection with at least 1 megabit bandwidth up and down.

[wheel]

Your programs running will determine your hardware. But generally speaking if you don't have some very specialized needs just about any old hunk of junk will run a web server. It doesn't take a lot to serve low traffic websites.

As for the processes running, that's a given. You need to look at every single process that's running and determine why you need it. If you don't need it, get rid of it. It's a black and white choice. Bluetooth? not on a webserver. Sound program? not on a webserver. and so on. You need to do this anyway, it's just a good server security/admin practice. Only ever run the bare minimum programs that you need. Everything else is off. (To look at it another way, turn everything off. Then add only the stuff you need).

[lammert]

Where did you get this process list? Asterisk for example is a digital PBX. It shouldn't be running on 99.8% of the webservers around.

You should ask your question the other way around: "What are the minimal processes needed to run a secure webserver", because the less processes are running, the less entry points potential hackers have to access your system.