Set up website on VPS issues?

[mike75]

I want to setup a site on VPS and i have never done this before. My question right now is: If i install Apache do i have to install other linux OS like Ubuntu or CentOS? What servers or services i have to install on the VPS so i can setup a website? I am complete noob in this.

Thanks!

[brotherhood of LAN]

You'll need

- the web server (usually apache but I see more 'lite' alternatives being used by avid VPS users)
- database if you use one
- mail user agent (i think sendmail is installed by default in both centos and debian/ubuntu) ... if you want the server to deal with mail.
- PHP if you require it. Perl should already be on a typical installation.

You can get a VPS really cheaply nowadays ($2/m) and can install a new OS on there within minutes... it's worth messing around to build up your confidence a bit, if you're the person that'll have to fix something that breaks.

Since a VPS gives you (virtual) root access, any tutorials online to install software would tend to be exactly the same for a VPS.

[Kendo]

Most web hosts provide a control panel that can automate most tasks like this.

[mike75]

I am confused about what exactly Apache is - operating system or software? Is this the first thing that have to be installed on the server and if it is not installed nothing else will work?
If i can make a association, is the Apache for servers something like BIOS for the PC's?

[phranque]

apache is web server software that runs on top of operating system software.

the first thing you install on your server is an operating system such as linux and the linux software will typically be installed on a disk drive.

BIOS is more like an operating system burned into the processor that runs before the linux or windows operating system gets booted up.
among other things, BIOS is used to read the disk drive for boot sectors.

once you install linux, you can install other software that is part of your technology stack such as the server software (apache), the database (mysql?) and the server scripting language (php?).
maybe there's more required for your application but this is usually the minimum.
some things may already be part of the linux distribution.
you might need additional libraries.
your application may depend on a CMS or blogging or ecommerce platform or some combination of the above.
each of these may have additional modules, plugins, themes or templates available.
...

[mike75]

Thanks for the clarification!

Why linux VPS is better to use for set up a site than windows VPS? For me will be easier to use windows VPS but in most tutorials i have read it says that linux is better to use than windows.

[robzilla]

With Windows you get a full graphical user interface by default (remote desktop), whereas Linux servers are usually managed through the command line. Working from the command line may seem daunting at first, but you'll get the hang of it soon enough (providing you have some time to learn) and there are lots of tutorials to be found as long as you choose a mainstream Linux distribution like CentOS or Ubuntu (suggested keyphrase for a Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP 'stack': "lamp server tutorial"). Linux is also much lighter (doesn't require as many hardware resources) and cheaper (fewer hardware resources = cheaper server, and the OS is free, Windows is not).

You can also opt to have a control panel such as cPanel or DirectAdmin installed to make administration a little easier for you.

More generally speaking, Linux is arguably more secure and stable than Windows.

[mike75]

Thanks!

[phranque]

the default configuration of a windows server will also be case-insensitive with folder names and file names which can cause url canonicalization problems.