Get a Server – LandChad.net

+ Once you have a domain name, you'll need a server to host all your website files on. + In general, a server is just a computer that is constanly broadcasting some services on the internet. +

+ Servers connected to the internet can be extremely useful with or without proper websites attached to them. + You can be your own website, email, file-sharing service and much more. +

Getting a VPS

+ A Virtual Personal Server (VPS) is a very cheap and easy way to get a + web server. Without you having to buy expensive equipment. There are a + lot of online businesses that have massive server farms with great + internet connection and big power bills that allow you to rent a VPS in + that farm for pocket change. +

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+ A VPS usually costs $5 a month. Sometimes slightly more, sometimes slightly less. + That's a good price for some internet real-estate, but in truth, you can host a huge number of websites and services on a single VPS, so you get a lot more. + I might have a dozen websites, an email server, a chat server and a file-sharing services on one VPS. +

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+ The VPS provider that I'll be using for this guide is Vultr, since that is what I use. + Vultr provides a free one-month $100 credit to anyone who starts an account through this referral link of mine + so you can play around with their servies with impunity. +

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Starting your server in two minutes or less

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+ Start an account on Vultr and let's get started. +

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+ Vultr (and other VPS providers) usually give you a choice in where and what exactly your VPS is. +

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Server Location

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+ In general, it doesn't hugely matter what physical location + you have your server in. You might theoretically want it close to + where you or your audience might be, but if you host a server in + Singapore for an American audience, they won't have to be waiting a + perceptibly longer time to load the site. +

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Some locations might have different abilities and plans than others. + For example, in Vultr, their New York location has optional DDOS protection and also has some cheaper $3.50 servers.

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Operating System/Server Type

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+ I especially recommend Debian 10 for an operating system for your server. + Debian is the "classic" server OS and as such, I make my guides on this site for Debian 10. + If you use another OS, just know that your milage may vary in terms of you might need to change some instructions here minorly. +

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Server size

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+ You finally have a choice in how beefy a server you want. + On Vultr, I recommend getting the cheapest option that is not IPv6 only. +

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+ Web hosting and even moderately complicated sites do not use huge amounts of RAM or CPU power. + If you start doing more intensive stuff than hosting some webpages and an email server and such, + you can always bump up your plan on Vultr without data loss (it's not so easy to bump down). +

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Additional features

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+ On Vultr, there are some final checkboxes you can select additional options. + You will want to check Enable IPv6 and also Block Storage Compatible. +

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+ We will be setting up IPv6 because it's important for future-proofing your website as more of the web moves to the IPv6 protocol. + Block storage is the ability (if you want) to later rent large storage disks to connect to your VPS if desired. + You just might want that as an option, so it's worth activating now. +

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Done!

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+ Once you select those settings, your server will automatically be deployed. + Momentarily, you will be able to see your server's IP addresses which will be used for the next brief step: +

+ + Next: Connect Your Domain and Server + +

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More info

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VPS vs. Self-hosting

+ It is very possible instead of using a VPS, hooking up an old computer to the internet and attempting to host a website from that. + That can be a valid option if you can do it if you have a great internet connection and can do so without draining your power bill. + I don't recommend it because I don't (and can't) do it given my bandwidth needs. + For newbs, there are also some extra steps you have to take care of with DNS and setting up static IPs and such. +

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+ I might write a guide on this in the future, but I don't do it myself. +

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Backups

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+ Vultr and other VPS providers often provide the ability to make backup snapshots of your server in case of dataloss or their own error. + Backups on Vultr are free right now. + When we learn how to use rsync, I will recommend you to also keep your own backup of your site, or at least an offline version of it. + There's a low chance of their whole system collapsing or something, but I say it's a good idea to be hyper-precautious. +