Author: Patrick Hawkins

Installation instructions for Content Management Systems (CMS) often require you to create a MySQL database for the application. But just how is that done on a cPanel server?

Computers have been built to enhance the way we store, retrieve, and process information since their original invention. While initially designed to perform mathematical calculations, their power and capabilities grew along with the desire to more efficiently process different types of data. In order to harness this burgeoning capability for data storage and retrieval, computer scientists developed databases.

Have you ever wanted to check up on the details of your server’s bandwidth usage? Liquid Web’s manage interface provides graphs that give you such information. Here’s how to read them.

So you have come to the realization that you need an SSL Certificate. But there are different types. Which one do you really need?

If you are used to administering Apache on a cPanel server, administering the faster Litespeed webserver is not that much different. Litespeed transparently takes over for Apache; any configuration changes that you would normally make in an Apache configuration file or .htaccess files is still made in those files. In fact, once Litespeed is installed you can administer your cPanel server like you normally would. The few changes you would want to make to Litespeed directly can be done through your server’s Web Host Manager (WHM).

In the past, load balanced setups have required dedicated networking equipment, which takes time and expertise to set up correctly. Liquid Web’s Cloud Load Balancer makes setup and configuration of a load balancer as easy as filling out a web form.

If you process credit cards on a website, your site needs to be in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. (This is abbreviated as PCI DSS, and even more often referred to simply as PCI.) PCI compliance certifies that your organization takes all necessary steps to protect sensitive customer data and provides a set of standards for your infrastructure and server setup. While Liquid Web does not offer full PCI compliance certification, we do offer a separate service that scans your server to see that PCI DSS requirements are met, a great tool during the compliance process.

In a vast majority of cases, Linux does a fantastic job of automatically scheduling processes. The more urgent processes are given a higher priority, and the less urgent processes a lower priority. In rare circumstances, the scheduler might not prioritize processes as you would like. For example, backup processes could be taking up resources that you would rather be used serving web pages. If you would like to regain a bit control over process priorities, the nice and renice commands will give you some.

Servers can automatically perform tasks that you would otherwise have to perform yourself, such as running scripts. On Linux servers, the cron utility is the preferred way to automate the running of scripts.

There are two main ways to get cron to run a script. The first is to place a script into one of the following directories:

If you have ever set up a Cloud VPS server in the past, you have probably seen how much easier it is to get a new server up and running than a traditional server. Once the server itself is up, of course, there is still plenty of work to do, getting other pieces configured: installing an application, setting up specific database configurations, and so forth. Tools such as Puppet and Chef help you to automate this process… but you still have to log in to your manage account and order new servers to begin with.