cPanel Dedicated Server Configuration, cPanel Dedicated Servers, WHM Server Configuration
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Configuring your cPanel Dedicated Server in 5 Quick Steps

In this post we are going to cover the five quick steps you can take to make sure your new cPanel dedicated server is ready to handle your new websites. While we handle the initial installation of the operating system and configuration of the network interfaces, there are still a few steps to take before the cPanel dedicated server is ready.

1. Completing the initial cpanel server setup when you first login.

Most people tend to move through this critical step just clicking on the defaults, and in some cases that’s okay. But, there are a few very useful options to fill out here that will make your life much easier in the long run. First, make sure that the server’s hostname and primary/secondary nameserver entries are correct. cPanel will try attempt to configure most of this for you based on the hostname that we set in the initial setup, but it's still a good idea to double-check this setting. Second, make sure to setup a contact email address for your cPanel dedicated servers. A SingleHop cPanel dedicated server will notify you of problems quickly so you can react before things get out of hand, or call in to our support line so we can check the problem out for you.

2. Running Apache Update for your cPanel Servers

This step is very important for the setup of your secure cPanel dedicated server, as it will dictate the types of PHP scripts and commands that can be used on your sites. Using the interface is fairly easy, all you need to do is check the appropriate boxes for the PHP version and modules that you need and then click “Start Build”. It's very important that you do not close the browser window while this is working, as the process will need to be restarted if you do. It should be completed in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, but if it takes longer than an hour or fails you should notify our support so we can troubleshoot the problem in your setup of your cPanel dedicated server.

3. Creating Packages for your cPanel dedicated server Accounts

Some only think this should apply if you intend to use the cPanel dedicated server to host others websites, but we see it as a quick and easy way to ensure that your sites don't consume all of the resources for your cPanel Dedicated server. This can be setup from the Package Manager in WHM and only takes a few minutes to do. Doing this will allow your sites can be setup quickly and efficiently, while also guaranteeing that there will be ample resources available for your other sites.

4. Check out the Security Center in WHM

This is probably one of the most overlooked sections in WHM, but it has the possibility for enabling a greater level of security for your secure cPanel dedicated server. First off, click on the Compilers Tweak section and only enable compiler access for the users that need it like 'root' and 'apache'. One user that should never need access to the compilers is the user 'nobody'. Many common exploits depend on a working C/C++ compiler on the target system to work, enabling this tweak will disallow that from happening. Second, the SMTP Tweak and Shell Fork Bond Protection should both be enabled. The first prevents unauthorized users from bypassing the mail server to send mail, which is a common trick for most spammers. The second will keep a user with SSH access from crippling your server with a fork bomb that will consume most of the servers available resources and possible crash the server.

5. Configuring Backups to your cPanel Dedicated Server

We all know how important a good backup can be, and setting them up on our cPanel dedicated servers is very simple. Just login to WHM and go to Backup, then Configure Backup and check the Enabled box. After that, you can choose the length for backup retention and the days you want it to run. The default settings work for most people, but some may need to tailor it to fit specific needs like total free disk space. As an added bonus, backups can be setup to transfer files to an off-server FTP account on one of our backup servers. Also, the backup script is setup to run at night as well to conserve resources and maintain the integrity of your cPanel dedicated server.

• The S-P430X:
  Processor:	Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz Hyper-Threaded
  HDD:	250 GB SATA
  Memory:	2048 MB
  Bandwidth:	5,000 GB
  $139.00/mo. Free Setup/No Contract

• The S-CDUO:
  Processor:	Intel Conroe Core2Duo E6320 Dual-Core 1.86 GHz
  HDD:	250 GB SATA
  Memory:	2048 MB
  Bandwidth:	5,000 GB
  $169.00/mo. Free Setup/No Contract

  
  

• The S-E2200:
  Processor:	Intel Pentium Allendale E2200 2.2 Ghz Dual-Core
  HDD:	250 GB SATA
  Memory:	2048 MB
  Bandwidth:	5,000 GB
  $159.00/mo. Free Setup/No Contract