Peter Vatistas

Here is a very cut and dry list of my preferred web hosts and colocation facilities. Over the years I have been through my share of web hosts; below you will find web hosts I’ve personally used and/or currently use along with the services I know they do best.

Managed Dedicated Servers
FreeBSD & Linux Servers: Choopa
Windows Servers: Rackspace, LanLogic

Unmanaged Dedicated Servers
FreeBSD & Linux: Limelight, Servers for Less, WebAir
Windows Servers: ServerBeach, Limelight

Colocation Facility
Limelight, Cave Creek Hosting

Virtual (Shared) Servers
WebAir, ATCI Hosting

Exchange Servers
LanLogic, Rackspace

Game Servers
Dedicated & Shared: GameServers

Thats it! Simple and to the point. I hope this list helps you in your desicion for choosing a web host. None of the web host links I provide above are affiliate or partner links, I do not make a penny if you sign up. Just remember me when your adding links to your website.. WWW.PETER-V.COM!!!!   LOL!

BTW, I want to hear what you think about these hosts as well as who you host with and why you like/dislike them.

Good luck!

Here it is, the meat and potatoes of setting up a FAMP server (FreeBSD 6.3, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl). Keep in mind these instructions are exactly what I do step by step to setup a FreeBSD webserver. Originally when I started with FreeBSD I couldn’t find a solid source of reliable information on how to set all this up. Every time I would ask someone for some good instruction I was always directed to www.freebsd.org. I have to tell you it is extremely overwhelming for me at that time to even understand anything off of that site’s directions - as well written as it is.
Over the last few years I have come across some decent walkthroughs and tutorials but 90% of them were still either out dated or lacking 1 or 2 steps that can really jack things up. I have really tried to make this tutorial as straight forward as possible, no BS and no info that’s going to waste your time.

Before I install anything I always make sure I have the latest release of FreeBSD installed with the Developer distribution. Many tutorials out there tell you to install the bare minimum of FreeBSD with the “Minimum” distro, I recommend Developer. If you need a good step by step on how to install FreeBSD (6.2 & 6.3) then click here. Remember, instead of selecting the minimal option on the Distributions screen, choose Developer.

Once you have FreeBSD installed the steps below will show you how to setup and configure a full FAMP server. Good luck!

# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5
# make config
select: Apache
# make install

# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions
# make config
select: bcmath, bz2, ctype, curl, dom, ftp, gd, gettext, mbstring, mysql, pcre, posix, pdo, session, simplexml, sqlite, xml, zlib (also by default there are many options pre-selected including some of the ones listed here, make sure to leave those checked).
# make install

Usually after everything is done you will notice a few mysql errors appear, run this command:

# pkg_add -r mysql50-server

Now before editing any file on my system I always make a backup of it:
# cp /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf.orig

Now let’s edit your Apache config file to get everything configured properly:
# edit /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf

Change the default listen address to the IP address of your webserver.

#Listen 12.34.56.78:80
To:
#Listen 192.168.1.10:80 (example, use your machines IP Address)

Change the email address of the ServerAdmin to your email address or the address of the person in charge on this server:

#ServerAdmin you@your.address (use your email address)

Change the ServerName option, if you don’t have a fully qualified domain name please change this to the servers IP address:

#ServerName www.example.com
To:
#ServerName 192.168.1.10 (example, use your machines IP Address - for internal, intranet implementations)
Or:
#ServerName www.peter-v.com (example, use your domain name if you have one and your going to point DNS to that machine)

# Add a DirectoryIndex option:
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm index.php3 index.php4

# In the AddType section add the following for PHP:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .htm .html
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

Now exit and save, your all done with Apache.

# echo ‘/usr/local/sbin/apachectl start’ >> /etc/rc.local

Now let’s configure MySQL:

# cp /usr/local/share/mysql/my-medium.cnf /etc/my.cnf
# echo ‘mysql_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

# /usr/local/bin/mysql_install_db
# chown -R mysql:mysql /var/db/mysql
# /usr/local/share/mysql/mysql.server start

If the command: # /usr/local/share/mysql/mysql.server start doesn’t work or fails, try this command:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server.sh start

# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root -h Hostname.domainname.tld password ‘YourPassword’
# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root password ‘YourPassword’

Example:

# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root -h webserver.peter-v.com password ’secret’
# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root password ’secret’

Now let’s install Perl DBI and DBD Support (which many apps need that run using Apache and MySQL):

# cd /usr/ports/databases/p5-DBI && make install && make clean
# cd /usr/ports/databases/p5-DBD-mysql50 && make install && make clean

Reboot.

That’s it, your all done and now you’ve got yourself a FAMP Webserver.

Tips:

If at anytime in this tutorial a command doesn’t work, try rebooting first. Sometimes after installing certain applications or components it is required to reboot before being able to utilize it. After a quick reboot it always works.

I would love to hear your comments and if you have any suggestions or issues with this tutorial please leave a comment, thanks!

I am a huge fan of FreeBSD and use it religiously for my servers but for my normal day to day computer OS I have been using Ubuntu (as some of you already know). Well tonight my laptop is going to get a nice clean format and I’m installing PC-BSD - built off of FreeBSD 6.

PC-BSD is a complete desktop operating system, which has been designed with the “casual” computer user in mind. It offers the stability and security that only a BSD-based operating system can bring, while as the same time providing a comfortable user experience, allowing you to get the most out of your computing time. With PC-BSD you can spend less time working to fix viruses or spyware and instead have the computer work for you.

Installing the system is simply a matter of a few clicks and a few minutes for the installation process to finish. Hardware such as video, sound, network and other devices will be auto-detected and available at the first system startup. Home users will immediately feel comfortable with PC-BSD’s desktop interface, with KDE 3.5 running under the hood. Software installation has also been designed to be as painless as possible, simply double-click and software will be installed.

Get PC-BSD now and get with the program.

MailEnable provides robust IMAP, SMTP and POP3 services for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 systems. Simple to install, with powerful administration software that means your mail server will be up and running quickly. The standard edition is FREE, contains no spyware or adware, for both personal and commercial usage, with no time or user restrictions (TONS OF FEATURES). I use MailEnable for the majority of my email servers and I am 100% satisfied with ease of use, performance, stability, security, and the list goes on.

To give you an idea of my experience with email servers (so you can better understand how good MailEnable) I have 3 email servers for either specific business requirements or unique technology needs. The first server I have is a Microsoft Windows 2008 Server running MS Exchange 2007, another one is a FreeBSD server running QMail, and the third one is MailEnable on a Microsoft Windows 2003 box. All three of these email servers are great but one is very expensive and at times very difficult and temperamental (Exchange). Qmail on FreeBSD runs like there is no tomorrow, never any issues and reliable as all hell but also can be a pain if you are someone who doesn’t know Unix very well.

MailEnable seriously meets every need and expectation I have for an email server. It is highly configurable, much like Exchange, but it doesn’t cost a dime. There are 2 paid versions of MailEnable in addition to the killer free one, both strapped with many more options and unique features but as advanced as my needs are with all aspects of my computer life, MailEnable does just fine.

Here are just a few things the FREE version of MailEnable has to offer (god I sound like a salesman - I assure you I won’t make a single penny off this post, I seriously like MailEnable a lot!!)

Mail Protocols - MailEnable Standard Edition provides robust, stable and fully functional POP and SMTP mail services supporting unlimited users and domains.

Administration - The Administration application allows configuration of mail services via an easy-to-use and familiar Microsoft Management Console application. Administrative features include mailbox quotas, redirections, auto-responders, import/export users, create groups and much more…

List server - Includes a fully functional list server allowing you to subscribe or unsubscribe members and provide information mail outs or discussion groups.

Security - Extensive security measures and authentication methods protect your mail server from unauthorized access. Features include SMTP Authentication, Integrated Windows Authentication, Relay control.

Control panel integration - MailEnable integrates with several different third party control panel software products.

Diagnostic Reporting - Standard Edition includes advanced diagnostics via a comprehensive Diagnostic Reporting Utility which assists in quick diagnosis of issues and speedy resolution. Features extensive logging in W3C file format to easily determine faults.

Anti-Spam - MailEnable Standard has several inbuilt features to help eliminate spam. anti-spam features include PTR record checking, DNS blacklisting, auto-banning of IP addresses and much more. MailEnable is a standards-compatible mail server it can be used with a large variety of third party anti-spam software.

Here’s some screenshots:

Click here to learn more about MailEnable and download.