Importance of Self-Managed VPS Hosting for Your Websites & Blogs

You may have come across an option called VPS while browsing an internet , which derives from Virtual Private Server . Since it mimics ...

You may have come across an option called VPS while browsing an internet, which derives from Virtual Private Server. Since it mimics the functionality of a whole private server, managing it can become quite a chore.

Self VPS Management requires advanced technical knowledge. But how much technical knowledge do you need to have to manage a VPS? Is it really that hard?

Yes and no.

How to Manage Your Own VPS and Create Websites?

If you have any experience with using Linux, you’ve already got a kickstart in knowing how to manage a VPS, since many VPS systems run on Linux. However, you can get a VPS system that runs on Windows Server as well. It doesn’t really matter which one you choose though, as in both scenarios you will need to work from a command line interface.

This is where it gets a bit technical.

While looking at various web hosting options and tutorials found on the internet, you may also have come across tons of how to guides online on how to setup your VPS and how to install your content management platform if you choose to have one. However, setup isn’t all you need to worry about with a VPS. You also need to concern yourself with monitoring your VPS for downtime, securing your VPS against attacks, monitoring the security of your VPS in case an attack is successful and keeping your VPS software up to date.

All of this is done via the command line and a command line based text editor. While it seems like a lot to manage, as long as you can follow step by step instructions and copy/paste commands, it really should not be outside your scope. However, learning to manage a VPS can be time-consuming. So you may want to enlist some help if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands to fiddle with it.

You may also want to learn some of the following programming languages:

• PHP
• HTML
• MySQL
• XHTML
• CSS

Knowing these can make it a bit easier to manage your WordPress-based or any other platform powered website or blog specific files and directories.

Also, learning how to write command line scripts can be helpful in automating tasks that normally would be very redundant and time-consuming, such as updates and backups.

So, while managing a VPS does require some technical knowledge, these skills are easily obtained online with a little searching. You can be up and run in no time, too, since many of these guides will take you through everything step by step to get a functioning website up and running. With time and practice, these skills will become second nature to you so you no longer have to search for guides on how to do what you want to do with your VPS.

If you don’t have the time to spend on figuring out your VPS or cannot afford to risk any downtime, considering hiring someone to help you manage your VPS. You can still learn the skills you want to know on the side while allowing someone to help you manage the details so there is no downtime involved. There is no rule that says you have to choose between hiring someone to manage your VPS and learning to manage it yourself!

Owning a VPS can be a beneficial educational experience in which you learn exactly how a website works. Don’t give up the thought of owning one just because you’re intimidated by the technical knowledge needed to run it. It really does look a lot harder than it actually is once you get down to it. So if you’ve been considering getting a VPS but have stopped short due to fear it will be too technical for you - rest easy! Chances are you can learn how to work with it quite easily.