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	<title>About Web Development by Activo &#187; Web Application Hosting</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/category/web-application-hosting/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog</link>
	<description>Web Development in a Web 2.0 World</description>
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			<item>
		<title>Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:19:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fail2ban]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are plenty of settings in that file, especially if you are running CentOS 5.3 with latest patches and fail2ban from atomic repository. Here is a short list of steps that I follow when setting up new servers:
1. Setup sendmail to start on boot. Make sure it can send emails correctly (Reverse DNS records, hostname [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are plenty of settings in that file, especially if you are running CentOS 5.3 with latest patches and fail2ban from atomic repository. Here is a short list of steps that I follow when setting up new servers:</p>
<p>1. Setup sendmail to start on boot. Make sure it can send emails correctly (Reverse DNS records, hostname config, etc).</p>
<p>2. Make sure that fail2ban starts on boot (I use ntsysv for that).</p>
<p>3. Edit the jail.conf file, type vi /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf</p>
<p>4. Change the time for increased security:</p>
<pre>bantime = 86400
findtime = 3600</pre>
<p>5. After you save and exit, change all the destination emails to go to root which will then be forwarded to you:</p>
<pre>sed -i 's/you@mail.com/root/g' /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf</pre>
<p>6. Add a forward for all emails to root to your email:</p>
<pre>echo "myemailaddress@mydomain.com" &gt; ~/.forward</pre>
<p>7. Restart  fail2ban:</p>
<pre>service fail2ban restart</pre>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[httpd.conf]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=320</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you ever run Magento eCommerce on your servers you know that it requires some serious horse power. It is just the nature of the beast, with XML configuration, the usage of the Zend Framework, and MVC design &#8211; every page load is not trivial. I realize that there are many lighter and various other [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you ever run Magento eCommerce on your servers you know that it requires some serious horse power. It is just the nature of the beast, with XML configuration, the usage of the Zend Framework, and MVC design &#8211; every page load is not trivial. I realize that there are many lighter and various other forms of web servers, however I always stick to the safest and most reliable which usually happens to be the most popular option out there: httpd. Here is an optimized httpd.conf targeting a dedicated server box for running only httpd (no mysql) and Magento:</p>
<p>A couple of assumptions first:</p>
<ul>
<li> You are running CentOS (I did not test any other distros)</li>
<li>You have httpd installed</li>
<li>You have lots of RAM (this server has 16GB of RAM)</li>
<li>This is a dedicated box</li>
<li>You know what you are doing&#8230;</li>
</ul>
<p>Download the file, copy over your httpd.conf, restart httpd:</p>
<pre>wget http://www.activoinc.com/downloads/httpd.conf-magento
cp /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf ./httpd.conf.old
cat httpd.conf-magento &gt; /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf</pre>
<p>Once done, you will also need to update the vhosts area of the file near the bottom of it. In case you wanted, here is a direct link to the file: <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/downloads/httpd.conf-magento">http://www.activoinc.com/downloads/httpd.conf-magento</a></p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Setting noatime and nodiratime for improved disk performance</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/25/setting-noatime-and-nodiratime-for-improved-disk-performance/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/25/setting-noatime-and-nodiratime-for-improved-disk-performance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[noatime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nodiratime]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is great if you have a server that performs plenty of disk access operations and you are interested in speeding things up a bit. Here is how to do this in three steps. First some assumptions:

You have root access
You are the only one that will ever need to mount or unmount this file system
Running [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is great if you have a server that performs plenty of disk access operations and you are interested in speeding things up a bit. Here is how to do this in three steps. First some assumptions:</p>
<ul>
<li>You have root access</li>
<li>You are the only one that will ever need to mount or unmount this file system</li>
<li>Running CentOS (this may work, but was not tested on any other linux server)</li>
</ul>
<p>This is what we are doing:</p>
<ol>
<li>Editing /etc/fstab to set the noatime and nodiratime flags for the file system</li>
<li>Remounting the drives/file systems (without rebooting)</li>
<li>Checking our work</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Step 1: Edit the /etc/fstab, type:</strong></p>
<pre>vi /etc/fstab</pre>
<p>Add the noatime, nodiratime flags right after the defaults flag in the &#8220;/&#8221; root mount partition. Repeat to all the partitions that you wish to speed up. Here is how my fstab file looks like after the change (click to enlarge):</p>
<p><a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/etc-fstab-in-vi_with_noatime_nodiratime.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-308" title="etc-fstab-in-vi_with_noatime_nodiratime" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/etc-fstab-in-vi_with_noatime_nodiratime-300x53.jpg" alt="etc-fstab-in-vi_with_noatime_nodiratime" width="300" height="53" /></a><strong>Step 2: Remount the file system:</strong></p>
<pre>mount -oremount /</pre>
<p><strong>Step 3: Check our work:</strong></p>
<pre>cat /proc/mounts</pre>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: the following command will perform a tiny benchmark test, in case you want to see how fast your hard drives perform. If you want to compare, you should perform a before and after tests.</p>
<pre>hdparm -tT /dev/sda</pre>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Most Commected Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li><li>October 2, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/10/02/keywordluv-a-must-have-wordpress-plugin/" title="KeywordLuv: a must have wordpress plugin">KeywordLuv: a must have wordpress plugin</a> (7)</li><li>March 10, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/03/10/10-key-search-engine-optimization-items-feeding-the-spiders/" title="10 Key Search Engine Optimization Items &#8211; Feeding the Spiders">10 Key Search Engine Optimization Items &#8211; Feeding the Spiders</a> (5)</li><li>October 5, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/10/05/updating-inove-to-work-with-keywordluv-plugin/" title="Updating iNove to work with KeywordLuv plugin">Updating iNove to work with KeywordLuv plugin</a> (5)</li><li>August 19, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/08/19/5-missing-features-preventing-joomla-cms-from-entering-the-enterprise-cms-market/" title="5 Missing Features Preventing Joomla! CMS from Entering the Enterprise CMS Market">5 Missing Features Preventing Joomla! CMS from Entering the Enterprise CMS Market</a> (3)</li><li>August 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/08/25/zencart-ver-1-4-looking-ahead/" title="Looking Ahead: ZenCart ver 1.4">Looking Ahead: ZenCart ver 1.4</a> (3)</li><li>September 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/25/magentos-order-management-workflow-comprehensive-but-unrealistic/" title="Magento&#8217;s Order Management Workflow: Comprehensive but Unrealistic">Magento&#8217;s Order Management Workflow: Comprehensive but Unrealistic</a> (3)</li><li>October 15, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/10/15/zencart-1-3-8-and-php-5-2-11-bug-problem-login-to-admin-area/" title="ZenCart 1.3.8 and PHP 5.2.11 Bug: problem login to admin area">ZenCart 1.3.8 and PHP 5.2.11 Bug: problem login to admin area</a> (3)</li><li>November 26, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/11/26/3-interesting-trends-in-web-browsers/" title="3 Interesting Trends in Web Browsers">3 Interesting Trends in Web Browsers</a> (3)</li><li>July 29, 2007 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2007/07/29/why-we-chose-eventum-over-any-other-issue-tracking-system/" title="Why we chose Eventum over any other issue tracking system?">Why we chose Eventum over any other issue tracking system?</a> (2)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:06:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iptables]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=303</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since I provide fully managed hosting services to my selective clients, I&#8217;ve been setting up iptables more than I can count. After a while I have the tendency to automate common tasks. In the case of setting iptables it can easily be done by downloading and running a shell script. So I created these two [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since I provide fully managed hosting services to my selective clients, I&#8217;ve been setting up iptables more than I can count. After a while I have the tendency to automate common tasks. In the case of setting iptables it can easily be done by downloading and running a shell script. So I created these two shell scripts each one targets a specific server usage: one for WWW servers and the other is for dedicated DB servers.</p>
<p>Here is a couple of assumptions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Using a linux server</li>
<li>Has iptables installed and running</li>
<li>You have root access to the server (or enough privileges to run these commands)</li>
<li>Not a must, but I only tested these scripts on a CentOS server (and many of them&#8230;)</li>
<li>You know what you are doing!</li>
</ul>
<p>The scripts simply clears the current settings of your iptables, adds open ports as necessary and restarts the iptables service. In the case of WWW it opens the ports 22, 80, and 443 (SSL). In the case of MYSQL it opens the ports 22, and 3306 and if you wish you can uncomment a line in there to restrict access only to a specific set of IPs. In the case of a dedicated server you may only want the corresponding WWW server to be able to access the MYSQL server. Here are the steps, I will divide them by the type of the server:</p>
<p><strong>Setting iptables on a WWW server:</strong></p>
<pre>wget http://www.activoinc.com/downloads/iptables-www
chmod +x iptables-www
./iptables-www</pre>
<p><strong>Setting iptables on a MySQL server:</strong></p>
<pre>wget http://www.activoinc.com/downloads/iptables-mysql
chmod +x iptables-mysql
./iptables-mysql</pre>
<p>Note: there is absolutely no warranty that this will work, it is provided with the sole hope that it may save you a few minutes or a couple of hours.</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:13:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL PHP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linux server]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=300</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I setup a new server, I typically install it with nothing checked in the packages list of the installation process. I like using yum update first and then running yum install on the packages that I absolutely need. Clean and mean is my favorite way to run a Linux server. Two main reason are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When I setup a new server, I typically install it with nothing checked in the packages list of the installation process. I like using yum update first and then running yum install on the packages that I absolutely need. Clean and mean is my favorite way to run a Linux server. Two main reason are behind this: one is performance, this is a bit obvious: the less you got on the HD and processes running in the background the faster the server. Two is security: the less software you have installed your vulnerability &#8220;surface area&#8221; is smaller.</p>
<p>While installing it clean is great, I do have a minimum set of tools that I usually need in any server. Most of these tools are small and do not require background services so I install them almost by default. You should check if they suite your needs and use it at your discretion. Hint: the goal here is to copy and paste once a new server is installed.</p>
<p><strong>(correction) Before I can use the next command I need to install wget:</strong></p>
<pre>yum install wget</pre>
<p><strong>Add the Atomic repository (newer versions of LAMP, some security packages):</strong></p>
<pre>wget -q -O - http://www.atomicorp.com/installers/atomic.sh | sh</pre>
<p><strong>Install basic packages:</strong></p>
<pre>yum install unzip sendmail ntsysv fail2ban logrotate pdns</pre>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linux]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=284</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Lately I have been noticing high activity of cyberattacks. In fact, a few of our servers got hit and had to be rebuilt. Of course some of these servers were never built with security in mind. We did manage to save all the data and the redo took less than one day total so the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Lately I have been noticing high activity of cyberattacks. In fact, a few of our servers got hit and had to be rebuilt. Of course some of these servers were never built with security in mind. We did manage to save all the data and the redo took less than one day total so the end result is great overall with fully patched servers, firewall, email alerts in place, and finally a way to automatically block failed logins. I&#8217;ll show you how to setup the last part, it is actually quite easy.</p>
<p>So, I assume you have a CentOS server. I am using CentOS 5.3 fully updated (yum update) and i have the <a href="http://www.atomicorp.com/channels/">atomicorp repository</a> setup. The atomicorp is not necessary (it seems) but will allow you to use newer versions of PHP and other packages. The package that will do the work is called <a href="http://www.fail2ban.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">fail2ban</a>. A simple install seems to take care of it for us:</p>
<pre>yum install fail2ban</pre>
<p>Lets install the service, in case that we restart the server &#8211; the service will automatically start running, I use ntsysv for this:</p>
<pre>ntsysv (hit enter, select the service, make sure it has a start inside the brackets, and click 'ok')</pre>
<p>Lets start the service:</p>
<pre>service fail2ban start</pre>
<p>Here is recommend to setup a auto forward on the root emails to you:</p>
<pre>echo 'youremail@yourdomain.com' &gt; ~/.forward</pre>
<p>You should be all set. Try to check the log files once a week after the install, see if the service actually blocked potential hackers. Let me know if this worked for you or if you are using a better package?</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>April 13, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/" title="About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS">About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</a> (9)</li><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Speed Optimized Websites Rank Higher with Search Engines</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/07/16/speed-optimized-websites-rank-higher-with-search-engines/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/07/16/speed-optimized-websites-rank-higher-with-search-engines/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:56:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Performance Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Search Engine Optimization (SEO)]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=267</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Website performance should not be taken lightly. Now, when I say website performance optimization in general I mean the time that it takes a webpage to fully render in the browser. Many different factors can influence that including the number of files that make your page, the size of the files, whether it renders in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Website performance should not be taken lightly. Now, when I say website performance optimization in general I mean the time that it takes a webpage to fully render in the browser. Many different factors can influence that including the number of files that make your page, the size of the files, whether it renders in standard XHTML or quirks mode, etc. But, for search engines all that matters  is the raw HTML output of your site. One of the ways that search engines measure a site&#8217;s validity is by measuring the speed it takes it to serve the HTML portion. Yes, raw web server power. Why?</p>
<p>Search engines try to guess which websites out there should gain more respect than others, one characteristics is speed. If you think of it, the speed it takes to serve a page reflects how much the owner invested in it and hence reflects on the ranking that it should get in a backwards way. In other words, a site that is served on a dedicated server with serious horse power should get higher rankings than a site that is served on the cheapest shared hosting plan. Another fact is that major search engines researched user return rate and have found that the return is higher for faster sites and even microseconds count. That is why the best search engines focus on speedier results and favor results from faster websites. Really?</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-269" title="google_webmaster_tools_crawl_stats2" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/google_webmaster_tools_crawl_stats2.JPG" alt="google_webmaster_tools_crawl_stats2" width="491" height="433" /></p>
<p>Look at the graph above, you will see a direct correlation between the website&#8217;s speed and the number of indexed pages. There might be a delay and it is not 100% accurate because the speed is not the only factor here, but over time it seems to have an effect. These graphs are from Google Webmaster Tools, under the crawler stats. Ok, how should I increase the performance of my site?</p>
<p>Here are a few things to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Invest in a good hosting package. If you are serious, get at least a VPS with your own IP address (dedicated IP is also a measure). A VPS or a dedicated server will always trump the performance of shared hosting over time. Notice that some shared hosting environments reach 500+ websites on the same piece of hardware.</li>
<li>If you use PHP make sure to use APC: Alternative PHP Caching.</li>
<li>Always turn on caching at all levels: Apache, PHP, and your application. All levels usually have some sort of a caching mechanism &#8211; use it!</li>
<li>Research your biggest bottleneck and tackle it, always repeat over time. Just like you do with SEO &#8211; it is always work in progress.</li>
<li>Look in the logs: every time that your server experiences an error or a warning it has to trigger the error handling mechanism which in most environments require additional resources. Especially unhandled exceptions in ASP.NET/IIS7 environments.</li>
</ul>
<p>The list is really long and can get very technical but in general you always want to keep website performance optimization in the back of your head. It is well worth it!</p>
<p>What is your experience with speed optimized websites? how did it affect your SEO results?</p>
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		<title>Take a Look at Dell&#8217;s Fortuna Server</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/07/09/take-a-look-at-dells-fortuna-server/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/07/09/take-a-look-at-dells-fortuna-server/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dell Fortuna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web server]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=242</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As web traffic grows constantly and will continue to grow, I am always on the lookout for better ways to host a robust websites. Our clients always demand the best hosting solution but with an eye on the price. Currently the biggest price tags when it comes to hosting data centers is the power consumption [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As web traffic grows constantly and will continue to grow, I am always on the lookout for better ways to host a robust websites. Our clients always demand the best hosting solution but with an eye on the price. Currently the biggest price tags when it comes to hosting data centers is the power consumption and second is the actual space. Note that a side benefit to lower power consumption is reduction in the need of cooling, since logically increased power consumption means more generated heat.</p>
<p>In other words, to remain competitive hosting providers will strive to provide servers with lower power consumption and smaller form factors while assuming a certain level of processing power. This is exactly what DELL&#8217;s R&amp;D is working on these days. Here is a video of what is in the works:</p>
<p><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QT8wEgjwr7k&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QT8wEgjwr7k&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></p>
<p>What is interesting is that the fortuna will supposedly place 12 of these mini servers in a single enclosure that fits in 2U space. This makes it a 1/6U server. 6 Servers per 1U of space. Here is a photo of a prototype:</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-253" title="dell_fortuna_server" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dell_fortuna_server.jpg" alt="dell_fortuna_server" width="560" height="113" /></p>
<p>Now, can you imagine each mini server hosting 2-4 VPS with CentOS serving the LAMP stack and either a Joomla, WordPress, or ZenCart on it? Nice!</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>October 31, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/10/31/how-to-use-mod_rewrite-to-set-a-canonical-url/" title="How to Use Mod_Rewrite to Set a Canonical URL">How to Use Mod_Rewrite to Set a Canonical URL</a> (0)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Manage Application Pool Recycling in IIS7</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/05/21/manage-application-pool-recycling-in-iis7/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/05/21/manage-application-pool-recycling-in-iis7/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 23:05:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[.NET Framework]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iis7]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=226</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you manage a website that is hosted with the latest Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 you probably want to be aware of the Application Pool settings in general, and in particular the Application Pool Recycle settings. As it turns out, by default, Windows Server 2008 sets the Application Pool to recycle every 1740 minutes. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you manage a website that is hosted with the latest Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 you probably want to be aware of the Application Pool settings in general, and in particular the Application Pool Recycle settings. As it turns out, by default, Windows Server 2008 sets the Application Pool to recycle every 1740 minutes. Which is exactly 29 hours or one full day and 5 hours or the number of lattes I had in the winter. All kidding aside, this number is a bit random, especially because it determines when the website&#8217;s application pool will recycle and the website will need to recompile, recache, etc. Here is a screenshot:</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-227" title="edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_default" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_default.jpg" alt="edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_default" width="579" height="441" /></p>
<p>Instead, what I recommend is that you uncheck the <strong>regular time intervals </strong>checkbox and use the <strong>Specific time</strong> one. I chose here 2:00 AM because it is when the site sees the lowest numbers of hits and it is the best time to handle a recycle. You should setup your webserver to recycle when your site is experiencing the lowest traffic levels. So, you&#8217;ll probably need to dig into the analytics a bit. Here is a screenshot of how I setup my server:</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-228" title="edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_recommended" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_recommended.jpg" alt="edit_app_pool_recycling_settings_recommended" width="579" height="441" /></p>
<p>Pros:<br />
- Recycles during off peak hours<br />
- You actually control when it recycles<br />
- Typically a performance boost on average</p>
<p>Cons:<br />
The application will now recycle every 24 hours, instead of 29 hours. In fact, if you are certain that your website has no major problems and no memory leaks you can potentially set the application pool to not recycle automatically at all. This state needs to be monitored but may result in a longer smooth ride. Enjoy!</p>
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		<title>pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 07:55:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL PHP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNS caching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DNS proxy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pdnsd]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=162</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes, when you realize that you could have improved the system with so little effort, we blush. This is what happened to me when I realized that most of the neworking delays could have been avoided with this tiny but wity utility. I knew that having a local caching DNS or the like is the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sometimes, when you realize that you could have improved the system with so little effort, we blush. This is what happened to me when I realized that most of the neworking delays could have been avoided with this tiny but wity utility. I knew that having a local caching DNS or the like is the answer but I did not want to use a full fletched DNS server. I found <a title="pdnsd - a small proxy DNS server with permanent caching" href="http://www.phys.uu.nl/~rombouts/pdnsd/index.html"><strong>pdnsd</strong></a> &#8211; a small proxy DNS server with permanent caching. Perfect!</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-166" title="bandwidth-savings-with-pdnsd" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/bandwidth-savings-with-pdnsd.jpg" alt="" width="470" height="314" /></p>
<p>In a nutshel, <strong>pdnsd</strong> is a small utility that caches DNS translations locally on the HD, hence next time the server queries the address the response time is likely to be minimal. Usually, the server has to query your ISP&#8217;s DNS or whatever DNS server you specified in the /etc/resolve.conf file. In a high performing web servers you are constantly competing with other packets on the network or your network resources. This is a great advantage. By installing pdnsd you achieve the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Decrease the average DNS response time sharply!</li>
<li>Increase your server performance, especially if this server needs to communicate externally a lot like an eCommerce server which constantly needs to communicate with shipping and credit card servers.</li>
<li>Save on bandwidth.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here is how you go about setting up <strong>pdnsd</strong> on a CentOS server:</p>
<p><strong>1. Download the latest stable rpm</strong>:<br />
go to <a href="http://www.phys.uu.nl/~rombouts/pdnsd/dl.html">pdnsd download page</a> and look for your relevant rpm. For CentOS 5.2 64bit I got the latest version as of yesterday:</p>
<pre>wget http://www.phys.uu.nl/~rombouts/pdnsd/releases/pdnsd-1.2.7-par_sl5.x86_64.rpm</pre>
<p><strong> 2. Install the rpm:</strong></p>
<pre>rpm -i pdnsd-1.2.7-par_sl5.x86_64.rpm</pre>
<p><strong>3. Configure pdnsd to use your current DNS servers:</strong></p>
<pre>vi /etc/pdnsd.conf</pre>
<p>Paste the following, of-course you should use your DNS servers instead:</p>
<pre>server {
label="opendns";
ip = 208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220;
}</pre>
<p><strong>4. Start pdnsd and test that it is actually working</strong></p>
<pre>service pdnsd start</pre>
<pre> dig @127.0.0.1 yahoo.com</pre>
<p>If you get the IP, it is working. Notice the response time, if you try again you will see a sharp decrease in response time. My servers&#8217; second response time is almost always between 1-0 ms.</p>
<p><strong>5. Set pdnsd to start automatically on boot</strong></p>
<pre>vi /etc/default/pdnsd</pre>
<p>Enter the following and save:</p>
<pre>START_DAEMON=yes</pre>
<p>Also make sure the daemon is set to auto start on boot. I use &#8216;ntsysv&#8217;, you can use chkconfig or whatever you are used to.</p>
<p><strong>6. Set your server to use the pdnsd instead of your DNS servers</strong></p>
<pre>vi /etc/resolv.conf</pre>
<p>Make sure that the first nameserver line is &#8216;127.0.0.1&#8242;. Should look like this:</p>
<pre>nameserver 127.0.0.1</pre>
<p><strong>7. Restart your network service:</strong></p>
<pre>service network restart</pre>
<p>How do you know that it is working? try to use any script that needs to go outside to the network, like &#8216;yum update&#8217;. In most cases, you will notice that the second time is much faster. Enjoy!</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>July 16, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/07/16/speed-optimized-websites-rank-higher-with-search-engines/" title="Speed Optimized Websites Rank Higher with Search Engines">Speed Optimized Websites Rank Higher with Search Engines</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>November 5, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/05/understanding-mysql-query-caching/" title="Understanding MySQL Query Caching Process">Understanding MySQL Query Caching Process</a> (1)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Google is on a diet!</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/01/google-is-on-a-diet/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/01/google-is-on-a-diet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:56:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Search Engine Optimization (SEO)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web-based User Interfaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cloud Computing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[firefox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Second Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual World]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=146</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems like the search giant is going through some housekeeping: laying off 3,000 employees and shutting down over ten of its services. We know from our clients that the first thing in slow times is to shut down the advertisement dollars. I guess, easy to setup and easy to stop, all it takes is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It seems like the search giant is going through some housekeeping: <a href="http://www.webguild.org/2008/12/google-layoffs-update-3000-workers-cut-so-far.php">laying off 3,000 employees</a> and <a href="http://www.webguild.org/2008/11/googles-lively-virtual-world-shutting-down.php">shutting down over ten of its services</a>. We know from our clients that the first thing in slow times is to shut down the advertisement dollars. I guess, easy to setup and easy to stop, all it takes is a click of a button.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-147" title="measuring-tape-google-on-a-diet" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/measuring-tape-google-on-a-diet.jpg" alt="" width="470" height="353" /></p>
<p>Well, we are seeing the result. Here is a shortlist of the services that Google just stopped offering:</p>
<p>1. <a href="http://www.lively.com/">Lively</a> &#8211; used to be a virtual world kind of like second life. No more.</p>
<p>2. <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/">Google Answers</a> &#8211; similar to Yahoo Answers. No mas.</p>
<p>3. <a href="http://www.searchmash.com/">SearchMash</a> &#8211; non Google branded experimental search for design purposes. Gone with the dinosaurs.</p>
<p>4. <a href="http://pages.google.com/">Page Creator</a> &#8211; a simple way to create a simpleton website. Caput.</p>
<p>5. GDrive &#8211; allow online storage on Google servers. Negative.</p>
<p>6. <a href="http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/browsersync/">Browser Sync</a> &#8211; extension for FireFox to synch your browser settings across computers. Belly up.</p>
<p>7. <a href="http://www.hello.com/">Hello</a> &#8211; online photo sharing integrated with Picasa. Dead.</p>
<p>8. <a href="http://www.google.com/sms/">SMS</a> &#8211; send SMS to a phone from online. Departed.</p>
<p>9. <a href="http://www.google.com/help/faq_clicktocall.html">Click to call</a> &#8211; was used inside Google Maps. Extinct.</p>
<p>10. <a href="www.google.com/tools/firefox/sendtophone/">Send to phone extension</a> &#8211; FireFox extension. Vanished.</p>
<p>11. Related Links &#8211; relating links between sites. Defunct.</p>
<p>Now, this is not to say that Google is no longer the search giant. I only suspect that this is a focus shift and we will eventually see many more useful tools and systems come out of Mountain View, CA. Google is still one of the biggest think tanks in the world and did I mention the largest cloud computing network?</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>November 26, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/11/26/3-interesting-trends-in-web-browsers/" title="3 Interesting Trends in Web Browsers">3 Interesting Trends in Web Browsers</a> (3)</li><li>July 3, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/07/03/firefox-3-and-internet-explorer-8-beta/" title="FireFox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta">FireFox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta</a> (0)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>About Linux Distros: Ubuntu and CentOS</title>
		<link>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/</link>
		<comments>http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/04/13/about-linux-distros-ubuntu-and-centos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ron Peled</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL PHP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Application Hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apt-get]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aptitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CentOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fedora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RedHat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rpm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ubuntu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.activoinc.com/blog/?p=14</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, we setup a new production LAMP server to host a few of our client&#8217;s sites, medium size eCommerce websites. I wanted to share our experience as we came across the three big (and free) Linux distributions while we evaluated and setup the machines. We have previously setup Ubuntu Server 7.04 for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A few weeks ago, we setup a new production LAMP server to host a few of our client&#8217;s sites, medium size eCommerce websites. I wanted to share our experience as we came across the three big (and free) Linux distributions while we evaluated and setup the machines. We have previously setup Ubuntu Server 7.04 for our development and staging environment while researching the related family of North American Linux distributions: RedHat, Fedora and CentOS.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/centos_ubuntu_install_scree.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15" title="CentOS vs Ubuntu Install Screenshot" src="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/centos_ubuntu_install_scree.jpg" alt="CentOS vs Ubuntu Install Screenshot" width="470" height="160" /></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;ll start with the positive: in the last few years Linux distributions in general have become main stream OS and most of the installation process is user friendly. Almost each distro offers the &#8217;server&#8217; edition of the OS which comes mostly configured with what a production LAMP server needs to have installed already. The installation packages are clearly labeled for i386 or x64 bit, and most even offer a net install which in CentOS case only requires downloading about 7MB of ISO file and the rest is done on the fly.</p>
<p>Now, let&#8217;s delve into the differences that affected our decisions, labeled according to key points and in order of importance to us:</p>
<h2>Setup Efficiency: ROI and Learning Curve</h2>
<p>I had the experience for setting up both Ubuntu server and CentOS server editions on two different machines. Both machines had similar configurations of two 500GB harddrives mirrored in hardware Raid1 with a 3ware card, and Intel Pro dual NIC. The rest of the hardware setup is pretty much the standard Intel based processors. Both Ubuntu and CentOS had no problem in recognizing all the hardware on the machines and the setup process went pretty smoothly. The differences began showing after the initial setup: while CentOS shows an additional very helpful setup (NIC assignments, firewall, and services setup) Ubuntu had no such thing and showed the login prompt right after boot. What I found surprising is that Ubuntu required additional steps in order to download and install SSH using aptitude &#8211; if one chooses a server edition, shouldn&#8217;t it be setup for you by default?</p>
<p>Although aptitude is a great package management software, I have found that the server version of Ubuntu is just not mature enough or simply chooses the minimalistic approach which doesn&#8217;t fit my understanding of a server distro. Many of the tasks that were performed by CentOS by default or had options for that during the install were missing in Ubuntu. At the end of the day, setting up Ubuntu took days while CentOS took hours. Did I say ROI? CentOS is the clear winner.</p>
<h2>Package Management Systems</h2>
<p>Ubuntu prides itself on <strong>apt-get</strong> and <strong>aptitude </strong>which builds itself on top of the debian package management system while CentOS, Fedora and RedHat, use the <strong>rpm</strong> and <strong>yum</strong> package management systems. After using all systems I can clearly say that I favor the yum and rpm package management systems.</p>
<p>First, with apt-get/apt-cache/aptitude I had to constantly refer back to the documentation on Ubuntu&#8217;s site and I still cannot remember which one do I use for searching, installing, upgrading, describing, or removing packages &#8211; do we really need the separation? With both yum and rpm simply provide a separate option and you are good to go, all the information is flowing into the terminal and it took me only one glance of &#8216;man yum&#8217; to understand what and where.</p>
<p>Second, in the particular case of apache, vhosts, and extensinos, aptitude allows flexibility at the price of re-arranging the apache.conf and vhosts.conf into a collection of files and folders. Yum does a similar thing as well, however I still found yum&#8217;s method to keep the original httpd.conf mostly intact which allowed my familiarity with the basic apache configuration skill to take over and finalize install in no time. In my opinion, the deviation from the standard has no benefit whatsoever. The price of flexibility comes over familiarity but yet yum had the upper hand and ease of use.</p>
<p>Third, setting up a package that requires dependencies is equally good in both systems: they both do a very good job of finding the dependencies, looking their download sources, installing and setting it all up. However, I did find that <strong>yum</strong> had the best reporting system and after it gathered all the information it showed a useful status report while asking permission to proceed &#8211; this is valuable for sys admins and it does save time. Once more, <strong>yum</strong> feels like a more mature package management system.</p>
<h2>Production OS? Stability vs Cutting Edge</h2>
<p>Here is where I wanted to introduce a bit of the feeling we all shared after setting it up, plus the feeling of some colleagues of mine who I consider to be Linux Admin Gurus. At the end of the day, when all is setup and configured, the feeling from the CentOS system was much more secure and I knew exactly what is installed and what is not. Conversely, Ubuntu server did not give me that worm fuzzy feeling that &#8216;all is good&#8217; and if I needed to make a change, I would have to refer to documentation first before I touch the server.</p>
<p>When I ask some Linux Guru colleages who manage production linux clusters on a regular basis, they all point to CentOS or RedHat due to stability and performance record. In other words, you won&#8217;t get the latest cutting edge packages like Ubuntu or Fedora &#8211; but it is guaranteed to be much less flawed.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>The bottom line is that distro preference is a personal decision. Personal to the individual who administers the systems and personal to the organization. We&#8217;ve chosen CentOS over Ubuntu, Fedora, and RedHat. The only option I see that might change is adopting RedHat due to the technical support that is offered for a fee. Hands down, CentOS provided the fastest configuration time, lowest learning curve, better ROI, superior package management system, and a good fuzzy feeling of stability. Thanks to CentOS, we can get back to our main passion: Web Development&#8230;</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li>November 30, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/11/30/centos-for-linux-servers-a-cut-above/" title="CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above">CentOS for Linux Servers: a cut above</a> (0)</li><li>August 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/03/block-access-to-your-dedicated-server-automatically-if-more-than-3-failed-logins/" title="Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins">Block access to your dedicated server automatically if more than 3 failed logins</a> (0)</li><li>March 27, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/27/recommended-visual-svn-server-now-with-subversion-16/" title="Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6">Recommended: Visual SVN Server, now with Subversion 1.6</a> (1)</li><li>September 3, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/09/03/quick-way-to-update-fail2ban-jail-conf-file/" title="Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file">Quick Way to Update Fail2ban jail.conf file</a> (0)</li><li>August 31, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/31/performance-optimized-httpd-conf-for-magento-ecommerce/" title="Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce">Performance Optimized httpd.conf for Magento eCommerce</a> (0)</li><li>August 24, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/24/howto-setup-iptables-for-www-and-dbmysql-on-linux/" title="Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux">Howto setup iptables for www and db(mysql) on linux</a> (0)</li><li>August 23, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/08/23/centos-5-3-install-essentials/" title="CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials">CentOS 5.3 Install Essentials</a> (0)</li><li>March 25, 2009 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2009/03/25/tightening-up-iptables-for-a-dedicated-db-server-mysql-and-centos/" title="Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)">Tightening up iptables for a dedicated DB server (MySQL and CentOS)</a> (1)</li><li>December 25, 2008 -- <a href="http://www.activoinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/pdnsd-decrease-dns-response-time-and-save-bandwidth/" title="pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth">pdnsd &#8211; Decrease DNS response time and save bandwidth</a> (0)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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