Tag: VPS Management

How to Host Multiple Websites on a Single VPS

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If you manage multiple projects or clients, hosting all your websites on a single VPS can be cost-effective and efficient. With proper configuration, one VPS can run multiple domains, each with its own files, databases, and security settings.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to host multiple websites on one VPS using simple, practical steps.

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Why Host Multiple Sites on One VPS?

  • Cost Savings: Pay for one VPS instead of multiple hosting plans.
  • Better Resource Control: Allocate CPU, RAM, and storage as needed.
  • Full Customization: Choose your own control panel, stack, and security settings.
  • Scalability: Easily upgrade your VPS resources as traffic grows.

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Step 1: Choose the Right VPS Plan

Hosting multiple websites requires enough resources to handle combined traffic and workloads. For small to medium sites, start with:

  • 2–4 GB RAM
  • 2+ vCPU cores
  • 40–80 GB SSD/NVMe storage

👉 Explore VPS plans:

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Step 2: Install a Web Server

You need a web server to host websites. Popular choices include:

  • Apache
  • Nginx
  • LiteSpeed (for higher performance)

Example for Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 -y

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Step 3: Configure Virtual Hosts

Create separate virtual host files for each domain.

Example for Apache:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example1.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example1
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example2.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example2
</VirtualHost>

Enable sites:

sudo a2ensite example1.conf
sudo a2ensite example2.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2

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Step 4: Add DNS Records

Point each domain to your VPS IP using A records in your domain registrar’s DNS settings.

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Step 5: Secure with SSL (HTTPS)

Use Let’s Encrypt for free SSL certificates:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache

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Step 6: Optimize for Performance

  • Enable caching (Varnish, Redis, or Nginx cache)
  • Use Cloudflare CDN for speed and DDoS protection
  • Monitor resource usage and scale when needed

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Step 7: Consider a Control Panel

If you’re managing many sites, a control panel like DirectAdmin, CyberPanel, or ISPConfig makes management easier.

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Benefits of Using Hosteons VPS for Multiple Websites

  • 10Gbps Network Ports for ultra-fast connections
  • Full Root Access for complete control
  • KVM Virtualization for dedicated resources
  • Affordable Plans starting at $2.99/month
  • IPv6 Ready and Multiple Locations

👉 Start hosting multiple websites today:

Order Your VPS

Final Thoughts

Hosting multiple websites on a single VPS is a smart way to save costs and maintain control. With proper configuration, security, and resource management, your sites can run smoothly from one powerful VPS.

Use Ansible to Manage Multiple VPS Instances Efficiently

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Managing several VPS instances manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. With the power of Ansible, system administrators can automate repetitive tasks, deploy configurations, and maintain consistency across all their VPS servers — all from a single control node.

In this guide, we’ll explore how you can use Ansible to efficiently manage your VPS instances hosted with Hosteons.

🚀 What is Ansible?

Ansible is an open-source IT automation tool that allows you to manage systems using simple YAML-based playbooks. It doesn’t require any agent installation and communicates over SSH, making it ideal for managing Linux VPS environments.

✅ Benefits of Using Ansible with Hosteons VPS

  • Agentless: No need to install additional software on your VPS.
  • Scalable: Manage 2 or 200 servers with the same effort.
  • Consistent: Standardized deployments ensure fewer mistakes.
  • Efficient: Automate updates, security patches, and software installs.

🛠️ Prerequisites

To get started with Ansible, you’ll need:

  • A local machine (control node) with Ansible installed (Ubuntu/Mac/Linux).
  • SSH access to your Hosteons VPS instances.
  • All VPS servers should have a common user with SSH key access (preferably with sudo privileges).

🔧 Step-by-Step Setup

1. Install Ansible on Your Local Machine

For Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible -y

For macOS (using Homebrew):

brew install ansible

2. Create an Inventory File

Ansible uses an inventory file to keep track of the VPS instances you want to manage.

Example: hosts.ini

[webservers]
vps1 ansible_host=192.0.2.1 ansible_user=root
vps2 ansible_host=192.0.2.2 ansible_user=root

Replace 192.0.2.x with the IPs of your VPS servers from Hosteons.

3. Test Connectivity

Use the ping module to verify connection:

ansible -i hosts.ini all -m ping

You should see a “pong” response if the connection is successful.

4. Create and Run a Playbook

Example: Install Apache on all VPS servers

---
- name: Install Apache on VPS
  hosts: webservers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Update apt packages
      apt:
        update_cache: yes

    - name: Install Apache
      apt:
        name: apache2
        state: present

Save this file as apache.yml, then run it:

ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini apache.yml

🔁 What Can You Automate?

  • Initial server setup
  • Firewall configuration
  • Software installation
  • Security updates
  • Deploying web applications
  • Monitoring tools setup (e.g., Fail2Ban, UFW, Zabbix)

📦 Combine with Hosteons Initial VPS Setup Script

Hosteons also offers an open-source initial VPS setup script on GitHub to secure and configure your new servers. You can run this once and then switch to Ansible for ongoing automation.

GitHub: https://github.com/hosteons/Initial-VPS-Setup-Script-for-Linux

Blog: https://blog.hosteons.com/2025/06/05/instantly-secure-and-set-up-your-vps-with-hosteons-initial-vps-setup-script/

🔒 Pro Tip: Use SSH Key Authentication

To avoid entering passwords for every VPS, use SSH key-based login and disable password authentication for improved security.

🏁 Final Thoughts

Ansible is a powerful way to save time and reduce errors when managing multiple VPS instances. Whether you’re running WordPress sites, managing Docker containers, or deploying custom apps — Ansible and Hosteons VPS make a powerful combination.

🖥️ Ready to scale your server management?

👉 Order a Hosteons VPS and start automating with Ansible today!

How to Monitor VPS Resource Usage Like a Pro

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Whether you’re running a website, application, or a private service, keeping an eye on your VPS (Virtual Private Server) is crucial. Poor resource monitoring can lead to downtime, sluggish performance, or even security issues. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best tools and techniques to monitor your VPS resource usage like a seasoned sysadmin.

Why VPS Monitoring Matters

When you rent a VPS, you’re allocated limited resources like:

  • CPU
  • RAM
  • Disk space
  • Network bandwidth

If any of these are overused or misconfigured, your entire server performance can degrade — affecting uptime and user experience. Real-time monitoring helps prevent:

  • Unexpected crashes
  • Performance bottlenecks
  • Security breaches (like DDoS or crypto mining)
  • Exceeding bandwidth quotas

Key VPS Metrics to Monitor

  1. CPU UsageHigh CPU usage over time may signal bad code, a process gone rogue, or even a hacked server.
  2. Memory (RAM) UsageRunning out of RAM can cause your apps to crash or your OS to start swapping.
  3. Disk I/O and SpaceIf disk space fills up, backups fail, logs get lost, and the server might even crash. Also watch for high I/O which can slow everything down.
  4. Network TrafficMonitor both inbound and outbound traffic. Spikes could mean viral traffic — or an attack.
  5. Load AverageGives you a quick look at how stressed your system is overall, especially on Linux.

Tools to Monitor VPS Resources

Here are some tools — from basic to advanced — to help you monitor effectively:

🛠️ Basic Linux Commands (Good for SSH Users)

  • top or htop – Real-time CPU, memory, and process monitoring
  • free -m – RAM usage
  • df -h – Disk usage
  • iotop – Disk I/O monitoring
  • nload, vnstat – Network bandwidth tracking
  • uptime – Load average

📊 Web-Based Monitoring Tools

  • Netdata – Beautiful, real-time dashboards for CPU, RAM, Disk, Network, and more.
  • Glances (with Web UI) – A terminal-based tool with optional web dashboard.
  • Cockpit – Lightweight admin panel for basic server monitoring and control.
  • Grafana + Prometheus – Powerful combo for enterprise-grade, customizable monitoring.

🔔 Alerts and Uptime Monitoring

  • UptimeRobot / BetterUptime – Alert you when your server goes down.
  • Monit – Local monitoring tool that can also auto-restart services if they crash.
  • Zabbix / Nagios – Enterprise-level solutions with alerting and distributed monitoring.

Automate and Optimize Monitoring

  • Set Threshold Alerts – Get notified when CPU hits 90% or disk drops below 10% space.
  • Use Crontabs for Logs – Automate scripts to log and analyze stats daily.
  • Centralize Logs – Use tools like Logwatch or Logrotate to keep logs manageable and secure.

Security Tip

If you notice sudden CPU or network spikes, investigate immediately. Could be malware, brute-force attacks, or unauthorized scripts.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be a DevOps engineer to monitor your VPS like a pro. Start with basic Linux commands, move to visual dashboards like Netdata, and eventually automate your monitoring with alerting systems.

Regular monitoring saves time, money, and the reputation of your services. Don’t wait for an outage to start caring — make it part of your server maintenance habit today.

Need a Reliable VPS?

Choose from our high-performance Intel KVM or Ryzen VPS solutions across US and EU with full root access and 10Gbps ports. Monitor with ease and scale effortlessly.

👉 Explore VPS Plans

Top 5 Tips to Harden Your Linux VPS Against Attacks in 2025

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In 2025, cyberattacks are more sophisticated than ever. Whether you’re hosting a personal project or critical business application, securing your Linux VPS is no longer optional—it’s essential. Thankfully, with just a few steps, you can drastically reduce your risk and keep your VPS locked down against the most common threats.

At Hosteons, we provide high-performance KVM VPS with root access, but security is a shared responsibility. Here’s how you can harden your VPS in minutes:

1. Use SSH Keys Instead of Passwords

Disable password login and use SSH key authentication for more secure, automated, and brute-force-resistant logins.

Steps:

  • Generate a key pair using ssh-keygen
  • Upload your public key to your VPS: ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
  • Disable password auth in /etc/ssh/sshd_config

👉 Read: Why You Should Use SSH Keys Instead of Passwords

2. Set Up a Firewall (UFW/iptables)

Block unnecessary ports to reduce your attack surface. Only open what’s required (e.g., 22 for SSH, 80/443 for web).

Example with UFW:

sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw allow 22
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw enable

3. Install and Configure Fail2Ban

Prevent brute-force attacks by banning IPs with too many failed login attempts.

Install Fail2Ban:

sudo apt install fail2ban

Create a jail for SSH and monitor logs like /var/log/auth.log or /var/log/secure.

👉 Full Fail2Ban Guide

4. Keep the System and Software Updated

Always run the latest security patches. Use tools like unattended-upgrades for automated updates.

Commands:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo yum update

Outdated software is one of the most exploited vulnerabilities.

5. Monitor Login Attempts and File Changes

Install tools to track unauthorized access and suspicious activity.

  • Use auditd to track system events
  • Use logwatch or logcheck to scan logs for anomalies
  • Monitor /var/log/auth.log for failed logins

👉 Read: How to Monitor Login Attempts and File Changes on Your VPS

Bonus: Disable Root Login

Prevent direct root access by using a non-root sudo user instead.

In /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

PermitRootLogin no

Final Thoughts

Hardened servers are happy servers! With these 5 simple steps, you’ll block the majority of attacks targeting Linux VPS.

At Hosteons, we give you the control, performance, and reliability — now it’s your turn to secure it.

🔐 Ready to deploy a secure VPS?

👉 Explore Our KVM VPS

👉 Premium Ryzen VPS