FAQ
If you are experiencing problems or difficulties of any kind, first see if your query is covered in this FAQ section. If so, the chances are that you will be able to resolve your difficulties without needing to contact the support team.
General
- How long does it take to set-up a VPS?
- As soon as we receive your order the provisioning of the VPS starts. We will aim to have your system up and running within 3hrs. Occasionally there may be circumstances when the provisioning may take a little longer. If your VPS has not been set-up 24hrs after order confirmation please contact our Support department.
- How many IP addresses will I have?
- Your VPS will be allocated 1 dedicated IP address.
- What software can I install on to a VPS?
- Provided you abide by our Terms & Conditions you can install whatever software you see fit. Please note that in order to keep pricing competitive we must limit the scope of what we can give technical support on. For this reason you are responsible for any software you install and any consequences that may arise.
- What software is already installed on the VPS?
- The following is a limited list of the key software pre-installed:
- Web Server (Apache)
- FTP Server (ProFTPD)
- SMTP Server(Qmail)
- IMAP / POP3 Server (Courier-IMAP)
- Web based email (Horde IMP)
- Database Server (MySQL)
- Database Management (PHPMyAdmin)
- SSH
- Scripting (Perl, PHP, Python, CGI, SSI)
- Statistics (Webalizer, Plesk Traffic Manager)
- What level of technical support will I get if I need it?
- We place a strong emphasis on our level and quality of customer support. You will have access to our support advisors by phone and email. Each member of our support department has a sound knowledge of Internet related technologies and are capable of operating all of the products we offer. Please refer to our Support Policy
- What is Plesk?
- Plesk is a comprehensive control panel solution designed to simplify the management and administration of web sites. The Plesk control panel automates a large number of tasks that allow you to concentrate on productivity rather than server administration.
- What is Virtuozzo?
- Virtuozzo is an OS virtualisation solution. Virtuozzo creates isolated partitions or virtual environments on a single physical server and OS instance to utilize hardware, software, data center and management effort with maximum efficiency. For further information please visit our Virtuozzo Page
- How do I access my Plesk or Virtuozzo control panel?
- Both Plesk and Virtuozzo are web based control panels. Once the provisioning process has been completed, you will receive an email with account login information and the URLs where you can access Plesk and Virtuozzo. It is good security policy to change the passwords as soon as you login to you control panels.
- How do I administrate my VPS with Plesk?
- We have an extensive collection of Flash Tutorials that will assist you in administering your VPS.
- What does SSH access mean?
- SSH access allows you to connect to your VPS using a command-line interface. You can use a terminal emulator such as PuTTY to connect to your VPS via SSH. To do this you will need the IP address of your VPS and your login details as defined in you set-up email. Please note using SSH to connect to your VPS requires a certain level of technical competence and is more suited to advance users.
- Do you automatically backup the content on my VPS?
- No, we do not automatically backup your virtual dedicated server. It is your responsibility to backup the content on your server.
- What is DNS?
-
Domain Name System (DNS) is a very complex subject and we would not be able to adequately cover every aspect in a FAQ, below is a simplified outline.
A DNS Server provides 'name resolution service' which means that DNS Servers resolve names into IP addresses. Every computer on the Internet has a unique IP address (a series of four numbers separated by dots). A DNS Server is used to 'resolve' a name into an IP address (or vice versa). This protocol is necessary because humans can remember names easier than they can numbers.
A DNS Server is usually located on the network to which you are attached. If you are using an Internet Service Provider (ISP), your DNS Server is at your ISP. If you are using the network at your college or your office, you probably have a local DNS Server somewhere near you.
When you type 'http://www.serverchoice.com' into your web Browser, your Browser software sends that domain name to your local DNS Server. Whenever your local DNS Server runs into a domain name it doesn't recognize (something it hasn't looked up yet), it goes to the root DNS Servers to look it up. The root DNS Server will respond with a list of DNS Servers who are in charge of resolving the domain name. Whenever a machine is responsible for a domain name, it's referred to as the 'Authoritative' Server because it is the authority on that domain name. Your local DNS Server then sends another query to those 'Authoritative' DNS Servers, and usually gets an answer telling it what Server holds the information you require.
Technical
- How do I point my domain name at my VPS?
- The easiest way to point your domain name at your
VPS is to create or update DNS records for it. The following lists
the main resource records you will need:
Type DNS Resource Value mydomain.com A Ip address of VPS mydomain.com MX Ip address of VPS FTP CNAME mydomain.com Mail CNAME mydomain.com webmail CNAME mydomain.com www. CNAME mydomain.com - How do I add a domain to Plesk?
-
Using Plesk, you can add a domain to your dedicated or virtual dedicated server.
To Add a New Domain in Plesk- Login to Plesk as admin.
- Select Domains.
- Click Add New Domain. The client selection page displays.
- Select the client you want to create the domain for, and click OK. The domain creation page displays.
- Select the www checkbox.
- In the Domain name field - enter a valid domain name (e.g., mydomain.com). If you enter a domain name that already exists, Plesk will ask you to change it.
- Select the IP address that will be used to host this domain from the drop-down list.
- If you want to set up hosting for this domain, check the Proceed to hosting setup check box.
- Click OK.
For more information about setting up a domain in Plesk, you can take a look at the Flash Tutorial
- How do I configure FTP for a domain?
- If you have added a domain with hosting you can configure the FTP settings for the domain as detailed below.
- Login to Plesk as admin
- Select Domains
- Click on the domain you want to configure or modify. The domain management page appears.
- Click the Setup icon. The hosting setup page will appear.
- Enter the FTP login details you want for this domain.
- Click OK
- How do I set-up alerts for services?
- Plesk allows you to easily monitor your VPS services.
- Login to Plesk as admin
- Click Modules from the System panel
- Click the Watchdog icon. The Watchdog management page will appear.
- Click on the link next to the service you want to configure. The configuration page will appear.
- Make any changes you would like. Click OK
- If the monitoring is disabled click the Enable icon
Now the services will be monitored in accordance with the settings you specified. If you decided to use the default settings, the following actions will be taken:
- All services will be automatically restarted in case of failure,
- Watchdog will stop monitoring all services failing 5 times out of 5 polls
- Alert messages will be sent to the e-mail address specified in the Plesk administrator's account on any event.
- How do I restore my VPS?
- Your VPS has a repair mode that will enable you to
boot the system in Safe Mode and fix any issues. It also comes with
a backup and restore facility, if you make a mistake simply revert to
an earlier configuration.
- Login to Virtuozzo
- Click Maintenance from the VPS Management panel. The Maintenance page will appear.
- Click Restore VPS. Make sure to leave the backup in case it needs to be restored later.
- Can I recover my Plesk admin password?
-
Yes, you can recover your password using a remote command via SSH.
To Recover Your Plesk Password- Using SSH, log into your server with your username and password
- At the command line, type
su root - For your password, use the same password that you used to login
- Type
cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow. - This file contains your admin Plesk password.
- Can I put my own logo on the Plesk interface?
- Yes, Plesk allows you to brand the interface with your own logo. This will replace the default Plesk logo in the top right corner, which will be visible to end users when they log in to their control panel. You can also make the logo a link to your company website.
- What is DNS?
-
Domain Name System (DNS) is a very complex subject and we would not be able to adequately cover every aspect in a FAQ, below is a simplified outline.
A DNS Server provides 'name resolution service' which means that DNS Servers resolve names into IP addresses. Every computer on the Internet has a unique IP address (a series of four numbers separated by dots). A DNS Server is used to 'resolve' a name into an IP address (or vice versa). This protocol is necessary because humans can remember names easier than they can numbers.
A DNS Server is usually located on the network to which you are attached. If you are using an Internet Service Provider (ISP), your DNS Server is at your ISP. If you are using the network at your college or your office, you probably have a local DNS Server somewhere near you.
When you type 'http://www.serverchoice.com' into your web Browser, your Browser software sends that domain name to your local DNS Server. Whenever your local DNS Server runs into a domain name it doesn't recognize (something it hasn't looked up yet), it goes to the root DNS Servers to look it up. The root DNS Server will respond with a list of DNS Servers who are in charge of resolving the domain name. Whenever a machine is responsible for a domain name, it's referred to as the 'Authoritative' Server because it is the authority on that domain name. Your local DNS Server then sends another query to those 'Authoritative' DNS Servers, and usually gets an answer telling it what Server holds the information you require.
If you cannot find the answer you are looking for try our Support Page.