Webserver hosting comes in all sorts of sizes and shapes, depending on your needs you have to choose an optimal webserver that suits your organization.


Here's a list of the various types of Webserver hosting options:

Each one of these has its own variants, upsides and downside which we will list:


Dedicated Webhosting:

Dedicated webservers as described, they are a dedicated server maintained only for individual/personal organizations and nothing else.

They are single handedly the fastest and can handle more for the given resources compared to other offerings.

Dedicated webhosts have variations such as:


Bare Metal webservers

These dedicated webservers are quite simply the most basic webservers that are very lightweight and fast as they have no overhead

It's as simple as a dedicated computer, running a light OS, and hosting the webserver.

Pros:

Cons:


Virtual Host webservers

Virtual Host webservers are just like the aforementioned webservers, the catch being the hosting OS runs on top of a Hypervisor/Virtual Container.

This helps with maintenance of the system and control over the hosting system.

Bare Metal webservers are quite more cumbersome to deal with in maintenance situations.

Pros:

Cons:


Shared Web hosting:

Shared webservers in essence are servers that do shared tasks along with webhosting such as hosting other servers on the same system.

Since multiple tasks run on the same system, The resource usage is dynamically managed.

However if one task is in a state of using heavy resources it will affect other tasks.

Shared hosting can also be bare metal or virtually hosted.

Pros:

Cons:


Virtual Private Server Hosting:

VPS services essentially provides the same kind of experience as a dedicated host but are organized in the same way shared hosts do.

Your webserver will be hosted a on cloud with limited resources, but it has full control for maintenance and is given various protection services like anti-DDoS protection, etc.

VPS services provide peace of mind as it doesn't involve too much of the design process for a proper hosting setup.

Instead, it's a set it and forget it type of service.

For more detailed info about VPS services check here.

Pros:

Cons:

Hostinger is a popular VPS that offers this service.


So which kind of hosting should I prefer ?

Shared and Dedicated webhosts fall into more of a similar category of self-hosted webservers, whereas other services like VPS fall into the cloud-hosted/external hosting services.

If your organization doesn't have a complex need and just needs to host a simple static web page, external hosting might be a cheaper option.

Given the complexity and available resources, self-hosting might seem more reasonable.

If you expect less traffic but want to be able to manage the server on your own, consider self-hosting.

For larger commercial organizations, self-hosting again might seem more reasonable.

If you are a single individual or a smaller commercial business, cloud-hosted/external hosting is just much more feasible, considering network limitations as well.


Wrap-up:

In short, we were able to list down the various options for hosting a webserver for an Individual's needs.

may it be commercial or Individual.

Stuff to get you started on your next installation

So, say you have a brand-new installation of a linux distro, you are new to the ecosystem
you definitely need to setup essential tools aimed towards your area of interest and working profile.

here are some essential software packages you might want to pick up to help you along the way.


Index:


Getting Started with Software Packages in Linux:

In linux, most software is distributed via a "package manager", which is essentially automates the installation, deletion, modification of programs.

Most of the software listed here is packaged in a format called "Flatpak", and is widely accessible on almost all Linux distros.

some software will be available from native distro package manager like aptdnfpacman etc.

All flatpaks available can be viewed from Flathub.org.

To get flatpak on your system, you will need to install it from your distro package manager, follow the following commands to install it:

Ubuntu, Pop, Mint and other debian based distros:

sudo apt install flatpak

Manjaro, and other Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S flatpak

OpenSuse, Fedora, and other Redhat based distros:

sudo dnf install flatpak

Essential software catalog:

Thunderbird Email Client:

Mozilla's Thunderbird email client

Mozilla's Thunderbird is an amazing email client, accepting a wide number of accounts such as gmail, yahoo, outlook etc.

The setup is seamless and all your mail is neatly displayed with side tabs and folders.
features auto-sync functionality, desktop notifications, standard security protocols, etc.

It also has extra features such as plugins, extensions, and themes. Calendar view is also present so you can sync your reminders to your desktop as well, making it a multi-functional Email and Planner application.

Website: https://www.thunderbird.net/
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.mozilla.Thunderbird


GNU Image Manipulation Platform (GIMP):

Gimp Image editing software

GIMP is a powerful algorithmic Image editor like Adobe's photoshop, but is free and open. It comes packed with plenty of standard features for editing like exposure, saturation, layers, color mapping etc.

GIMP provides extensions via multiple different programming languages, to provide a seamless and superfast image manipulation setup.

There is also a large community backing GIMP, so rest assured it does not come with the baggage that most proprietary software comes with.

Website: https://www.gimp.org/
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gimp.GIMP


Evince document reader:

Gnome's Evince Document viewer

Evince is another free and open-source piece of software that allows you to read your documents in formats like PDF, XPS, DjVU, etc.

It has standard features such as search indexing, outlines, annotations, and bookmarks.
The search feature is exceptional in the sense when tested against other document readers, it has been always able to find the search term much quicker than something like Adobe Acrobat.

The lightweight-ness, simplicity, and speed of Evince makes it an instant recommendation as a preferred document reader on Linux.

Website: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnome.Evince


Kdenlive Video editor:

KDE's Kdenlive Video editing suite

Kdenlive from the KDE community is one of the most popular video editing software out there, like a much lighter version of much more professional tools like DaVinci Resolve.

It has many features, a uniform UI, simple and easy access to all kinds of tools to edit your videos, and is also very extensible, not to mention also free and open.

ffmpeg and video codecs supported

with the power of ffmpeg, it supports a wide variety of video formats, from MP4, WebM, RAW, etc. and Popular video codecs such as VP8, H.264, H.265, etc.

Website: https://kdenlive.org/
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.kde.kdenlive


Libreoffice suite:

LibreOffice's document manipulation suite

The LibreOffice document suite is a powerful text document, spreadsheet, slide creator/editor with support for multiple document formats.

Similar to something like Microsoft office, but being free and open, and has extensions, making the productivity experience much better and seamless.

Its free, fast and lightweight and its an absolute recommend when it comes to document production on Linux.

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.libreoffice.LibreOffice


Wine:

Wine application management panel

Wine (Wine is not an emulator), is a piece of software that allows you to run native windows programs on Linux.

It's a very useful piece of software that helps in getting applications that don't have a Linux version to run on Linux nevertheless. it does this by translating the executable via a Linux translation layer, so it is able to run.

Many applications from standard programs, to even games can run on Wine, (however for games, there is a more specific translation software available)

Website: https://www.winehq.org/

There isn't a flatpak for wine and it has to be installed by your native package manager,
Mostly the package's name is wine, you can check here

Ubuntu, Pop, Mint and other debian based distros:

sudo apt install wine

Manjaro, and other Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S wine

opensuse, fedora, and other redhat based distros:

sudo dnf install wine

Gparted:

Gparted is disk management software that allows you to manage storage disks like hard drives and thumb drives, and allows for thing things like, formatting, partition creation/deletion/resizing, etc.

being a very simple graphical program, having an understandable UI, it makes the cumbersome process of disk partitioning a bit easier to do compared to command line alternatives like fdisk.

website: https://gparted.org/

There isn't a flatpak for wine and it has to be installed by your native package manager,
Mostly the package name is gparted, you can check here

Ubuntu, Pop, Mint and other debian based distros:

sudo apt install gparted

Manjaro, and other Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S gparted

opensuse, fedora, and other redhat based distros:

sudo dnf install gparted

Syncthing:

Syncthing peer to peer file syncing service

Syncthing is a Peer-to-Peer file syncing service that allows you to have shared folders between computer to computer, or phone and computers etc. on the same network.

using encrypted file sharing, it's a very secure file syncing service that is also very lightweight and speed of syncing is adjustable as needed.

You can use it to do continuous backups of media like photos, videos, and documents between your phone and computer to make sure data is somewhere safe at all times as well.

Website: https://syncthing.net/
Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/details/me.kozec.syncthingtk


Blueman:

Blueman is a versatile Bluetooth peripheral management center, just like gparted, this simplifies what can be done over a command line, and just uses a simplified graphical interface to make pairing, disconnecting, modifying Bluetooth peripherals much easier.

it has a simple UI, easy access to some important things associated with Bluetooth device connections and much more.

website: https://blueman-project.github.io/blueman/

There isn't a flatpak for wine and it has to be installed by your native package manager,
mostly the package name is blueman, you can check here

Ubuntu, Pop, Mint and other debian based distros:

sudo apt install blueman

Manjaro, and other Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S blueman

opensuse, fedora, and other redhat based distros:

sudo dnf install blueman

KDE Connect:

There are a lot of software packages that are available to have integrations with mobile phones and your desktop, some proprietary like Samsung's flow integration, KDE connect supports all android devices.

You can get message notifications, call alerts, battery info, file sharing, and even desktop control from your phone on the same network.

Overall, a great piece of software to keep your mobile smartphone connected.

website: https://kdeconnect.kde.org/

There isn't a flatpak for kde-connect and has to be installed from your native package manager,
Mostly the package name is kde-connect, you can check here

Ubuntu, Pop, Mint and other debian based distros:

sudo apt install kde-connect

Manjaro, and other Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S kde-connect

opensuse, fedora, and other redhat based distros:

sudo dnf install kde-connect

Wrap up:

If you want to take a look at more available packages from distro specific package managers, check out pkgs.org

If you have the Gnome desktop then you will have access to these packages via the "Gnome software center", which is a graphical app store/package manager.

What's better for everyday usage in an Office?

It's the 21st Century, almost every office or enterprise is equipped with a desktop computer for managing their tasks and business, everywhere from small businesses to multi-billion conglomerates.

Desktop computers have become an essential component of businesses today.

Smaller business owners need to manage their expenses more diligently, and when expanding one of the major expenses is in the need to set up computers for their employees to work, for various things such as typing up documents, calculating business finances, communicating via email, video conferences, etc.

A lot of money may have to be spent when having to set up such computers, with appropriate infrastructure, desktops, accessories, etc.

But as of today, a lot more affordable, efficient and cheaper computing options have entered the market. Such as single board computers (SBCs), which serve the same purpose as a large tower PC, but have all the necessary components on a single board, making it compact and cost-efficient.

But what difference does it make between buying a larger desktop and smaller single board computer?


Difference between a Desktop PC and Single board Computer ?

Typical Desktop PCs are large, bulky, and consume a lot of power (usually 200-300w typical).

Single board Computers (SBCs) are tiny, often the size of your palm or credit card!
Lightweight, and extremely power efficient and can run on off a simple phone charger (10-15w).

They don't need a lot of dedicated space and can be stashed behind the desk monitor if needed, reducing the bulk present in a office cubicle or desk

They have similar ports to desktop PCs such as standard USBs, Ethernet for network, HDMI for displays etc.

Furthermore, they don't require any assembly and can work out of the box, with important components such as the RAM, CPU, GPU etc. are all in a single chip called a "SoC" or System on a chip, similar to ones you would have in your phone or tablet.

Most SBCs come with a small amount of storage onboard for running the operating system, but more storage can be added easily without much hassle and can even be done by end users.

Compare this to a typical Desktop PC which requires a lot more maintenance and IT support when it comes to using it for a long time. SBCs are much simpler, making them much more reliable and issues can be solved with the extensive documentation and FAQ available online.

There are many types of SBCs, x86 based ones running Intel or AMD processors which are quite similar to desktop PCs, can run windows, and almost have the same experience as desktop PCs but are much cheaper and efficient.

SeeedStudio Re_Computer PC, also a compact mini PC

There are also ARM powered SBCs, which are much cheaper than x86, extremely efficient (these are the same ones that run in your phone), fast and snappy, but have a slightly different desktop experience, usually running Linux. Which is an operating system providing a very lightweight experience.

Raspberry Pis are a very popular brand of Single Board Computers

What's the major difference for the End user ?

In a wrap, single board Computers are a great alternative for simple desktop PCs for doing the same thing, but it all boils down to what kind of software you will be running in your establishments.

Windows is the most popular operating system in the world, and so using an x86 based single board Computer will make no difference at all, as such it will be just like using a typical desktop PC.

But ARM SBCs are a bit different in the sense they run some versions of the Linux Operating system. ARM architecture is only becoming popular on the desktop front very recently (As seen with Apple's new M1 and M2 ARM-based Processors)

Not all software has been ported to work with these devices, but most everyday software does work, and there are free versions of more popular software available.

Word processors such as Libreoffice (A Free and Open version of something like Microsoft Word), Email Clients like Thunderbird (just like outlook), Browsers like Firefox and Chrome work, etc.

There are app stores on linux too!

There is even Visual Studio Code for those who are involved in writing programs and need an IDE for programming (This makes it possible for SBCs to be a work computer for IT individuals too)

It's possible to check if the software you need is available or not by checking if the company making the programs available has a copy of the software made specifically for "ARM Linux"

Most open-source applications have some version made in ARM for them, most proprietary applications might not have versions made for ARM Linux.

As seen there are copies of the software for the different Linux-based OSes for ARM SBCs

So definitely, ARM based SBCs have their way with being able to serve almost everyone's preferences, costing only a fraction of large Desktops, and being multitudes more efficient!


Savings when it comes to choosing a Single board Computer.

A typical desktop PC will cost upwards of 400-500$ without any accessories and other peripherals like a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

x86 based SBCs are around 250-400$ in price, add to that the much lower power consumption compared to desktops, you could save up to 80% of the power consumed by a traditional desktop PC which will rack up savings over time.

ARM based SBCs take a step further, costing anywhere from 50-250$ in price, and being even more efficient, you could save as much as 90% of the power consumed from a traditional desktop PC.

Undoubtedly, going for SBCs as replacement desktop alternative can have large savings that save much more money over time.


Links:

If you are interested in replacing your office desktops with a more compact and efficient SBC, here are a couple of options to look at:

1 .Raspberry Pi 4b: very popular ARM single board computer
short specs:
BCM2711 Quad core processor, up to 8GB ram, 90$ MSRP

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/

2. Firefly ROC-PC: current flagship ARM single board computer
short specs:
RK3588 Octa core processor, up to 8GB ram, 299$ MSRP

https://en.t-firefly.com/product/industry/rocrk3588spc

3. Khadas VIM4: ultra compact, fast single board computer
short specs:
A311D2 Octa core processor, up to 8GB ram, 240$ MSRP

https://www.khadas.com/vim4

4. SeeedStudio Re_Computer: Affordable x86 SBC
short specs:
Intel Celeron J4105, up to 8GB ram, 128GB SSD, 270$ MSRP

https://www.seeedstudio.com/Odyssey-Blue-J4105-128GB-p-4668.html

Ok, besides making you look like a dork, what do they really do?

Who knows really, does anyone really know how the human eyes and brain work in their entirety? I do not believe anyone does, otherwise we could construct these things.

We can only run tests and draw conclusions from those tests.

Blue blocking glasses is one of those things that is incredibly hard to test. It would require taking measurements over the course of 20+ years. Attempting to isolate all other variables. Very difficult.

So, everything I am going to talk about is philosophy. There are some study's but they can only provide a small amount of data.

The Data

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5854379/ This is a study showing blue light effects retina cells in mice.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734149/ This one shows our Circadian cycle is affected by blue light.

There was another study I read months ago where they took mice, one cage had incandescent light, the other had LEDs. The mice with the LEDs had increased loss of retina cells.

The Philosophy

There is something going on. That is clear, LEDs, or blue light, or both. Our eyes can be affected by these things. So, can our sleep (circadian) patterns.

So, what can we do? I, like 70% of you reading this, spend a LOT of time staring at the computer screen. 99% of the screens we use today are backlit with LEDs.

That is not optional, we need to. So, what are we going to do about it? Anything at all? I mean we all do it, should we just ignore it, put it in the category of "don't eat sugar" Yeah, we know it is bad but what are you going to do?

Solutions

There is more than 1 way to combat this. These are the ones I see:

Let's talk about all of them. (Spoiler, I am a fan of the glasses route)

Blue Blocking Glasses

Pros:

Cons:

To me "they just work" yes, they are glasses, if you already wear readers then it might not be possible to find prescription blue blockers. I actually tried this for my father, they have clip on ones, oh boy do you look like a nerd with those on. They do work but he stopped wearing them because they were just too annoying.

I wear them every day, not 100% of the time. Some days I hardly wear them at all. It just depends, that is the nice thing about them. You can take them on and off very quickly.

The one's I have are USA made, and only $15. They are from UVEX. An authority on glasses, this specific model is just fantastic, for someone who never wears glasses I was able to just put them on and never feel soreness or discomfort of any kind.

Tape on screen filters:

Now I never even tried one of these. My mother had told me in the 90's they were all the rage. The only time I see tape on filters anymore are privacy filters. I would have a major problem with the use of them, so never even tried

Pros:

Cons:

Even though there are great pros to the screen filter, the cons are just too much.

Not being able to remove it on a moment's notice is a total deal breaker, I need to see colors, I am not going to rip a big piece of plastic off my screen 50 times a day.

Also, I know trying to get the thing to look perfect, cut to the perfect size, taped perfect, it is just not going to happen. It will bug me too much. Getting lint behind it that you cannot wipe off. No go for me.

Software Screen Filters

This is the easiest solution. Mac, windows, and Linux have free software available that will make the screen yellow to block out the blue light.

I just don't think they work. Displays are just filters in front of LEDs, if there is light coming through it all it is LED light, they can attempt to filter out all the blue but it just seems like it is not going to fully work.

Screens are not designed to do this.

Pros

Cons

If I was in some situation where glasses were just not an option then I would use this method. I actually use it on my phone every day. Yes, it is buggy and breaks things, and I am always wondering if it actually does anything.

Back to philosophy, it has to be better than nothing.

Eye care screens

Now this one is kind of new. I guess more and more people are thinking about their eyes and screens.

Pros:

Cons:

This is totally above my head. Monitors like the one I just bought have this technology. You would need to be a light engineer to understand if and how it works.

They just call it "eye care" it is on a lot of the newer Dell monitors.

I don't have much to say, it could be the end all superior solution to the problem. Or another marketing farse. I really have no idea.

Conclusion:

Like many things to do with the infinitely complicated machine called the human body, no one really knows. Do the solutions work? Is this even a problem?

All I know is the solution is not very expensive or difficult. So, if there is a chance it does something you are better safe than sorry.

I wear the above glasses every single day, on average 65% of the day. Sometimes when working with colors I need to just leave them off. Sometimes you just want to see the beautiful colors that are on the screen.

It just comforts me to know I am doing something. If I am buried in the terminal for hours then it just makes sense. I just need to see the text; it is not a problem.

It almost becomes like a ritual; it sets your mind into work mode. The brain does build associations, mine knows when the glasses are on it is time to work for an extended period of time.

Questions, Comments? Leave them below!

WordPress and MySql, One in the same

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP!!! Before attempting this. Full server snapshot. Not just WordPress backup!

Hello, today I had a task and was unable to find a complete guide for it. So here you go.

This is a simple task. You have two sites on the same database server using different databases. You want to merge them into the same database.

I needed to do this so I could share user tables between sites. Without using Multisite.

Steps:


Grant site1 user privilege's on site2's database

We need to let the MySql user of site1 be able to make changes on site2's database.

Database username will be in wp-config.php
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON site2's-db.* TO 'site1s-username'@'localhost';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Change site1's database prefix

Now we change the prefix of site1 so that there is no conflicts when we move over it's tables to site2's database.

Select all tables in site1's database and click "replace table prefix"

Now we must correct all the inner-table prefixe's.

Come over to here in php-my-admin (in the database of the site you just appended.)

Run the following queries:

SELECT * FROM `NEW-PREFIX-GOES-HERE_options` WHERE `option_name` LIKE '%wp_%'

That will give you all the table entrys that still have the old prefix. You need to manually change every entry displayed to the new prefix

Do the same with the results of this query:

SELECT * FROM `NEW-PREFIX-GOES-HERE_usermeta` WHERE `meta_key` LIKE `%wp_%`

Merge databases

Now time to merge the two sites databases together into one.

Make a folder somewhere where you can save the .sql export to. You will only need it for a second.

I made a directory called "dbspot" in /opt (ignore the home folder ls, I accidently did that)

Now time to export site1's database to it

You need to be logged in as root for this.

sudo -i

mysqldump -u root -p SITE1'S-DATABASE-NAME > /YOUR-CREATED-DIRECTORY/ANY-NAME.sql
password: MYSQL-ROOT-PASSWORD

Now a copy of site1's database is in whatever directory you put it in.

Now time to import it to site2's database (will still need to be logged in as root.)

mysql -u root -p SITE2'S-DATABASE < /YOUR-CREATED-DIRECTORY/SITE1-BACKUP-NAME.sql
password: MYSQL-ROOT-PASSWORD

Now site1's database is merged with site2's

Change site1's wp-config.php to reflect changes

Now you have to change site1's wp-config.php to use site2's database.

Change this value in site1's wp-config to the name of site2's database
Change prefix to one you changed it to.

That's all folk's (of course restart the server)

You have merged two WordPress sites into a single database.

Any questions feel free to comment below.

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