Benad's Web Site

So, I've just changed the host for my web site. Not because I was unhappy with the excellent Fused, but because, well, I've outgrown shared hosting. If my web site ought to be some kind of professional image, then at the very least I should own the entire software stack, and not be restricted with whatever versions of Apache or PHP the host decide to rent me.

A decade ago, having a web site meant choosing between shared hosting and "bare metal", but since then VPS (virtual private servers) became a viable option that sits in between. For the past few years I was put off VPS because of the costs, using Amazon EC2 as a reference. Considering that I have to maintain a complete server, paying $50 a month for the privilege to do so was just too much for me.

Luckily, pricing for VPS became quite competitive, especially for a web site as simple as mine. So I tried out RamNode, and after a few weeks of use I trust it enough to move my web site to it, and save a hundred dollars per year in the process.

Migrating to a Debian 7 environment was a bit of a challenge. My background, due to my workplace experience, is mostly with RedHat environments, so it took a little while to adapt to Debian. I really like how lean and fast a well-configured Linux server can be, and having automated security updates on a locked-down stable Debian environment is comforting. I still don't host any dynamic content on my site, but if I ever do, it will be my code, not some 3rd-party PHP script that will become another attack vector.

In the end, nobody will notice, but it really like the idea that I now fully own "my web site", from the IP address to the domain name, down to the version of the web server and operating system, short of the hardware. In a world where most people's online presence is done entirely through social networks that treat your content at their whim, owning a web site is the closest thing to complete free speech one can have. That, and it's a cool thing to add to my résumé.

Published on March 30, 2014 at 16:06 EDT

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