VPS Beginner's Guide

Welcome to the world of VPS! This guide will help complete beginners quickly understand and use VPS.

🤔 What is VPS?

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtualization technology that divides one physical server into multiple virtual servers.

VPS vs Other Hosting Types

🎯 Why Choose VPS?

Advantages

• ✅ Full Control: Root access, can install any software
• ✅ Cost-Effective: Cheaper than dedicated servers, better performance than shared hosting
• ✅ Scalable: Can upgrade configuration anytime
• ✅ Dedicated IP: Own dedicated IP address
• ✅ Learning Value: Improve Linux and server management skills

Disadvantages

• ❌ Technical Barrier: Requires some Linux knowledge
• ❌ Maintenance Cost: Need to maintain and manage yourself
• ❌ Security Responsibility: Need to handle security issues yourself

📋 Pre-Purchase Preparation

1. Define Requirements

• Purpose: Website, application, learning, testing?
• Traffic: Expected number of users
• Geographic Location: Where are your main users?
• Budget: Acceptable monthly fee range

2. Understand Basic Configurations

CPU (Processor)

• 1 Core: Suitable for small websites, personal blogs
• 2 Cores: Suitable for medium traffic websites, small applications
• 4+ Cores: Suitable for high traffic websites, complex applications

Memory (RAM)

• 512MB-1GB: Basic usage, static websites
• 2GB-4GB: Dynamic websites, small databases
• 8GB+: Large applications, multiple services

Storage

• SSD: Fast speed, recommended
• HDD: Cheap but slow
• Capacity: Choose based on data volume, generally starting from 20GB

Bandwidth/Traffic

• Bandwidth: Affects access speed
• Traffic: Monthly data transfer limit
• Unlimited Traffic: Usually has bandwidth limitations

3. Choose Operating System

Linux Distributions (Recommended for beginners)

• Ubuntu: Most suitable for beginners, rich documentation
• CentOS: Enterprise-grade, good stability
• Debian: Lightweight, low resource usage

Windows Server

• Familiar Windows interface
• Usually more expensive
• Higher resource usage

🛒 How to Buy VPS

Step 1: Choose Service Provider

Choose suitable service provider based on needs:

• International: Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode
• Domestic: Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Huawei Cloud

Step 2: Register Account

• Prepare email and phone number
• Some providers require identity verification
• International providers may require credit card

Step 3: Select Configuration

• Choose data center location
• Choose operating system
• Select server configuration
• Set root password or SSH key

Step 4: Payment

• Supported payment methods vary
• Recommend buying short-term for testing first
• Pay attention to auto-renewal settings

🔧 First Connection to VPS

Get Connection Information

After successful purchase, you will receive:

• IP Address: Server's public IP
• Username: Usually root (Linux) or Administrator (Windows)
• Password: Password you set or system-generated password

Windows User Connection Method

Using PuTTY (Recommended)

1. Download and install PuTTY
2. Enter server IP address
3. Set port to 22
4. Click Open to connect
5. Enter username and password

Using Windows Terminal

ssh root@your-server-ip

macOS/Linux User Connection Method

Open terminal and enter:

ssh root@your-server-ip

Operations After First Login

1. Update System (Ubuntu/Debian)

apt update && apt upgrade -y

2. Update System (CentOS)

yum update -y

3. Create New User (Optional but recommended)

# Create new user
adduser newuser

# Add to sudo group
usermod -aG sudo newuser

4. Configure Firewall

# Ubuntu
ufw enable
ufw allow ssh
ufw allow 80
ufw allow 443

# CentOS
systemctl start firewalld
systemctl enable firewalld
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

🌐 Build Your First Website

Install Web Server

Method 1: Install Nginx

# Ubuntu/Debian
apt install nginx -y

# CentOS
yum install nginx -y

# Start service
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

Method 2: Install Apache

# Ubuntu/Debian
apt install apache2 -y

# CentOS
yum install httpd -y

# Start service
systemctl start apache2  # Ubuntu
systemctl start httpd    # CentOS
systemctl enable apache2 # Ubuntu
systemctl enable httpd   # CentOS

Create Simple Web Page

# Create HTML file
echo "<h1>Hello, World!</h1><p>My first VPS website!</p>" > /var/www/html/index.html

Access Website

Enter your server IP address in browser, you should see your webpage.

🔒 Basic Security Settings

1. Change SSH Port

# Edit SSH configuration
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Find #Port 22, change to:
Port 2222

# Restart SSH service
systemctl restart ssh

2. Disable Root Login (Optional)

# Edit SSH configuration
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Find PermitRootLogin, change to:
PermitRootLogin no

# Restart SSH service
systemctl restart ssh

3. Set Key-based Login

# Generate key pair locally
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

# Upload public key to server
ssh-copy-id user@server_ip

📚 Common Commands Quick Reference

System Information

# View system information
uname -a

# View memory usage
free -h

# View disk usage
df -h

# View CPU information
cat /proc/cpuinfo

# View running processes
top

File Operations

# List files
ls -la

# Create directory
mkdir dirname

# Delete file
rm filename

# Delete directory
rm -rf dirname

# Copy file
cp source destination

# Move file
mv source destination

Service Management

# Start service
systemctl start servicename

# Stop service
systemctl stop servicename

# Restart service
systemctl restart servicename

# View service status
systemctl status servicename

# Enable auto-start
systemctl enable servicename

🆘 Common Problem Solutions

Cannot Connect to Server

1. Check if IP address is correct
2. Check if port is correct (default 22)
3. Check firewall settings
4. Contact service provider to confirm server status

Forgot Password

1. Reset through service provider control panel
2. Use VNC console to login
3. Reinstall system (last resort)

Website Cannot be Accessed

1. Check if web server is running
2. Check firewall ports (80, 443)
3. Check domain resolution (if using domain)

Server Running Slowly

1. Check CPU and memory usage
2. Check disk space
3. View system logs
4. Consider upgrading configuration

📖 Advanced Learning Resources

Recommended Tutorials

• Linux Basic Tutorial
• Nginx Configuration Guide
• Docker Getting Started Tutorial

Useful Tools

• Control Panels: Visual server management
• LAMP/LEMP: One-click web environment installation
• Fail2ban: Prevent brute force attacks
• Certbot: Free SSL certificates

🎉 Congratulations!

After completing this guide, you have:

• ✅ Understood basic VPS concepts
• ✅ Learned how to buy and connect to VPS
• ✅ Mastered basic Linux operations
• ✅ Built your first website
• ✅ Configured basic security settings

Next you can:

• Learn more Linux commands
• Try installing different applications
• Learn Docker container technology
• Explore automated deployment

🔗 Related Links

• Server Configuration Guide
• Performance Optimization Tutorial
• VPS Review Reports
• Useful Tools Recommendations