Hmmm... I went and registered for a VPS, thinking it was the best way to address the issues I am currently having.

Except that apparently I am clueless regarding upgrading some basic components like php/ perl/ mysql, etc. I'd like to do that before moving sites to it.

My admin panel is Plesk 7.5.4 "reloaded" with www.webintellects.com - they rec'd good reviews at webhostingtalk and seemed to have a decent package.

For a newbie to running their own linux box, where do I start to find info on how to run things there? I haven't found it yet and I'd rather not hassle support people there the first day

Now Allen, have you googled it yet? hehe... I've found that people will write tutorials on anything (want to know how to drive? google it; fly a plane? Google it...) it gets rather insane

Not yet, why would I do that when I cn be lazy and post here

Off to google

Man, they even have tutorials for boiling water... For those of you who need a tutorial on how to boil water, Baby James has a message for you...


DUAH! (his bump is doing much better, should be gone by next month for everyone who's asked via AIM)

Your best resouces will be support forums for the differant control panels; PLESK in this instance...

Good google search to start with:
Plesk how to upgrade php

thank you

Would this on the Server Components page:

httpd 2.0.51-1.6.legacy.1.swsoft

mean I have apache 2.0.51 installed?

best bet is to fire up your good friend phpinfo() and you'll see your apache/php/mysql version (well, the mysql handler version anyway)

But assuming the data is beeing relayed properly, it's safe to assume it's apache 2.0.51-16

One resource that might be helpful is ev1's support forums (specifically http://forum.ev1servers.net/forumdisplay.php?f=58 )

Yeh, I've caught myself on EV1's support forums a few times looking for assistance

thank you, I've spent 10-12 hours reading there so far this past week

hmm.... after going through multiple slowdowns (to a crawl or not at all) I'm moving away from webintellects. Their customer service is extremely fast to answer requests, but I'm afraid they're either overloading their servers or allowing some eejit to overload the server with some sort of youtube clone or something

I've moved to a dedicated server with Alphared - they're down the street in Houston, so I can go track them down if I need to The prices/hardware seem pretty good, and they've gotten decent reviews, the best part is very few (1-2) bad reviews

I went with this:
SINGLE XEON QUAD CORE 3210 / 1066FSB / 8MB CACHE 4GB DDR2
x2 500GB SATA 7200RPM (RAID-1)
FREE IP KVM & Remote Reboot
5Mbps Burstable bandwidth Included
Plesk (100 Domain Version)

I know it's overkill, but I wanted the raid for a little peace of mind and I've hated the slowness of my VPS for a year or more now. I am familiar with Plesk too, so I got that going for me I'll be able to use it for our hospice's website and the hospice will be able to pay for it too as a result of needing a stable/quick host.

I had problems in the past with having my stuff hosted on others servers all over the place. I then went with a total dedicated server, full box and control. This was excellent till they were bought out a few times and then the technical people got lazy and also they started charging you just to call them on the phone. $15 to answer the phone and $20 to walk over and reboot a locked server and so on.

I got to the point I got a commercial internet connection in my house and a few IP's assigned through the ICANN registry. I bought a few used servers on eBay and migrated everything into a spare room in my home. 5 bed rooms (use 2), 2 full living rooms, full kitchen, full dining room, full laundry room, and 2 full baths plus the attic and basement, anyway.

I went out and bought a rack enclosure and all the stuff I need like patch bays and switches and servers and so on, you all get the picture.

I have not regretted it and will never go back to hosting on others systems if I can help it. If you can do what I did it is the best way to go. You will be much happier and be in total full control and much much happier in the long run.

"sheer overkill" comes to mind... Though I'd kill to afford (and to be able to warrent) the ability to have dual OC3's at my house lol...