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Confused and Unsure


alvaroag
22-02-2016, 17:54
I think I might have confused you a little bit mixing information of VPS & Hosting Services, so now I'm going to tell only about VPS. I'm also considering Plesk for the administration, as it's easy to use and will not add any cost to your VPS(up to 10 domains).

First, go to the VPS Cloud information page (https://www.ovh.co.uk/vps/vps-cloud.xml), and click "Order" under "VPS Cloud 1". You will be taken to a page where you can choose many options grouped into sections. Everything under the section "My VPS" should be automatically filled adequately. Under "My location", choose the location that suits best for your expected visitors (any of the FR datacenters are good for Europe, while the CA datacenter is best for America). Under "My OS", select "Operating System" : "Linux", "Distribution" : "Plesk", "Version" : "Parallels Plesk 12 on CentOS 6 64bits" (you can also choose Ubuntu, but CentOS is a rock solid option), "Language : (The one you prefer). Under the "Additional Options" section, item "Plesk 12 license", choose "Plesk 12 license webadmin-free (€0.00 excl VAT/month). Under the last section, "VPS Cloud Options", you have some additional options; you can leave them unchecked unless you really need some of them. Then click "Continue".

After placing the order, you may be asked to validate your account. Sometimes it's not necessary, some times it is. If you receive an email asking to do so, send a scanned proof of identity(ID, driving license, passport, etc) and a scanned proof of address(services bill) to "support@ovh.co.uk"(if ordering @ ovh.co.uk) or "support@ovh.ie"(if ordering @ ovh.ie). Validation does not usually take long. In my case, my validation with OVH ES took less than 2 days.

After your VPS is setup(With Plesk configured automatically), you will receive an email with instructions on how to access your server. It will include the root password, as well as the URL to access the plesk administration panel. After that, you can add the domains you require to your panel.

Here's a quick start guide for Plesk: http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk...ustomer-guide/

Domains are not included when purchasing a VPS, so you may order it separately. I recommend you to do so after getting your VPS, because your account may also be validated to order a domain; that way, you will be able to use your domain in your VPS right after you get it. You can look for your best option here: https://www.ovh.co.uk/domains/

bbdigital
22-02-2016, 02:36
Thank you once again

So, once I purchase my VPS cloud I assume I get sent ftp details and the ip address?

I also assume that the OVH Manager you refer to is in effect the main control panel?

I understand that I can install phpMyAdmin from the OVH Manager, but where do I get Plesk from?

Is that already installed, or do I have to install that?

As I go through the purchase I see no mention of Plesk as an add on, so I am still a bit unsure, where I get Plesk from and if I need to install it?

I do want a new domain name, but in the initial purchase there doesn't seem anywhere I can do that? Is that something I do within Plesk?

alvaroag
19-02-2016, 19:39
Hi.

The Professional plan is a Hosting plan, not a VPS plan. The difference, in this case, is, with a Hosting plan, you don't have to deal with server management or server security(really important), but you get some additional restrictions(like database size or maximum db connections), while on a VPS, you have to deal with server management, but get restricted only to the actual capacity of the VPS. Which one to choose depends on what you want to deal (or not) with and whether the hosting restrictions are enough for yo or not.

If you are absolutely sure you want/need a VPS, the right place to order would be this: https://www.ovh.co.uk/vps/vps-cloud.xml

About setting up Apache, MySQL, and other services, that only applies when you do it manually, ie. without using any control panel. This is not advisable in your case, as it requires more technical knowledge

If you order a hosting plan from OVH, once the order is completed, you will be able to create databases(according to your plan) from the OVH Manager, and you will also have the option to launch phpMyAdmin from the Manager, in order to restore your database backup.

If you choose to use a VPS with Plesk, you will first need to create the domain inside Plesk (easy), and then you will be able to create the database and restore the backup. Domain & database creation is done from the Plesk panel, while database restore is done from phpMyAdmin, launched from Plesk panel.

"conf_global.php" seems to be the IPB configuration file. As you already have a full backup of your forum, you may not require too many changes to that file. If you open the file(wordpad is OK for that), you may see it's heavily commented, explaining each parameter. Most probably you will need to change database-related params, specially host, username, and password. Everything else can even be left with default values sometimes. I can also guide you on that; won't charge for it.

bbdigital
19-02-2016, 12:02
alvaroag

I first should thank you for a very comprehensive answer and I could follow most of it. I am using Invision Power Board (IPB) software and I know that runs well with OVH. I know this because I have experience of another forum using the same IPB software and it runs sweet. So, from a point of view of confidence in OVH being able to run my forum, I am pretty confident. The owner of the forum that works well suggests I should go for the VPS option and I respect his judgement.

So, it seems the best option for me is the Professional 250GB option at £4.69 + VAT, but as I go through the purchase transaction I can't see any reference about it being the VPS option? You can see how confusing this gets for the uninitiated and I am not sure that it the right one.

When you say I can setup Apache, MySQL etc, what do you actually mean? My Forum uses an SQL database (not large) and I will have that backed up. Isn't it just a simple option of uploading that via my Control Panel on OVH like I can with my current space provider?

I have been told I need to adjust the conf_global.php file and I am sure that is a doddle when you know how. Am I right in thinking I can do that in wordpad but what is it I have to change. This is what I hoped OVH would guide me with. Along with how to set my domain name up to the forum

alvaroag
19-02-2016, 02:30
Hi. I'm not OVH staff, but I think I can answer your questions

Quote Originally Posted by bbdigital
What plan is best suited for me?
It all depends on what software you have your forum in. I'll assume it's works with PHP + MySQL, as it's the most common combination.

In such case, you have two broad options with OVH: Hosting and VPS.

Hosting offers you a space for you to put you web space, MySQL database(1 or more, depending on the plan) with variable size limits(from 200Mb to up), and email. You manage everything easily from your OVH Manager, and that's all. You don't have to care about OS upgrading, configurations, nothing. If you choose an OVH hosting plan, the best for you will be the Professional hosting, @ €4.99 + VAT/monthly.

VPS offers you a virtual server, with an OS, where you can do whatever you want(under some rules, of course, but there's no problem with that). You can setup Apache, MySQL, PHP, everything else on your VPS, as long as its capacity holds it. There are two types of VPS: SSD and Cloud. The main difference is the SSD are the simple ones, while the Cloud ones include high availability. Instead of installing a bare OS on the VPS, you can choose to install a fully configured distribution like cPanel or Plesk, which will offer you an easy to use web interface, similar or equal to the ones you can see on many hosting providers. For your requirement, the best option would be a VPS Cloud 1 (€7.99 + VAT/monthly) + Free Plesk Web Admin license, which allows you to manage up to 10 domains.

Whether to choose a hosting plan or a VPS, depends mostly on your site's traffic: a hosting plan, as it uses shared resources, impose some limitations that you will not have on your own VPS, such as maximum database connections(30 on all OVH hosting plans) or database size, both limitations you will not have on a VPS. Of course, on the VPS(or even on a dedicated server) everything will have the CPU and RAM limitation.

Quote Originally Posted by bbdigital
What is a Plex Panel?
Plesk is a web administration panel which allows you to manage different services under an easy to use interface. It allows you to configure (almost) everything you need to host websites with minimal technical knowledge. It comes with support for web sites(Apache + PHP), DNS, Email, MySQL database, and more.

Note that Plesk is not the only alternative: There's also cPanel, which offers similar features; however, there's no free alternative on cPanel, as there is for Plesk.

Quote Originally Posted by bbdigital
Will OVH help me get my forum running after I Ftp the files to the correct location?
Quote Originally Posted by bbdigital
Will OVH help me locate the database and adjust the conf_global.php file. I have no idea how or what to do with that?
Same answer for both questions: No. OVH offer unmanaged services, that is, they will not assist you on using the product. However, support will(or should) always help you when there's a problem with the service; that is, the service they offered you, not something inside it that you installed: For example, they will help you if your VPS is unresponsive due to a network failure or something like that, but will not help you if the HTTP service on your VPS is down.

In any case, whether they can or not help you, or they do or not help you, you will never be charged for support by OVH.

When you use OVH Hosting plans, you can look at OVH website, there are plenty of guides around there showing how to do many things on the Manager. Regarding to Plesk, there is official Plesk end user documentation on Plesk website, as well as lots of tutorials & troubleshooting around the web.

A good option, specially if you get a VPS, is to get some sysadmin who can help you with the setup, and with any later technical issue. If you think you need one, and don't have one, add me on Skype (a.aguayo) or WhatApp (+51995540103), as I also offer such services.

Hope I may have helped you on your questions.

bbdigital
19-02-2016, 00:17
Despite the OVH site being well laid out, I still find myself confused as to what to buy? Firstly I have to say I am not a Web specialist and I need hand holding. I want to move a small photographic forum to OVH and I know the forum software I use will work fine with OVH. It already runs the self same forum for a friend of mine. He suggests I go for the VPS+Plesk Panel

I have my forum and database backed up and the overall size now is around 170MB, but I hope to grow the forum

What plan is best suited for me?

What is a Plex Panel?

Will OVH help me get my forum running after I Ftp the files to the correct location?

Will OVH help me locate the database and adjust the conf_global.php file. I have no idea how or what to do with that?

I think I understand that the web space is unnmanaged, and once up and running I will not require any management, just technical help putting the files where they need to be to get things working at the purchase and setup stage.

What I don't want is to be asked for £50 every time I ask for some support as I have been in the past

I want to move my site to OVH, but I am nervous