Linux Server Management

Linux support

KUTBU provides system administration support for whatever you need on your Linux server.

We aim to respond to support requests quickly, and emergencies are prioritised. Response and resolution times are defined in your service agreement (SLA) according to your scope.

The tasks included in your service and the terms for out-of-scope work are clearly set out in the quote and the agreement.

• Fixes server and website issues and slowdowns
• Performs server migrations
• Investigates hacking incidents and recovers data
• Resolves complex email and DNS issues
• Installs Linux software packages
• Responds to website and server outages
• Takes on any system administration task

Linux server monitoring

Our server monitoring service uses automated monitoring to continuously check that the services on your Linux server that are critical to your workflow respond correctly. Alerts are generated so that any issue can be acted on quickly.

Alerts from your server are prioritised by severity and handled within the times defined in your service agreement.

Custom checks such as website health checks and application response checks can be added on request at any time, so we are sure to monitor what matters most to you.

• CPU, memory and disk usage thresholds
• RAID array and disk errors
• Outgoing SPAM attacks
• Web and mail service status
• DNS, FTP and SSH server status
• MySQL or MariaDB server status
• Control panel service status, if any

Linux server hardening

In addition to our security software installations and configurations, we perform server hardening that includes current best-practice Linux server security configurations.

We take full advantage of Linux's built-in security features and those offered by CloudLinux (optional).

For e-commerce hosting servers that require PCI compliance, we can help you achieve and maintain PCI compliance for your server.

ModSecurity and PHP configuration hardening are included only on request.

• Advanced CSF firewall installation
• Login Failure Daemon configuration
• Linux socket monitoring
• Logwatch installation
• Rootkit Hunter installation
• chkrootkit installation
• Detection of unnecessary system users and processes
• SSH and DNS configuration hardening
• Operating system and kernel patching and updates
• Secured /tmp, /var/tmp and /dev/shm directories
• Removal of unnecessary SUID and GUID bits from system binaries

Linux disaster recovery

Your data is critical to your business operations. Make sure your organisation has a professional backup solution with redundancy, monitoring, support and recovery. At KUTBU we implement complete backup solutions to protect your data and keep it safe.

Information powers your business, and natural disasters, malicious attacks or user errors can disrupt (or even halt) daily operations. Professionally managed data is the key to business growth, and major outages can seriously affect it.

Disaster recovery is one of the most important things we do, so it gets our highest operational priority. From server security breaches and hard drive failures to accidentally deleted databases and user accounts, the KUTBU team will keep working until the data and websites on your Linux server are fully restored and functional.

Depending on the severity of a crashed disk or a server-wide attack, it may sometimes be possible to recover part or all of your data even without a backup, but this cannot be guaranteed. That is why regular, off-server backups are essential.

Apache & Nginx optimisation

Our system administrators recommend a fast Linux web hosting environment suited to your needs and server resources.

Common setups we deploy on Linux servers include PHP-FPM or FastCGI, Apache with Nginx, and LiteSpeed with LSCache/LSAPI PHP.

In addition, we can install Memcached or Redis as an in-memory web cache database and configure HTTPD compression using mod_deflate or mod_gzip.

HTTP/2 can also be enabled to provide fast connection multiplexing per user. In other words, HTTP/2 uses a single network connection to load a complete web page instead of one connection for every CSS, JS, image and other file needed to load the page.

Linux server migration

As part of our server management services, our system administrators regularly carry out server migrations.

We can move your websites to a new Linux server, a new data centre or a cloud environment such as Amazon AWS, DigitalOcean or Google Cloud for you. We can migrate your Linux server to a server running a control panel, including cPanel, Plesk, Virtualmin and DirectAdmin.

Besides migrating large and complex hosting environments, we also specialise in moving from bare-metal hardware to cloud environments.

You can contact us any day and at any time to schedule a migration for a later date. Before the migrated server goes live, we perform a final data synchronisation and take extra steps to prevent any downtime or data loss during the move.

Linux server setup

If it is not already installed, our server administrators will install the Linux operating system and, if needed, a hosting control panel with the features you want.

After installation we will perform Linux server hardening, then install and configure the services you will host. Finally, our administrators will migrate your existing websites and applications from your old server to this one.

Where appropriate, Let's Encrypt will be installed to issue valid SSL certificates on your server (commercial certificates can also be used), and these certificates will be configured for all services and websites.

We will configure the hostname and DNS service, set up reverse DNS and apply suitable DNS templates for all your domains. At this stage DKIM, SPF and DMARC will also be enabled for all mail domains.

Linux software installation

Our system administrators will install any software you need on your Linux server, from the operating system and hosting control panel to custom server modules and third-party applications.

Examples of installations we have carried out for our customers: Java, Tomcat, Apache, Nginx, Squid, Varnish, Solr, LiteSpeed, Cloudflare, SolusVM, Xen, OpenVZ, QEMU, WHMCS, MySQL, MariaDB, InfluxDB, PostgreSQL, CloudLinux, MagicSpam, MailScanner, Let's Encrypt, BIND, RADIUS, OpenVPN, WireGuard, Docker, Webmin, Virtualmin, cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, Red5 Media Server, Git and more.

If a piece of software has Linux support and an installation guide, we can most likely install it on your server; we review its suitability with you first.

MySQL & MariaDB optimisation

Our server management experts optimise your MySQL or MariaDB server by increasing the size of memory buffers, the thread stack and the thread cache as far as available memory allows.

In addition, when there is enough memory, an in-memory RAM disk will be created and MySQL or MariaDB will be configured to use it instead of a physical drive for storing temporary tables. This configuration can reduce, if not eliminate, slow queries, lower overall IOWait and CPU load averages, and free up your hard disk for other tasks.

Where appropriate, we can move MySQL or MariaDB databases to a secondary or faster (SSD or NVMe) dedicated solid-state drive. This results in faster database reads and writes. It also lets your primary disk focus on web, mail and other services, making all your workloads more stable.

If your server or websites are having performance problems you suspect come from the database server, we can help you quickly. There is a lot we can do and recommend as part of the Linux server management service to troubleshoot and resolve such problems.

Linux backup / restore

Our server management team can restore your Linux server from any backup source you may have (FTP, SMB, QNAP, AWS, Google Cloud, Veeam, Acronis, Veritas and so on).

In some cases we can recover all or part of your data directly from a crashed hard drive even without a backup source (except in the case of physical disk failure).

Also, in the event of a server-wide attack, once the attacker's ability to access your server, database and files has been removed, we can usually restore only the backup parts you need. In most cases we can clean a hacker's code out after a website defacement, virus infection or SQL injection attack without needing to restore from a backup.

If you do not have a monitored off-site backup, we recommend considering our Linux server backup service, which you can add to your Linux server management service.

Linux updates & patching

Software developers may release updates to fix performance bugs and provide improved security features.

Patching is the process of repairing a vulnerability or flaw identified after an application or piece of software has been released. Newly released patches can fix a bug or a security flaw, and help improve applications with new features and close vulnerabilities.

Our system administrators will make sure the operating system patch level of your Linux server is maintained and, as part of this service, will complete updates of the Linux kernel or other core Linux utilities/packages.

In addition, security patches released for major Linux security outbreaks will be applied to your server as soon as possible as part of the Linux server management service.

And more

KUTBU has been providing consulting and support to customers in the hosting industry since 2014. With the Linux server management service you can relax knowing your server is continuously monitored.

Even while you are focused on something entirely different, our experienced system administrators will do everything they can, as fast as possible, to bring your server and sites back online during an outage.

For multiple servers, or for quarterly, semi-annual or annual payment, we can offer a tailored price quote and discount options to suit your needs; contact us for details.

Customers running very low-resource cloud and virtual servers that each host only a few websites, as well as providers who sell servers to their own customers, can also benefit from tailored pricing. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about these options.