I have a new web project about to surface for which I'm moving away from Rackspace Sites. After reading around I've decided to opt for a Linode VPS.<p>The problem is that I have no experience in systems administration and in particular the initial setup and security. In addition this is not something I wish to learn or experiment with right now - I have more than enough on my plate.<p>I'm considering farming out the initial setup and a monthly maintenance to a third party possibly via Elance.<p>Has anyone here had any experience with this approach? What are the pitfalls? Is there another method I should consider?
I'm with Linode as well but I have to say Slicehost has awesome guides that can really show you everything you need to do to setup your vps.<p>Have a look at the following link for example. [1]<p>[1] <a href="http://articles.slicehost.com/2008/4/25/ubuntu-hardy-setup-page-1" rel="nofollow">http://articles.slicehost.com/2008/4/25/ubuntu-hardy-setup-p...</a>
A) since you have a relationship with Rackspace, why not rackspace cloud?<p>B) Unless this is a multi user system with the most likely vector of attack is your application itself not system level.<p>Having said that here are some common tips: run ssh on a nonstandard port, Restrict who can log in via ssh (PermitRootLogin no) and only allow a few people remote access (AllowUsers foo bar) install a firewall (iptables) that blocks all ports except the ones you need publicly available (probably 80, 443).<p>It is worth taking the time to learn the basics. This is not something you want to outsource to elance.