I have some questions regarding VPS and what I should order ?

I have a classifieds website, with around 50thousand ads put in every month. I don't have any more statistics than this. I use PHP and MySql currently, and I am about to install Sphinx or SOLR on whatever VPS I get.

I am about to order a VPS (virtual private server) from a provider, but need some answers on these questions first:

1- First is, if I order a VPS, even if it is a Linux Ubuntu OS, that means I can administer it from my windows computer at home right?

2- How would I know which version of Ubuntu I need, is the latest preferred?

3- I am very good with windows, and have no prior experience with Linux, is this a problem really?

4- Do I require anything I might have missed here that you know of, in order to maintain this website myself with the VPS account?

5- My VPS provider can charge extra in exchange of a service called DirectAdmin ControlPanel, does anybody know what this is and if it is something I need?

6- What is 'automatic failover' and do I need it?

Any good articles that you know of will help also...

Thanks

From serverfault Camran

• 1. Yes, though it will most likely be Ubuntu Server, without a desktop present, so you will have to administer it through Putty, or something similar, which offers a console interface.

  2. The latest is preferred, and 64-bit if you have a reasonably large amount of RAM (over 1GB), otherwise it won't be worth it on a small 512MB VPS, since it will slightly increase the amount of RAM used.

  3. Houston-esque like problem.

  4. (Some) Knowledge of Linux.

  5. It will offer point-and-click to add domains, upload files and configure databases.

  6. Depends, both on what it means and if you need it, though only you know if you need it, and only your provider knows how they define "automatic failover". I assume they might simply offer the possibility of starting up a new VPS connected to the same file system when your VPS goes down, essentially looking like a reboot after a crash to you, but if only Apache crashes, this sort of automatic failover won't take place.

  Joe Internet : @OP - I would suggest the long term support version of Ubuntu server, instead of the latest. I would also suggest that you install VirtualBox on your PC, and "practice" administering a local VM with Ubuntu server installed. It's an easy & safe way to gain some experience.

  ceejayoz : @Joe Internet LTS vs. latest depends a lot on what you're doing. If your project won't last beyond the end of support for the latest version, latest is fine. If you need newer versions of PHP, MySQL, etc., latest may be necessary.
  From gekkz
• 1. Yes
  2. Yesish... I'd suggest the Long Term Support server edition
  3. Yes, that is a bit of a problem.
  4. The most basic method is to download PuTTy and use that to SSH into your virtual host. That would allow you to do practically anything you needed, but you may find yourself with some issues due to #3.
  5. It is a simplified interface that allows control of the server without using the command line. You do not need it, but it may help you since you lack Linux experience.
  6. Automatic failover... is a lot of things. I'm assuming it's an option offered by your hosting service. If that's the case, I can't answer. I don't know what that concept means for them. Odds are, you will survive if your site for some reason is down for up to ~8 hours. You should have some method of regularly backing up your server to another location that you can recover from if the site really dies.
  From Autocracy

• 1,2,3 - Yes.

  4,5,6 - Do you require a VPS at all? Or do you simply want to host a website? If you don't do any crazy background processing, custom deployment or whatever else - there's no point in getting a VPS really. If you get a proper hosting account you'll be able to change your site whenever you want and others will take care about the whole system. With a VPS you'll have to care about backups, database maintenance, system updates, etc. You'll either have problems with keeping the host up and running, or with keeping script kiddies out.

  Think about a proper hosting account instead. Or if you like windows, then just get a VPS with Windows Server and IIS + php installed.

  From viraptor