Proactive server admin

Something I have learned over these previous few months while moving all of my applications and servers from my local servers to hosted servers is something called proactive server admin'ing.

Having hosted and managed my own servers for many years now I have gotten used to the way I like to do things, what i like running and not running, and controlling whats going in and out.

When I started this move to pay for hosting trend I found some of the hosting companies requirements bothersome, or demanding, or too strict.

Yet in dealing with these new hosts I have realised that their restrictions are in place so as to guarentee a good service all of the time.

Their requirements are set to allow what is being hosted is being hosted well and at good speeds.
They are strict because all too many hosting companies have blocked IP addresses in some countries; especially true of Asia and the Middle East.

Demanding because unless its a hardware fault then probably its something that you have done wrong which is not really their problem.

At first all of these quirks annoyed me. Hell I have been managing my servers damned well, and I am by no means a novice.

But over these months my heart has settled some to realise that they are in fact like this to help me as opposed to hinder me.

Sure I am the one paying the money, I want the best.
But when we are talking about internet technologies I also want the most reliable and efficient in my systems.

So one has to sit back and consider.....

Do I want it all on a platter then find a week later I am only serving to half of the world because the guy next to me wanted his porn sites all on a platter too?

Or should I be happy with the rugged, raw servers with no frills that are going to be seen globally?

So the choice was easy; I want global.

Not that I disagree with porn, but my porn site neighbour is not paying my bills. I am.
And if i am going to reach my target audience then why should I compensate my service for the porn guy?

So this is a lesson in hosting server admin; be proactive, work those few hours longer on the no frills servers, for when the work is done, its done.

Go for gold and be a champion for 5 minutes. Then the next runner will park himself next to you and tear it all down.

".....and down will come baby cradle and all"

So what is a proactive admin?

Well I think from my experience its an admin that finds the right solutions and compromises all for a good IP and an uptime guarentee.

For if one wants to consider themselves to be a server admin then obviously most server chores should be understood by that person.

And if you screw it up....dont scream at the company...its not their fault, they are but service providers.

Like a telephone company; they provide you with a way of communication, they do not however guarentee every phone call is going to be a happy one.

Server admin is just like that....
"Here is your server, your bandwidth, and your internet speed, have fun."
If your operating system spits at you like an angry girlfriend, then its probably your fault.

Finally, have patience with the support workers.
I used to contact them at some ungodly hours not thinking twice that it was an ungodly hour. In my thoughts "I am awake, you should be too!"

Then I forgot that I was also in another time zone...."oh what? Its like 5am there and you're changing shifts now? oh right ok. ummm....I'll write you again tomorrow." Many such conversations did I have lol.

To sum it up I think a proactive admin knows what he / she wants, the rest....well they take care of of that themselves.
A proactive admin pays for what they want.
And then is humble when the need arises to contact the support workers.

For we are all just people anyhows.