How to take care of an unmanaged Windows Server 2008 VPS?

Portal Home > Knowledgebase > Articles Database > How to take care of an unmanaged Windows Server 2008 VPS?

Posted by ig77, 02-01-2010, 11:43 AM
I now have my first VPS and unfortunately, it's unmanaged. I have a SQL Server Express DB running on it and a website. The provider has given me a control panel but I can't do much with it other than shutting down/restarting VPS. Since I haven't done a whole lot of system administration tasks with a Windows Server 2008, can someone point to me what I need to do on a regular basis to protect my site and the database? Are there any tools that might be helpful?
Posted by kjsrs, 02-02-2010, 07:41 PM
It should go without saying, but Windows Updates, normally install on a weekly schedule. Daily or weekly backups of SQL and any other files are also just as important. I'd also suggest going through event viewer 2 or 3 times a month to see if anything pops out (errors, failed login attempts, etc).
Posted by ig77, 02-03-2010, 05:29 PM
Is there a tool that makes this efficient and easy? Maybe someway of automate this task as well?
Posted by NoSupportLinuxHostin, 02-03-2010, 05:52 PM
Windows Update is something you configure through the Control Panel. The SQL backups can be scheduled within SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio. File/Folder backups can be done through a number of tools. The easiest is to write a batch file that calls xcopy with the correct parameters.
Posted by ig77, 02-04-2010, 11:14 AM
Are the sql backups usually done by creating .bak files (or .mdf/.ldf)? Are they stored outside the VPS? If so, where? Do you recommend any tools for file/folder backup?
Posted by freewhosting, 02-04-2010, 12:00 PM
SQL Backups are usually .BAK files. You can create them manually through SSMS (Sql server management studio) - which is available for free (express edition) from Microsoft. To automate a backup, you can always execute a batch file on your server (via a scheduled task for example): In the batch file: In your the file databasebackup.sql: This will backup two databases "DatabaseToBackup" and "DatabaseToBackup2" and save them to C:\backup\ as .bak files. Hope this helps!
Posted by bhavicp, 02-08-2010, 09:10 PM
Get some storage space outside of your VPS for storing any backups. It's actually very cheap. Take a look @ http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=925028 (Haven't used them myself, but what's the worst that can happen with a backup space?)