Customer Number One
By Jim Jagielski
Whether you're administering a single, dedicated Web server, or one serving hundreds of hosts, each site's client expects and deserves a certain level of support and service.
Certainly, the normal requirements—for instance, that the server is robust and secure and that there are sufficient hardware and network resources for the site—are ones I've discussed in previous articles. However, increasingly I hear from clients who want the benefits of dedicated hosting, but in a shared server environment. The two main benefits they want are: guaranteed quality of service (assurance that other sites or virtual hosts won't gobble up all of the server's resources), and secure, dedicated handling of local server-side applications—whether they're CGI scripts or mod_perl/PHP/JSP—even if they only serve as front-ends to backend application servers.
Fortunately, with a little know-how, these demands are relatively easy to address. A few simple techniques can have you on your way to treating every customer as if he or she is your only customer.
Finding a Balance
Ideally, no one site or client takes more than its fair share of what it needs. With no overlap and no one hogging resources, no clients are jilted, and we can use the server to its full potential. Of course, this is seldom the case.
As frequent readers know, I'm a hard and fast fan of Apache (and, I believe, with good reason). One incredibly useful Apache feature is its support for virtual hosts; one instance of Apache can handle several separate and distinct domains.
