A new server, configured right before anything goes live on it.
Not a default template applied blindly — a stack built around what the server will actually run.
What actually happens before day one
OS Review & Updates
Confirm the distribution and version, apply current updates before anything else is installed.
Hostname, Timezone & SSH Keys
Basic identity sorted first, key-based SSH access set up before password auth is ever considered.
Firewall & Hardening
Only the ports the server actually needs exposed — SSH restrictions, Fail2Ban, unnecessary services removed.
Web Server
NGINX or Apache, sized for the expected traffic — not copy-pasted from a tutorial.
PHP-FPM
Pool configuration matched to available RAM, not left at defaults that assume a much bigger — or smaller — server.
MySQL or MariaDB
Memory allocation tuned for the actual server, not a generic install that ships assuming dedicated hardware.
Redis (Where It Helps)
Only added when the workload benefits from it, with a sensible memory limit — not installed by default and forgotten.
SSL & DNS
Certificates and DNS records ready before the first real domain points at the server.
Email, If Needed
Mail services only configured if the server actually needs to send or receive — not installed by habit.
Hosting Control Panel
HestiaCP, DirectAdmin or another panel, if one is wanted — installed after the base system is already solid.
Backups From Day One
Configured before production data exists — not added later once there’s finally something worth losing.
Monitoring
Basic availability and resource monitoring active before the server needs it, not after the first outage.
Not every server needs the same stack
Installs everything a tutorial says to install — Redis nobody uses, a mail server nobody needs, default memory limits that don’t match the actual RAM.
Runs only what it needs, configured with the real workload in mind — one WordPress site behaves differently from twenty, and a WooCommerce store differently again.
We don’t install unnecessary software just because it’s part of a standard template. The stack should be designed around what the server will actually host.
Set up wherever you’ve already decided to host
Hetzner, OVHcloud, Netcup, Contabo, IONOS, Scaleway, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or another Linux provider — we configure the server, you keep the account. Provider-specific detail →
Final price depends on the required stack — a bare Linux setup costs less than a full web/database/email/panel/backup configuration.
Server setups built on 22 years of practical Linux experience — since 2004.