: I want to learn about servers, where should I start? I am interested in learning how to run a server to host a website and provide me with email and all the other features hosting companies

@Alves908

Linux Administration Handbook

This book helped me a lot when I started.
www.amazon.com/Linux-Administration-Handbook-Evi-Nemeth/dp/0130084662

Vote Up Vote Down

@Mendez628

Your best bet is to rent a Virtual Server for ~£15 a month for approximately six months.

The reason being that there is only so much you can do with an offline host, e.g. something on your LAN - it is just not 'real-world' enough.

The best operating system to learn with is Ubuntu simply because it has the best community support of all of the distros.

With your basic box you will need to get the webserver running, the emails to work and build a suite of tools so that you can access the thing with more than the command line.

Rather than follow a course or reading a book, the Virtual Server and some tasks you wish to complete will help you with goal-oriented learning.

One site that I found immensely useful is www.howtoforge.com/
Their how-to articles include the 'perfect server' series. These will take you through all the steps needed to build a functoning LAMP stack.

Vote Up Vote Down