SERVER/SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

APACHE ERROR CODES (401, 403, 404, 412, 500)

The meanings of these error codes from the web server are:

  • 401 Authorization Required

    This means that the page requires that the visitors authenticate with their username and password. If they fail to do that, the server returns this error message.

  • 403 Forbidden

    This means that access to the page the visitor is requesting is not allowed. This can be due to a special rule in the configuration of the web server, or to the specific file system permissions of the file.

    An example rule in .htaccess that would cause this message is this:

    deny from 1.2.3.4

  • Where 1.2.3.4 is the IP address of the visitor.

    This error can also be caused by the file lacking read permissions. In that case, the web server will not be able to read the file, and this error message would be displayed.

  • 404 Not Found

    This simply means that the requested file is not there.

  • 412 Precondition Failed

    The error means that the request triggered a mod_security protection on our end. You can learn more on this matter at the Error "412 Precondition Failed" (mod_security2) section.

  • 500 Internal Server Error

    This can be the most confusing error message, because it can be caused by many things ranging from server problems and permission problems to application errors and misconfigurations. Information about the actual error message is recorded in the server's error_log. Please contact our Support team if you need information from the error_log of the web server.

HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

To deliver outstanding performance and uptime, our servers are built with the most reliable server components that can meet even the greatest expectations.

Each shared hosting server is equipped with two multi-core (up to 18 cores) Xeon processors, up to 256 GB DDR4 RAM, and multi-terabyte SSD RAID 6 storage arrays.

We use RAID 6 because it offers the best combination of performance and reliability. Performance is the same as RAID 5, and stored data is protected even if two drives in the array fail simultaneously.

All storage drives, power supply units, and cooling fans are hot-swappable, allowing replacements on the fly. This mitigates the impact of possible hardware failures to the absolute minimum.

Redundant power on the premises, multiple backup generators, and a redundant network of multiple fiber trunks from multiple sources ensure the highest levels of connectivity and reliability.

OS

All our servers are running a highly customized 64-bit version of Debian GNU/Linux with the Apache web server.

The server-side scripting languages supported on our hosting platform are PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, and Tcl.

Our database server solution is MySQL (both the MyISAM and InnoDB storage engines are supported). You can find more information on the versions of the installed server-side scripting languages and MySQL in the hosting Control Panel -> System Information section.

Hosting accounts with a WebApps section in the hosting Control Panel can deploy projects using custom runtime environments (e.g., Node.js, Python WSGI applications, etc.). Examples can be found in the WebApps/Node.js category of our online documentation. If you do not see a WebApps section in the hosting Control Panel, contact your hosting provider for more information

LIVE HTTP LOGS

You can view the Apache access and error logs in near real time using the Logs -> Live HTTP Logs section of the hosting control panel. The logs might be provided with a slight delay. When you open the interface for the first time after logging in to the Control panel, live logs for your account are enabled within one minute. Live logs will be disabled six hours after you close the interface, and will be enabled again when you open the interface again.

APACHE AND FTP ACCESS LOGS

The raw Apache access logs, as well as the FTP access logs for the account, are available in the /home/$USER/logs folder on the server. This folder is accessible through the File Manager of the hosting Control panel, and through FTP.

To access the logs folder with the File Manager and download log files over HTTP, you need to:

  1. Open your hosting Control Panel, and go to the File Manager.
  2. Click on the .. link to go to the upper folder. You might have to click it a second time, to reach the /home/$USER/ folder.
  3. Click on the logs folder. You will see a directory structure with the available log files for your account, a subfolder for each separate month. You can locate the file(s) you need, and download it by clicking on it.

To download log files over FTP, you need to log in to your account via FTP and change the working directory to /logs (make sure that you include the leading slash). You will find the logs in that directory. Note that you must use your main FTP user.

We also provide log analysis tools that are readily available with your hosting account. You can access them on the Site Statistics page of the Control Panel.

For information on viewing the error log, as well as the access log, of the web server in near real time, please refer to the Live HTTP Logs article.

The mail logs are not available. If you need information from these logs, please contact our support team.

USING .FTPACCESS FILES

What is an .ftpaccess file?

.ftpaccess files allow you to alter the default FTP server configuration settings. The name of the file begins with a dot (.) symbol. You can create .ftpaccess files via the File Manager section of the hosting Control Panel.

If you wish to edit an .ftpaccess file with a text editor of your choice, you can download the file via an FTP client. You can find step-by-step instructions on how to set up the most popular FTP clients in the Uploading files category from our online documentation. Some FTP clients do not show configuration/hidden files (starting with a dot (.) symbol) by default, so please refer to the official documentation of your FTP client of choice for instructions on how to show/display hidden files.

The .ftpaccess Limit directive

You can use the Limit directive in .ftpaccess files to limit access to a specific or a group of FTP commands in a particular directory. If you wish to limit access to specific FTP commands in multiple directories/subdirectories, you need to add an .ftpaccess file to each directory/subdirectory as .ftpaccess files do not work recursively.

A list of the command groups and the most widely used FTP commands with a brief overview is available below:

  • ALL includes the READ, WRITE, and DIRS command groups (all FTP commands). This command group has the lowest precedence, so if there is a Limit directive configured for a command or command group, the ALL command group limit will not have any effect.

  • READ includes the following FTP commands related to file reading (directory reading FTP commands are not included in this command group):

    • RETR (RETRieve) allows the FTP client to download files from the server.
    • SITE CHMOD (CHange MODe) allows the FTP client to change file/directory permissions.
    • SIZE allows the FTP client to view file size information.
    • STAT (STATus) allows the FTP client to view the FTP server/connection status.

  • WRITE includes the following FTP commands used for writing, creating, and deleting files/directories:

    • APPE (APPEnd) allows the FTP client to append the content of one file to another.
    • DELE (DELEte) allows the FTP client to delete a file/directory.
    • MKD/XMKD (MaKe Directory) allows the FTP client to create a new directory.
    • RMD/XRMD (ReMove Directory) allows the FTP client to remove a directory.
    • RNTO (ReName TO) allows the FTP client to rename a file/directory. This FTP command is used in combination with the RNFR FTP command.
    • STOR (STORe) allows the FTP client to upload files to the server.

  • DIRS includes the following FTP commands associated with directory listing:

    • CDUP/XCUP (Change Directory UP) allows the FTP client to navigate up one directory level.
    • CWD/XCWD (Change Working Directory) allows the FTP client to change the current working directory.
    • LIST/NLST (LIST/Name LiST) allows the FTP client to list the files in a directory.
    • MDTM (MoDification TiMe) allows the FTP client to view the date when a file was last modified.
    • PWD/XPWD (Print Working Directory) allows the FTP client to display the current working directory.
    • RNFR (ReName FRom) allows the FTP client to rename a file/directory. This FTP command is used in combination with the RNTO FTP command.

More details about the Limit directive are available in the official ProFTPD documentation. Read More

USING MOD_DEFLATE

Mod_deflate is a module for the Apache Web Server. Its purpose is to make a better use of the available bandwidth by compressing content delivered from the web server to the client's browser. The compression is automatic, and the only requirement is that the browser supports gzip compression. Nowadays, most of the browsers support gzip, and no additional software is required.

  • How is the compression performed?

The browser will announce if the compression method is supported when sending a request to the server for a specific file, for instance, http://www.example_domain.com/index.html. In case Apache is configured with mod_deflate, the content of index.html will be compressed and sent to the browser. The browser, on the other hand will decompress the gzip file and will display it to the client as a simple html file. The web visitor would not be aware of the above operations.

  • How can I use mod_deflate?

To set up mod_deflate, you have to create a .htaccess file (note the dot(".") at the beginning of the file) with the following code in it:

<IfModule deflate_module>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/csv text/html text/plain text/richtext text/sgml text/tab-separated-values application/javascript application/x-javascript httpd/unix-directory
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE html htm shtml php php4 pl rb py cgi css js txt
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
</IfModule>

Then save the .htaccess file to the directory where you want mod_deflate enabled. Have in mind that .htaccess files work recursively, so it will have effect on all the subdirectories as well.

The .htaccess file above will have mod_deflate enabled for all HTML, SSI,PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python, CGI, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript and text files.

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