Root login over password
SSH open to the world on port 22 with password authentication still enabled.
[ Servers & DevOps / Server Setup & Configuration ]
A server built to run in production, not just to boot.
Anyone can spin up a VPS. The difference is the firewall, the certificate renewal, the backup that has actually been restored, and the monitoring that tells you before your customers do.
Fixed price · Usually 2-4 days · Full documentation included
2-4 daystypical turnaround
Fixedprice, agreed upfront
Testedbackup restore included
Docswritten, not verbal
[ What I usually find ]
The default server is not a production server.
A fresh VPS image is a starting point. These are the gaps between that and something you can trust with a business.
No firewall
Every service the machine runs is reachable from the internet, including the ones you forgot about.
Backups that were never tested
A cron job writing dumps to the same disk as the database it is backing up.
Certificates that expire
Manually issued TLS that nobody renewed, taking the site down on a Sunday.
No monitoring
No alert for disk full, which is how most single-server outages actually start.
Undocumented changes
Configuration edited live over months, so nobody can rebuild the machine if it dies.
[ How it works ]
Specify, build, hand over.
01 — Day 1
Specify
What the server runs, expected traffic, who needs access and what your recovery requirement is. You get a fixed price before anything is provisioned.
02 — Day 2-3
Build
Full stack configured and hardened: users, firewall, web server, runtime, database, TLS, backups, monitoring and deploy access.
03 — Day 4
Verify & document
Backup restored in front of you, alerts triggered deliberately to prove they fire, and a written runbook handed over.
[ What actually changes ]
Everything that gets configured.
Works on any provider — AWS, a VPS host, bare metal or a machine already sitting in your rack.
Core stack
- Web server — Nginx or Apache tuned for your workload, with sane timeouts and gzip or brotli.
- Application runtime — PHP-FPM, Node, Python or Go, with process management and restart-on-failure.
- Database — installed, tuned for the available memory, and not listening on a public interface.
- TLS certificates — issued and renewing automatically, with renewal failure alerting.
- Deploy access — a deploy user and key-based workflow, not shared root credentials.
Safety net
- Firewall and SSH hardening — key-only login, no root, minimal open ports, brute-force protection.
- Automated off-server backups — database and files, encrypted, to storage separate from the machine.
- Restore drill — a real restore performed during handover so you know the backup works.
- Monitoring and alerts — disk, memory, load, service health and certificate expiry.
- Log rotation and retention — so a runaway log file never fills the disk at 3am.
[ Example engagement ]
One afternoon of setup, three years of quiet.
A small business application running on an unconfigured VPS with no firewall and untested backups. Rebuilt properly with monitoring and off-server backup.
Illustrative example of a typical engagement. Figures vary with the state of your systems and are not a guarantee of a specific outcome.
3 daysto production ready
100%backups verified
0expiry outages since
1runbook handed over
[ Free · 30 minutes ]
Not sure what you need?
Tell me what the server has to run and how much traffic you expect. You get a spec and a fixed price, with no obligation to book.
[ Pricing ]
Pricing that fits your budget.
Tell me the number you have to work with. I'll tell you honestly what's achievable within it — and if it isn't enough, I'll say so before we start rather than halfway through.
Fixed project price
Scope agreed in writing, price agreed in writing, before any work starts. No hourly creep and no invoice you haven't already approved.
Monthly retainer
For ongoing work — maintenance, monitoring, updates and small changes. Month to month, cancel whenever, no minimum term.
Hourly for small jobs
For a single bug or a short task where writing a full scope would cost more than simply doing the work.
Budget too tight for the whole thing? I'll often suggest doing the highest-value part first and the rest later, rather than doing all of it badly.
[ Questions ]
Common questions.
Which hosting provider should I use?
For most applications any reputable VPS provider is fine and considerably cheaper than a managed cloud. I will recommend based on your traffic, compliance needs and whether you want to grow into managed services later.
Can you work with a server we already have?
Yes. I audit what is there, tell you honestly whether it is worth hardening in place or rebuilding cleanly, and give you the cost of each path.
Do you manage it afterwards?
Optionally. Many clients take the runbook and manage it themselves, which is the point of writing one. A monthly retainer covering patching, monitoring and escalation is available if you would rather not.
What about Windows Server?
The majority of my work is Linux. I can advise on Windows hosting, but for a production Windows environment you would be better served by a specialist.
How is this different from managed hosting?
Managed hosting gives you a support queue. This gives you a server you own outright, configured to a standard, with documentation, and no per-month platform fee on top.
[ Related services ]
Related infrastructure work.
Server Security HardeningLock down SSH, firewall, patching and access before it costs you.Server MigrationMove hosts without losing data, email or search rankings.AWS Server SetupProduction-ready VPC, compute, database and CI/CD from scratch.Docker & ContainersContainerise an existing app so environments finally match.CI/CD & GitHub ActionsAutomated build, test and deploy pipelines with real rollbacks.WordPress Speed OptimizationFix Core Web Vitals and slow load times at the cause.
[ Let's talk ]
Tell me what you're building.
Describe it in a few lines and you'll get a straight answer on scope, cost and timeline — same working day, from the person who'd actually build it.