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Updated Running a public or community server (markdown)

MartinFarrent 2012-05-24 15:12:06 -07:00
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Running-a-public-or-community-server.md

@ -22,12 +22,14 @@ One pertains to the operating system. Our advice is to use Debian unless you are
If you are comfortable with the idea, use Nginx - it offers superior performance to Apache and can handle around twice as many users on average. For bonus points, using Debian and Nginx lets you use the [Debian install script](https://github.com/Keith2/lowendscript-ng) to setup your server almost automatically in ten minutes flat (literally). You can, of course, use Apache without any problems if your server is already set up and installed, but you won't be able to host as many people on your site as an Nginx server.
3. Drop the WWW. Some people still go to the effort of inserting www into web addresses, for some reason. This breaks things. Use an nginx rule or Apache redirect to send http://www.domain.com traffic to plain old http://domain.com
On a public or community server, you'll need to block the use of the prefix 'www'. Some people still go to the effort of inserting www into web addresses. This breaks things. Use an Nginx rule or Apache redirect to send http://www.domain.com traffic to plain http://domain.com
4. Decide whether or not you're going to use SSL now. If you are, you need to mandate it. You can't have a site that allows http and https for one reason - Internet Explorer. Despite being arguably the worst piece of software ever created, it's still used by one in three people who will be presented with mixed content warnings on every page if there is a single non-SSL element on an SSL page, or vice-versa. It can also break OpenID logins with some (mostly self-hosted) providers.
Decide whether or not you're going to use SSL now. If you are, you need to mandate it. You can't have a public or community site that allows http and https for one reason - Internet Explorer. A considerable number of your members may be using this browser despite its questionable reputation. These people will be presented with mixed content warnings on practically every page (if there is a single non-SSL element on an SSL page, or vice-versa).
Don't use a self-signed certificate. They're very, very annoying for technical users, and a deal breaker for ordinary users. Get a free certificate from StartSSL instead. For more, see the [SSL How-To](https://github.com/friendica/friendica/wiki/Running-Friendica-with-SSL)
***Other tips***
5. If you need a graphical control panel, use Webmin. Your webserver is going to crash, or start spewing out 504s at some point, and it's times like this that you really need to see what's going on. If you need a web based interface for this, you're screwed if you use something that relies on your webserver, but webmin runs on it's own separate (and resource minimal) webserver, so you can access it even if your site is down.
6. Don't stick random additional software on your server. Your public/community site should share a server with a mail server (ideally - for the reasons in point 1 - Postfix) and not much else. You might, in some cases, like a jabber server too, but don't push it. Installing wikis, blogs, and other sites willy-nilly is just asking for trouble.