What is root access in VPS hosting simply refers to administrator access to your hosting server, so you become what is called a root user.
You do not own your own dedicated servers, but share that private server with others, potentially other businesses in Singapore who are on the same private server. So while you have administrative access, you ONLY have access to your own VPS.
What Will I Learn?
Technical Aspects Of Root VPS Access
What Is Administrator Access in VPS
Administrator access is a protective ring-fence so people without expertise (in your team/visitors/undesirables) cannot move/modify/delete important files, applications, and/or software.
So, if you have root access, it means (in the security analogy) that you have the highest-level clearance on your VPS hosting server accessible from your computer.
From a VPS Hosting perspective, it means you will have unhindered, unrestricted access to the server and its operating system…
This means you will have the ability to:
- Move,
- Modify,
- Add,
- Delete important files,
- Applications,
- and software within your web hosting.
Or, in other words, you will be able to login to your computer in your office in Singapore, or home, or, abroad, and have complete control of the server…
When you log in, you can do whatever you require to create the best site for your business, be it:
- The fine-tuning of configurations,
- Changing security settings,
- Adding third party software, or,
- Building in-situ your own bespoke apps.
Whatever it is you can do it, you have all root privileges.
All of these operations listed above are not available when purchasing a shared hosting plan from a potential Singaporean or worldwide, web hosting provider.
Due to the multi-site (or multiple websites) nature of shared hosting…
They offer a collection of secure resources software, apps, and protocols off the shelf which you will find nay-on-impossible to update or upgrade (caveat, it’s not impossible, but your shared hosting provider will make it feel like it is).
Basically, if you need this kind of access, shared web hosts are a no-no!
The etymology of Root Access comes from Linux.
The word “Root” is simply the Linux version of the word “administrator”.
However, at this point, it’s very important that we clarify this when talking about “Root Access” we’re not only talking about root access to Linux-based servers we are in fact also talking about root access to Windows-based servers too.
At the end of the article, we will run through how to get root access to both types of servers.
At this point, I suppose the main question for you is:
“should you care about having root access… what are its main benefits?”
4 Benefits Of Knowing What Is Root Access In VPS Hosting
It is good to know these things before you start, because…
You should of course care about having root access because the 4 main benefits to having it are paramount to the success of growing and scaling your business in Singapore and moving forward, potentially throughout the Southeast Asian region.
1. Security
First and foremost, gaining root access to your VPS hosting means enhanced security. Unfortunately, the realities of your growing business mean you’re going to continually need to enhance and update all security protocols and measures.
If you have financial transactions every day, you need to:
- Protect both your profit and your customers’ or clients’
- Their data,
- Accounts,
- And transactional details.
To do this you will be looking to add the latest and greatest third-party security software, or maybe you have developed past this, and need an application better tailored to your site’s individual needs and you get your own bespoke software created.
With root access you have the clearance to do all of this, adding and modifying whenever you need to.
With shared hosting you cannot, the thought of adding your own bespoke software can disappear straight away as your provider will red flag it for compatibility issues, even third-party software, if it’s not on their accepted list it will not be installed.
So when you have root access, this problem vanishes and you have the ability to build your own completely customized system with multi-level firewalls, etc.
You can build it so you have the optimum security measures in place, balancing awesome performance with optimum security.
2. Tailored Access
Root access is not for everyone, a lot can go wrong back there, you should only allow your tech experts to log into it.
One of the greatest strengths of root access is the ability to create “access hierarchies” and they are exactly what they sound like, these hierarchies provide everyone with a certain amount of access.
By creating users, you can allocate different amounts of access, which is a two-fold positive.
One. it limits the user’s damage capability and, two makes it a lot easier for the user to manage/understand its allocation.
Limiting damage-capability also means damage isolation, as you can simply eliminate problems arising from accidental modifications.
Complete control over the server
As soon as you see your sites start to grow, you realize there is now a need for:
- Add-ons,
- Bespoke software,
- Server-wide apps,
- And pretty much anything else your individual business needs.
If you don’t have root access you can’t do this… well you can… it’s just extremely difficult and it will take a massive amount of time.
You will need to get permission from your hosting provider and there is no guarantee your software will fulfill their acceptance protocols… or more likely they just won’t support the software applications.
When you have complete control as you do when you have root access to your VPS Hosting…
You don’t have to get permission from anyone, you have complete freedom to implement and install whatever you want to. You can modify and update everything at any time without worrying about acceptance protocols or the support of software.
3. Saves Time
As mentioned above… if you’re on a shared hosting plan you have next to no control of your hosting area… if you want to make any changes (even the simplest, smallest software update) they will have to be signed off and cleared by your shared hosting provider.
These providers don’t like customers on shared plans to be making changes, so they are very resistant (to these suggested changes/updates).
They tend to stall a lot, so expect to be waiting days/weeks to get an answer (and unfortunately a lot of the time, the answer is No) With shared hosting you get what you pay for…
And you’re not paying for control, and without control, there is a huge amount of time-wasting.
On the other hand with root access everything / every change / upgrade / modification / addition / deletion happens in real-time. It’s your responsibility, so you choose what is changed and when it happens.
How do I get root access?
So now you know what it is, you know its benefits, the next question we need to answer is… how do I get access to it?
First, the good news… every VPS plan you buy in Singapore (and globally) provides root access to the server (with some plans you may need to ask, but you will get it) so that’s right when you purchase a VPS Hosting Plan you get complete control of your server.
Secondly, in the words of some great man ‘with great power comes great responsibility‘…
All joking aside, very few people should be given the power or more appropriately given root access to your server. The root access in the hands of the uneducated could cause an unmitigated website disaster, basically, you could lose everything.
Access is only for those who know what they’re doing.
Ok, now that we have that cleared up, gaining root is actually very very easy.
At this point, it’s worth remembering that your server could either be Linux or Windows-based.
But the good news is, setting them both up is actually pretty similar, the main difference is linguistic (using the word ‘root’ when setting up Linux, and the word ‘administrator’ when setting up Windows).
Obviously, the process of setup will differ from provider to provider, but the general process goes like this…
Linux based server:
- Establish an SSH connection to your server using “root’ as your username
- Add root password
- Add the IP address to your VPS/Cloud/Dedicated Server
- these details above will be sent to you as part of the welcome email
- you can use any SSH software to establish a connection
Windows-based server:
- Establish a remote desktop connection to your server using “administrator’ as your username
- Add root password
- Add the IP address to your VPS/Cloud/Dedicated Server
- these details above will be sent to you as part of the welcome email
- You can use the Remote Desktop Connection manager provided by Microsoft to establish a connection.
Conclusion
Having root access is one of the main selling points of VPS Hosting. The ability to build and configure your server to offer your sites here in Singapore and globally, their optimum delivery is key to business success in 2022.
But remember, we can’t give that root access key to everyone.
