Preface
Like many culinary cookbooks you'll probably find at home or at your local bookstore, this cookbook is meant to serve as a guide, not necessarily as a strict instruction manual. Although we'll show you exactly what you need to know to quickly set up a website, site analytics, and mail services on your dedicated/virtual private server, there are a multitude of methodologies you can employ to achieve the desired outcome. Point being, you can feel free to add your own spices to enhance the recipe – we’re simply providing the foundation. As our very first edition of the Windows Dedicated/VPS Cookbook, we hope to continue to build on this effort. In upcoming editions, we plan to expand this guide to not only cover basic web server setup, but also a complete library of how-to's and server management advice so that you’ll have the best possible experience with your server.
Intended Audience
If you're an experienced IT professional with tons of hands-on experience working with the Windows web platform, this guide will most likely not provide you with anything you don't already know. However, for users that may have limited experience working with the Windows 2008/IIS7 platform, this guide will help you get a website up and running as quickly as possible.
Required Ingredients
Before you get started, be sure you have the following items ready.
1. The email that you received after your server purchase, titled “Dedicated Server Built.” This will include your server's IP addresses.
2. Your SmarterBundle email from SmarterTools. This email will provide you with the current download locations and license keys for SmarterStats and SmarterMail (as well as SmarterTrack).
3. Your domain registration information. If you intend to use a domain name with your website, you will need to contact your domain registrar soon after configuring your DNS in order to point your domain to your website.
What's covered
This edition of the Windows Dedicated/VPS Cookbook will cover the following items:
When you're all done
Don't forget to check out our Additional Resources page in the cookbook for some helpful links about IIS, Windows 2008, and SmarterTools products. Also, be sure to visit the survey on the Feedback page so that we can continually improve this project.
If you have questions, feedback, or concerns, please feel free to contact us at support@newtektechnologyservices.com, or at 1.877.323.4678 (Arizona or International residents can call 602.263.0300), option 4.