You want to host your application on servers provided by someone, then this checklist might help. Who is responsible for what?
Details like SLA (service-level agreements) can be build on top of each topic.
Feedback is welcome.
Focus is on: Virtual Private Servers
No manual interaction should be needed for the daily usage.
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| provide dns server | ||
| provide ntp (networking protocol for clock synchronization) server | ||
| run dns client | ||
| run ntp client | ||
| provide database | ||
| run database client | ||
| run web server | ||
| provide RPM/DPKG repository | ||
| run mail server on this server | ||
| provide smarthost for mail server. | ||
| provide IMAP/POP3 services | ||
| provide storage server | ||
| run storage client | ||
| run ssh server | ||
| Uninterruptible power supply | ||
| Provide access to BIOS | ||
| Provide access to boot process |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| provide more disc space (if needed) | ||
| provide more CPU, RAM, IO | ||
| replace hardware parts | ||
| upgrade operating system | ||
| create new linux users | ||
| manage Hardware RAID | ||
| manage Software RAID | ||
| create Cert (for example for https) | ||
| create SSH-server cert | ||
| unsure ssh-server cert does not change (on upgrade, or server move) | ||
| install new packages (rpm, dpkg) | ||
| upgrade packages (fixes) | ||
| provide IP addresses | ||
| Create DNS entries for IP adresses. | ||
| create root password | ||
| know root password | ||
| manage crontab entries | ||
| enable/disable services | ||
| Licenses for commercial third-party software |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| provide default gateway | ||
| maintain local firewall (running on the server) (default should be "none") | ||
| maintain network firewall (running outside the server) | ||
| maintain local routes (running on the server) (default should be "none" (only Default-GW)) |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| enough disk space | ||
| enough CPU, RAM, IO | ||
| system logs | ||
| application logs | ||
| Hardware RAID | ||
| Software RAID | ||
| Mail Queue | ||
| Hardware-Sensors (like temperature) | ||
| Service Availablity | ||
| Filesystem health | ||
| Network health |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| provide power | ||
| provide network | ||
| stand by hardware |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| responsible for backup | ||
| responsible for restore from backup | ||
| responsible for checking if restore from backup would work. | ||
| responsible for checking uninterruptible power supply | ||
| Backup for database. |
| Topic | Responsible | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Notify users about sheduled downtime |