The Nxeon Blog
Guides for people who run their own servers.
Straight-talking tutorials and comparisons on VPS hosting, game servers, Linux and security. No fluff, just what actually works. 346 guides from the team that runs the servers.
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How to Secure a Self-Hosted WordPress Site
WordPress powers a huge share of the web, which makes it a huge target. Harden your self-hosted install at the server, app, and login layers.
How to Secure a MySQL Database
An exposed or default-configured database is a breach waiting to happen. Lock down MySQL/MariaDB: bind to localhost, strong users, least privilege and TLS.
How to Create a Swap File on a Linux VPS
Small VPS plans run out of RAM fast. A swap file gives the kernel breathing room and prevents the OOM killer from killing your app. Here's how to add one.
How to Set Up Automatic Security Updates on Ubuntu
Unpatched software is the top cause of server compromise. Configure unattended-upgrades so security patches install themselves — safely and unattended.
DDoS Protection Basics for a VPS
What a DDoS attack actually is, what you can mitigate at the server level, and where you genuinely need upstream protection. A realistic primer.
How to Protect a VPS from Brute-Force Attacks
Bots relentlessly guess logins against every public server. Here's a layered playbook — keys, firewall, rate limits and bans — to make brute-forcing pointless.
How to Add Two-Factor Authentication to SSH
Add a time-based one-time code on top of your SSH key for defence in depth. Set up Google Authenticator PAM without locking yourself out.
How to Disable Root Login on a VPS
The root account is every attacker's first guess. Learn to create a sudo user and disable direct root login over SSH — safely, without locking yourself out.
How to Set Up a UFW Firewall on Ubuntu
UFW makes Linux firewalling approachable. Learn to allow only the ports you need, set default-deny, rate-limit SSH, and verify your rules.
How to Install and Configure fail2ban
fail2ban watches your logs and automatically bans IPs that fail to log in too many times. Here's how to install it and write custom jails.
How to Set Up SSH Key Authentication and Disable Passwords
Stop relying on passwords. Generate an SSH key pair, install your public key on the VPS, and turn password logins off for good.
How to Harden SSH on a Linux VPS
A practical, copy-paste guide to locking down the SSH daemon on your VPS — the single most important service to secure on a public server.
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