Server Brief explains servers and hosting in plain language, for people running their own sites and anyone who wants to understand how the web fits together.
How we write
- Plain language first. Every term is explained the first time it appears, or linked to the glossary.
- Every command shown in full. Nothing is left as “configure the server appropriately”.
- Every guide is dated. Each page shows when it was last checked, and the tags show which systems it was written for.
- We explain trade-offs. When the right choice depends on your situation, we lay out the options and let you decide.
Corrections
If a command fails, a step is out of date or something is simply wrong, please tell us. Include the page address and what you saw, and we will check it and update the page.
Contact: [corrections address to be added]
Image credits
Photographs on this site are public-domain (CC0) images from Wikimedia Commons, StockSnap and the WordPress Photo Directory, including photographs of the NERSC data center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They have been colour-graded to match the site.