TABLE OF CONTENTS


Signing Up & Creating Your First Server


First step - Sign Up! You'll perform some basic configuration at this point, like setting how much memory and disk space your server should have:



Note: Any prices displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are subject to change.

  • Select your operating system:
    • From here, you can choose from a range of BinaryLane-hosted images that you can use to quickly get started. You can click'View All'for a list of all available images:


      For a comprehensive list of images we have available, refer to our helpdesk article: What operating systems are available?



  • Choose your Cloud Server resources:
    • This is where you'll decide what kind of server you want to create.
      • Standard:
        • A balanced choice with flexible memory and storage options, suitable for most workloads, including web hosting, applications, and general computing:



      • CPU Optimised:
        • Designed for processor-intensive workloads, these servers provide dedicated hyper-threads with clock speeds boosting to 4+ GHz - ideal for high-performance computing, game servers, and complex calculations:



      • HDD Storage:
        • Optimised for cost-effective, high-capacity storage, these servers are best suited for media libraries, backups, and archival data where speed is less critical:



      • Dedicated:
        • Individual servers for your exclusive use, providing maximum performance and reliability for demanding workloads:




    • Configure your server's settings:
      • Here you will define your server's name, add a backup plan, or add additional features to your server if available. You can click'View All'to see all available options for creation:



        • Hostname:
          • Your Cloud Server (VPS) has two distinct names: the name displayed within mPanel, and the hostname configured within the operating system. When creating your server, the 'Hostname:' field will set your server's internal hostname and the service name displayed within mPanel.

        • Remote Desktop SAL (Windows Server VPSs):
          • Per-user or per-device Remote Desktop Subscriber Access Licences (SALs) are available at $10 per user/licence per month (maximum of 50). Licences can be added during server creation or later through the 'Change Plan' page for your server. More information about our remote desktop licensing can be found here: Remote Desktop Licensing Overview.

        • CloudLinux (cPanel VPSs):
          • CloudLinux licencing is available for cPanel servers but must be installed independently. You can learn more about CloudLinux from their website: CloudLinux OS.

        • cPanel: (cPanel, AlmaLinux 8 / 9, Rocky Linux 8 / 9 VPSs)
          • You can purchase cPanel IP-based licensing for your server (if applicable). cPanel will be automatically installed on our cPanel servers, whereas other servers with cPanel licencing will need to have cPanel installed manually by following the cPanel installation guide.

        • KernelCare (AlmaLinux 8, Rocky Linux 8 VPSs):
          • KernelCare provides automatic kernel updates without requiring a reboot. It must be installed manually. More information can be found on the KernelCare website.

        • IP Addresses:
          • Additional IPv4 addresses cost $2 each per month on current plans, with a maximum limit of eight public IPv4 addresses per VPS.

        • Backups & Offsite backups: 
          • Automated (scheduled) backups may be purchased on a daily, weekly, and/or monthly basis at a cost of 10c per GB of storage - e.g. a backup of a 10GB disk is $1.00 per backup per month.

            The backups are stored on-site on separate, dedicated storage. Backups may optionally be sent to Amazon's S3 facility for an additional fee (Offsite backups)

            For more information on our backups, please see Automated Backups : BinaryLane

        • Deployment script:
          • Enabling the deployment script option allows you to define a cloud-init script for the Cloud-config service to use during initial server creation. This script automates first-boot setup using YAML, handling tasks such as package installation, service configuration, and user management on supported Linux distributions (e.g., Ubuntu, AlmaLinux 8+, Rocky Linux 8+). More details on this feature can be found here: Cloud-config for Linux servers


After you've signed up successfully, your server will automatically start. Once the server has been created and is online, you'll be taken to your server's dashboard and your connection details will be displayed:



To learn how to use the BinaryLane mPanel, please refer to the following helpdesk article: How to use BinaryLane's mPanel



Connecting to your server


There are a few ways you can connect to your server.


  • mPanel

    • mPanel is BinaryLane's cloud management console, providing dashboards for managing your services. It includes a NoVNC framebuffer stream, commonly referred to as the Recovery Console, which allows direct access to your server’s console from within the dashboard.

      This feature is primarily used for recovery when your server becomes inaccessible over the internet. You can log in via the Recovery Console to troubleshoot issues, reconfigure network settings, or resolve software problems without requiring SSH or Remote Desktop access.

  • SSH (Linux & Windows Servers)

    • Secure Shell (SSH) is the preferred method for securely accessing Linux-based servers and Windows Servers configured with OpenSSH.

      To connect via SSH:
      • Open a terminal (Linux/macOS) or use an SSH client like PuTTY (Windows).

      • Enter the following command:

        ssh root@<your-server-ip>

        If using a key-based login, ensure your private key is correctly configured. If using a password, enter it when prompted.

        For Windows Servers, you can also enable SSH by installing OpenSSH via Windows Features: Get started with OpenSSH for Windows | Microsoft Learn

        You can refer to our SSH guide for more information: Connecting with SSH


  • Remote Desktop (Windows Server)

    • Windows Servers provide Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) for graphical access.

      To connect via RDP:
      • Open Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe) on your Windows machine or use an RDP client on macOS/Linux.

      • Enter your server’s Public IP Address and click Connect.

      • When prompted, log in using the Administrator username and password provided in mPanel.
        If necessary, adjust RDP settings for performance or display preferences.

        If RDP fails to connect, use mPanel’s Recovery Console to check network settings or enable RDP access.

        Please see our helpdesk article Connecting to Windows for further guidance.


Natively connecting to your BinaryLane server will give you the best performance - use Remote Desktop for Windows systems, or SSH for Linux. 


Software Updates


Keeping your server up to date is essential for security and performance. Running outdated system software or applications significantly increases the risk of security breaches, data loss, and service disruptions.


Windows:

Ensure that Windows Update is configured to run automatically at regular intervals to receive security patches and system improvements.


Linux/Ubuntu:

Use apt, the Debian package management system, to keep your system updated:


apt update && apt upgrade


or automated notifications about available updates, consider using apticron or unattended-upgrades to apply security updates automatically.

For additional security best practices, please refer to the following helpdesk articles:


If you require assistance, feel free to submit a support ticket at our helpdesk here: Submit a ticket | BinaryLane