Thanks @JaredBusch!

Appreciate all the feedback. From a CloudFare POV, what's the best way to handle multiple TLDs (.com, .net, etc) that resolve to the same website? Do I just add one to CF and then add DNS entries for the others?

@StrongBad -- So, I can setup a free account on CloudFlare. What the advantage / disadvantage of using CF versus GoDaddy, who is my registrar? I guess by using CF, I can manage the DNS without concern for the registrar, which could change and the DNS would be unaffected, correct?

Ok... so I now have a server running Centos 6.5 and VestaCP. How does DNS work on CloudatCost? Do I just reference ns1 / ns2.cloudatcost.com? Can I manage it all from within Vesta?

Reviewing my current setup, it appears that I have GoDaddy handling some sites and others are at the hosting site.

4. A way to snapshot your server, so that you can test changes and restore to a prior point in time.

@thecreativeone91

It was enabled, but wasn't logging. It may have been an issue with SELinux. I've since started over by reimaging the server. Further discussion is occurring here.

Appreciate the input!

@Aaron-Studer said:

What do you need cPanel for?

I don't necessarily need it. I currently have several websites hosted elsewhere and I'm trying to get a C@C box setup so that I can move the hosting there.

That's good to know. Once I get the box reconfigured, I think I will give ZPanel a whirl.

From what I've read online, this is only a trial and you will need to license cPanel / WHM to continue using it. Time to reimage again!

FWIW, the link for Markdown syntax take you here, which appears to be out dated.

This one seems to be more current:
https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet

Picking up from my discussion here, I went to reimage the VM and noticed that there is an entry for Centos 6.5 with cPanel and WHM.

Before I head down that path, it would be good to know if this will result in any additional fees from C@C. @AmanBhogal, can you clarify please?

@JaredBusch said:

You can also upgrade the server specs, but you lose the one time billing in the process. You can only convert to monthly.

Are you sure about this? It appears to me that the server upgrade is a one time fee.

Ok.... this has been a fun "experiment". Clearly I don't have Fail2Ban properly configured:

Last failed login: Thu Feb 26 06:37:39 EST 2015 from 103.41.124.16 on ssh:notty
There were 7770 failed login attempts since the last successful login.

[root@localhost ~]# fail2ban-client status sshd
Status for the jail: sshd
|- Filter
|  |- Currently failed: 0
|  |- Total failed:     0
|  `- Journal matches:  _SYSTEMD_UNIT=sshd.service + _COMM=sshd
`- Actions
   |- Currently banned: 0
   |- Total banned:     0
   `- Banned IP list:

I'm thinking that I should start a new thread so that this one can get back on topic.

Thanks for all the input. I believe that LAMP is up and running properly. I looked into both ISP Config and Froxlor. I like the look of ISP Config. However, the tutorials I've read appear "complicated" with lots of steps.

Do I really need to disable the firewall, SELinux, install all of these extra packages, etc?

Thanks! I followed the steps here to setup the SSH jail. Any other suggested changes?

@scottalanmiller

Just straight forward PHP / HTML. Currently hosted over at Media Temple.

FYI -- the coupon code still works.
Now to figure out the easiest way to host my own sites!

Seems like the latest forum update has resolved this issue.