• Maintenance · Linux

Administration: a server gets noticed only once it has stopped working

A server demands no attention — right up to the day the disk fills, the certificate expires, or the language version stops receiving fixes. All three events are predictable months ahead and all three happen suddenly, because between «predictable» and «somebody knows about it» stands a person who is not there. Administration is not heroic rescue work at night. It is dull, scheduled actions after which there is nothing left to rescue.

See how it works
Price
after a free audit
Guarantee
30 days after project sign-off
Focus
Linux servers for sites and stores
after a free audit
Price
30
Guarantee

days after project sign-off

Linux servers for sites and stores
Focus
5
Timeline

to 20 working days to put in order

free review of the server
Start
30
Warranty

days from the date the acceptance act is signed

within 2 hours
Reply
under a written contract
Terms
What's included

Complete list of work and what you get as a result

  • updating the system, the language and the database to versions that still receive security fixes
  • disk space under control: log rotation, clearing out backups and temporary files
  • certificate renewal without manual intervention and warnings about domains
  • cache configuration tuned to your load rather than to an example from a manual
  • a predictable way to roll out changes, with the ability to go back
  • an audit of access: who logs into the server, with what rights, and whether they still work with you
  • verification that backups are created AND restore
  • a written description: what lives where, how to restart it, whom to call
When this service isn't right

What's not included — so there are no surprises at delivery

  • a person on call by the phone around the clock
  • a guarantee of uninterrupted operation of the server or the network link
  • renting the server and paying for hosting — those are your invoices
  • developing and extending the site itself
  • promises of a specific uptime percentage
Who it's for

Situations where this service delivers results

Scenario 1 of 4

A store on its own server with no administrator

The server was taken because it was faster and cheaper than hosting. Then it turned out somebody has to look after it, and nobody does.

We'll review your situation in a free audit
Free review of the server

We look at the state it is in. The most important things are visible within an hour and without going deep.

What we measure

  • Versions of what runs thereThe language, the database, the web server. If something no longer receives security fixes, that is the first and cheapest action.
  • How much space is leftThe most common cause of a sudden outage. Logs and old backups eat the disk quietly, over months, and everything stops in a minute.
  • What about certificates and domainsThe dates are known well in advance, but people remember them on the day of expiry. That is the most galling kind of downtime — entirely predictable.
  • Whether backups exist and restoreThe presence of a file proves nothing. Verification means restoring, and that is usually where the unpleasant part turns up.
  • Who has accessA former contractor, an old key, a password in a chat thread. Almost always present, and quickly removed.
  • How changes get rolled outIf files are edited directly on the live server, the question is not whether something will break but when.

What you get

  • a list of what on the server is outdated or about to expire
  • an assessment of the risks, split into urgent and those that can wait
  • an estimate of the tidy-up work
  • an honest answer if all is well and there is nothing to do

Timeline: 1–3 working days

Why is it free

The most important things — versions, space and certificates — are visible within an hour. If all is well there, we will say so: inventing work on a healthy server is not something we want to do.

What's next

You get the list and an estimate. Then you decide for yourself — the document stays with you.

Short form: your contact and site URL

  • Contract, act and 30-day warranty

    Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.

  • Sole proprietor & bank transfer

    The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.

  • Rights & access — yours

    Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.

  • Client portal instead of email chains

    During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.

  • European clients

    Among our work — projects for Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.

  • Verifiable numbers

    Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.

  • Audit first, then pricing

    There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.

  • We say "no" when unsure

    If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.

What affects the price

Why two seemingly identical tasks are priced differently

  • The state at the startPutting a fresh server in order is a matter of days. One nobody has touched for three years first requires understanding what runs there at all.
  • How much is on itOne site is simple. Several projects, a database, queues and background jobs on one machine mean a change in one affects the others.
  • How outdated the base isUpgrading the language one version affects the site's code. Moving across several versions is a compatibility check of everything running on it.
  • Load requirementsTuning for a hundred visitors and for a thousand at once are different tasks. The second requires measurements rather than default values.
  • How changes are rolled outEditing files directly on the server costs nothing and guarantees nothing. A predictable release with a way back is separate work.
  • Ongoing supportA one-off tidy-up and monthly management are different arrangements. The second is paid separately, and we do not switch it on silently.
Cases

Tasks and results in numbers — all metrics measured by us

our own premium theme and module set for OpenCart 4, adapted to the Ukrainian market

Task
Make an OpenCart 4 store with a large catalogue open quickly and support out of the box what Ukraine always needs: Nova Poshta with waybills, Ukrainian payment systems, decent search and structured data — instead of assembling all of it each time from third-party modules of varying quality.
Solution
A theme for OpenCart 4.1+ on PHP 8.1+ with its own caching layer (APCu for the object cache, OPcache with JIT, nginx fastcgi_cache, scheduled warm-up of top categories) and a fix for the N+1 problem in categories, where native OpenCart issued 200+ COUNT queries. On top of that a Theme Engine with 10 ready design presets and 200+ options, FULLTEXT search with synonyms and autocomplete, back-in-stock notifications with recovery by email and SMS, reviews with AggregateRating markup, a set of JSON-LD schemas (Organization, WebSite, Product, Breadcrumb, Article, FAQ), and a Ukrainian layer: Nova Poshta with automatic waybills, registers and webhooks, Ukrposhta, LiqPay, monobank, WayForPay. Separately, an order-tracking page and a printable invoice protected by a token. Shipped as five archives: a full installer, a marketplace theme and three standalone modules.
Result
An internal test rig on a 14 thousand product catalogue: native OpenCart 4 returns a cold category in 8–17 seconds, with our theme it is 0.18 s from cache and 0.8 s without it — that is 30–95 times faster. The codebase holds 8,157 PHP files, 718 Twig templates and 726 JavaScript files; the feature list runs to 167 items in 16 sections. Version 1.1.0; the product is being prepared for launch and has not been released publicly yet.

Did not find your case?

Describe how it works on your side — we will tell you whether “Server administration” fits and what it means in your situation. No brief and no call: one question, one answer.

Process steps

Transparent stages with approval at every step

Total duration:5–20 days

  1. The review

    1–3 working days

    We look at versions, space, certificates, backups and access. We compile a list split into urgent and what can wait.

  2. The urgent part

    1–4 working days

    We close what already hurts or is about to: disk space, certificates, versions with no security support.

  3. Updates

    2–8 working days

    We update the language, the database and the web server step by step, checking the site after each. On a copy first, where compatibility is at risk.

  4. Load and caching

    2–6 working days

    We tune the cache to your real request profile. Default values from manuals give mediocre results here.

  5. Releases and backups

    2–6 working days

    We build a predictable way to roll out updates with a route back, and verify the backups by actually restoring them.

  6. Documentation and handover

    1–2 working days

    We write down what lives where and how to restart it — so the next administrator does not start with archaeology. Then the 30-day warranty.

Technologies & integrations

What we build on and what it connects to

Stack

  • Linux
  • nginx
  • Apache
  • PHP
  • MySQL
  • MariaDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Docker
  • Redis
  • APCu
  • OPcache
  • SSH
  • Git

Integrations

  • Let's Encrypt
  • Cloudflare
  • Telegram
  • Email
  • Coolify
  • GitHub
Ongoing care or a call-out after a failure

How this option differs from the alternative

Disk spacewatched in advance
Certificatesrenew themselves
Updatesstep by step, with checks
Costslevel and planned
When a call-out is acceptableoverkill for a brochure site on shared hosting
What we need from you

We can't start without this — best to prepare in advance

  1. access to the server and to the hosting or provider dashboard
  2. what runs on it besides the main site
  3. whether backups exist and where they are stored
  4. who else has access and what each of them needs it for
  5. whether ongoing management is needed or a one-off tidy-up
  6. who on your side accepts the work

If something is missing — let us know, we'll help you gather it or do it as a separate task.

FAQ

Most frequently asked questions — with concrete answers

We are on shared hosting. Is this the same thing?

No, and on shared hosting most of this work is simply unavailable: versions, cache and settings are determined there by the provider. What is possible is tidying up within the control panel and telling you when the volume has outgrown the plan. We will not sell administration where there is no access.

How is this different from speeding up the site?

Speed-up is a one-off project: measured, causes found, fixed, handed over. Administration is daily work so that what was found does not come back: updates, space, certificates, releases. Often the first makes sense after the second, because on a neglected server the measurements show the wrong thing.

Will you fix things at night?

No, on-call duty by the phone is not part of this work, and promising otherwise would be untrue for one person. The whole point is that night-time outages should not happen: most of them are predictable things done in time. If round-the-clock response is needed, that is a different arrangement and different money.

Will an update break the site?

It might, if done in a leap across several versions on the live server. So we update step by step, and where compatibility is at risk, on a copy first. Sometimes it turns out the site does not work on the new language version — and that is also a result, better known in advance.

How much does it cost per month?

It depends on how much is on the server and what state it is in. First a one-off tidy-up with a fixed sum, and only then a conversation about ongoing management. Taking a monthly fee for supervising a mess means being paid for tolerance rather than for work.

Do you guarantee the server will not go down?

No. The hardware, the network links and the data centre are not ours, and anyone who guarantees an uptime percentage is either reselling somebody else's guarantee or not telling the truth. We are answerable for outages not happening for predictable reasons.

What do you do about backups?

We verify them by restoring, not by their presence. We regularly see configured backup jobs that have spent years producing files unfit for restoration. A backup nobody has ever restored from is an assumption, and treating it as insurance is dangerous.

How long does the tidy-up take?

5 to 20 working days. The urgent part — space, certificates, unsupported versions — is closed in days. The timeline is set by updates, if they have been neglected: every step has to be verified with the site, not just with the service starting.

Let us look at the state your server is in

Versions, space, certificates and backups — the main things will be visible within an hour. The review is free, we reply within 2 hours.

View cases
  • Reply within 2 hours
  • No commitment
  • We work under a contract

There is no price list on the site on purpose: the same work differs several times over between two clients, and a “from” figure explains nothing in that case. First a free audit — we count your pages, duplicates and speed — then we name the sum and the deadline and fix both in the contract.