Setup the dedicated server to start using it to deploy new websites and start web services.
1. Change ssh port and create a new account for daily use. Disallow root logging. Get a new IP address for sshd. disable identification output for Apache. Get a new user ID and password for your MySQL server. Now optimize your server.
2. Update and install all the software and servers. Optimize MySQL such as buffer size, query cache setup, table, number of connections etc.
Optimize Apache by using variables like Spare Servers, Timeout, Max Clients etc in the httpd.con file. Test the performance and RAM consumption.
3. Install your website. Update the code by using source control tool (svn, git, rsync) or FTP depending on your project. Enable web application and set up directories for asset serving, cache directory, configuration files to connect to the database. Send login identifications to authorized users.
4. The DNS settings can be at any time. Point the IP address of your new
dedicated server to your domain name provider. You may setup name servers if you want. You must set up the DNS entries to all third-party services and configure the MX settings for
email applications. Install tools for logging services and monitoring, set up software proxies, load balancers etc and you are ready for your first set of visitors.