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Using SSH (and Telnet)
Providing shell access is a fundamental part of our philosophy with regard to Remote Administration. Shell access is one of the most powerful features of our Virtual Servers. Using an SSH (or Telnet) client, you can connect and log in to your Virtual Server from anywhere in the world, as if you were sitting right in front it.

We are not only the leader in Virtual Server technology, we are also seasoned security experts. Because of this, we are more than comfortable providing our clients with SSH and telnet access to their Virtual Servers (most other web hosting providers lack the confidence and expertise necessary to make their servers secure). Our "security hardened" server environment insures that your data (and our data) cannot be compromised.

Choosing an SSH Client
SSH (or Secure Shell) is a protocol that can be used to log into a remote machine (your Virtual Server) and provide secure encrypted communications between your Virtual Server and your local computer. All of the commands you would use in a Telnet client, you can use in an SSH client. The only difference is that the communication is made via encrypted channels to and from your Virtual Server.

NOTE: If your Virtual Server is running BSD/OS, be sure to choose an SSH client that supports the ssh1 protocol, in order to be compatible with our Virtual Servers. If you don't know the Virtual Server O/S, try the following:

Choosing a Telnet Client
There are quite a few Telnet clients available, many of which are free. For example, the Windows 9x/NT operating systems are shipped with a Telnet client included (found at "c:\windows\telnet.exe" and "c:\winnt\system32\telnet.exe" respectively). This Telnet client is simple and functional, but not quite as flexible and friendly as CRT from Van Dyke Technologies, Inc.

For the Macintosh OS, we recommend NCSA Telnet written by the Software Development Group at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Unix users can use the built-in Telnet client software shipped with the operating system.

There are also Java Telnet applets that allow you to connect to your Virtual Server using just a web browser. Some of the many that are available include:

Connecting To Your Virtual Server
Once you have chosen a SSH (or Telnet) client, connecting to your Virtual Server is extremely simple. Although SSH (and Telnet) clients vary in their exact configuration, most of them will simply require you to specify a "remote host". Your remote host is your Virtual Server, so you would specify your domain name (or your temporary domain, if applicable) or IP address.

Once you are connected, you will be prompted for your login name and login password. You specified both your login name and login password when you ordered your Virtual Server. After the login process is successful, you will have gained access to your Virtual Server and can now issue commands at the command prompt. If you are not familiar with UNIX, you can learn some simple UNIX commands and use them with confidence.