How to Connect to a Dedicated Server?

RDP, SSH and Dedicated Servers

You’re new to the web hosting and you need some help. Recently you purchased a dedicated server from your new favorite hosting company and you’re starting to poke around. Like getting a new car, you find yourself turning all the knobs and playing with all the shiny buttons. Yet outside of all the fun, with your new dedicated server install, you need to learn how to actually connect to your dedicated server.

Well, don’t worry. Here at Quotecolo, we have you covered. Whether you are utilizing a Windows based dedicated server or a Linux based dedicated web server, this quick posting will teach you how to connect to your recently purchased dedicated hosting server.

Windows Dedicated Server Hosting

Connecting to your Windows dedicated server, be it powered by Windows 2008, Windows 2003 or Windows 2012, is a pretty simple process. Here is how you connect to your Windows Dedicated Server remotely.

On your home machine:

1. Click Start – – > Click All Programs – – > Click Accessories – – > Click Remote Desktop Connection.
2. Once inside of “Remote Desktop Connection” enter the IP address of your dedicated server. The IP address of your dedicated server should be listed under “Useable IP Addresses”. You can also see the IP address of your dedicated server by accessing the information from your purchase order.
3. Connect to the server.
4. Once you connect to the server, the “Log On to Windows” box will show. Enter your user name and password. Click “Ok”.

You are now connected to your dedicated server solution. To streamline this process, it would serve well to make a desktop icon of the “Remote Desktop Connection” program. This will allow for quicker access to your Windows based dedicated web hosting server solution.

The aforementioned process is known as RDP or Remote Desktop Protocol.

Linux Dedicated Server Web Hosting

The avenue for connecting to your Linux based dedicated server solution is a bit simpler than Windows. The process, known as SSH (Secure Shell), is a simple matter of downloading the widely available free version of OpenSSH and entering a few prompts. It should be noted, OpenSSH is not the only program which you can use to login to your Linux dedicated server yet being that it is free and widely available over many trusted sources (download.net comes to mind), OpenSSH is a simple path to choose.

That said:

1. Download OpenSSH
2. Once downloaded, open the terminal.
3. When prompted, enter [email protected]. It should be noted, you need to replace the username (the bit before the “at” symbol) and the domain (the bit after the “at” symbol) with your own information. Do not enter [email protected]. It won’t work.
4. Once done, enter your password.
5. You are now connected to your Linux dedicated server.

All in all, connecting to your Windows or Linux dedicated server solution is a simple process which anyone can master.