Since Windows Server 2016, Server Core has been the default installation option, and every Windows VPS template from major providers ships as Server Core unless you explicitly pick Desktop Experience. The difference is not cosmetic: Core drops the entire Explorer shell, the Start menu, and the desktop, leaving a command-line and PowerShell-only environment. Microsoft’s own … Read more
iisnode is Microsoft’s open-source IIS extension that hosts Node.js applications inside IIS worker processes, giving Node apps the same process management, logging, and uptime behavior as ASP.NET sites. Instead of running node server.js in a terminal that dies when you log out of RDP, IIS starts your app on boot, restarts it when it crashes, … Read more
Remote Desktop is the most bandwidth-hungry part of a Windows VPS setup that most people never tune. The default experience settings assume a fast LAN: full wallpaper, font smoothing, window animations, and 32-bit color streamed continuously. Over hotel Wi-Fi or a link with 80–150 ms latency, that combination turns a responsive server into a slideshow. … Read more
Every Windows VPS eventually needs a file transfer path: pushing a build to a staging server, pulling database backups off the box, or exchanging files with clients who will not touch a command line. On Windows Server you have two first-class options. The IIS FTP server has shipped with the OS for two decades and … Read more
RDP is how you look at a Windows VPS; PowerShell Remoting is how you operate it. WinRM (Windows Remote Management) is built into every modern Windows Server and lets you run commands, scripts, and full interactive sessions over the network without a desktop session — the foundation of real automation. Here is how to enable … Read more
One Windows VPS with a single public IP can host an ASP.NET Core site, a Node.js API, a static site, and a WordPress install at the same time. The glue is IIS with the URL Rewrite module, and when you add Application Request Routing (ARR) it doubles as a reverse proxy that routes traffic to … Read more
TLS version support on Windows is decided at the operating-system level by Schannel, the built-in security provider. IIS, WinRM, RDP’s network layer, and every .NET application on the box inherit the same protocol settings — which is why a single registry change can modernize TLS for the whole VPS at once. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 … Read more
Serve IIS sites over HTTPS with free Let’s Encrypt certificates, redirect HTTP, enable HTTP/2, enforce HSTS, and retire TLS 1.0/1.1.
Logging into a Windows VPS as Administrator for everything is a breach waiting to happen. Create standard users, scope RDP rights, and audit every logon.
Remote Desktop (RDP) is the standard way to manage a Windows VPS: it gives you a full desktop session over the network, so you can use Server Manager, install software, and run IIS Manager as if you were sitting at the console. The setup itself is only a few clicks, but doing it correctly — … Read more