Secure Windows VPS

[Carl Owen]

The best method to secure your Windows VPS is to enable Windows Firewall on your Windows VPS. You can do this easily by following steps below,

1) Login to your Windows VPS.

2) Then, Start > Control panel > Windows Firewall

3) Add the following ports/applications to your firewall exceptions as required. ( Exceptions Tab > Add Program or Port)

4) Check "Remote Desktop" option [Remote Desktop]

Add Port > Name = DNS UDP | Port =53 | UDP [Domain Name Server UDP]
Add Port > Name = DNS TCP | Port =53 | TCP [Domain Name Server TCP]
Add Port > Name = FTP| Port =21 | TCP [FTP Server]
Add Port > Name = SMTP | Port =25 | TCP [Mail Server]
Add Port > Name = POP3 | Port =110 | TCP [POP 3 Mail collection service]
Add Port > Name = HTTP | Port =80 | TCP [Web Server]
Add Port > Name = HTTPS | Port =443 | TCP [Secure Web Server]

5) To allow FTP service, Add Program > Browse > C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\inetinfo.exe

6) To make sure that your server is responding to the network ICMP packets (ping) just check that it is enabled. You can do this by :
Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall > Advanced > ICMP Settings > Enable options

[Richie]

Thank you Carl for those steps. It is always good to keep your firewall on on the Server and configure the server settings accordingly. However you need to be careful with the firewall as it may interrupt a few of your activities on the server and at times you may even have to turn off the firewall for a short time.

[ann]

Thanks for the step, should I also enable Firewall to MSSQL for remote access to MYSQL server?

[Carl Owen]

Yes, it is recommended that you enable Windows Firewall while accessing your MSSQL database. It will be a better option and it will make sure that the server and the database is well secured.