I set up my eCommerce site a few years back, and thankfully, it's been running smoothly. However, I'm not a systems pro; I'd consider myself a decent programmer and a bit of a "techie." The way I currently access my servers feels outdated. I manage several virtual private servers for my business — some have public internet access (like load balancers and application servers), while others (such as my database cluster and Valkey server) are only reachable via private IPs. All of these servers are on the same private network.
For instance, to access one of my database servers at `10.0.0.6`, I first SSH into a load balancer that has public internet access at `123.45.67.89`, and then from there, I can connect to the database server. I use SSH key authentication for all connections.
The issue arises because I have a dozen servers, each with different IPs, usernames, and SSH keys, and it's starting to feel overwhelming. I wonder if there's a more efficient way to manage this. Is there a tool or best practice I should consider? I feel like I'm stuck in a time warp — everything works, but managing it all is a hassle, especially when it comes to transferring files to and from my servers.
3 Answers
You might want to rethink your setup! If you access your servers mostly from one point, a simple fix could be to edit your hosts file on your local machine and name your endpoints there. You could also set up a local DNS server for easier access, especially if you bounce between different outward-facing servers. It could save you a lot of hassle!
Consider centralizing your access! Using a single jump box is good, but you should really look into automation tools like Ansible or Puppet for your SSH key management. Plus, using Mosh or tmux can help maintain persistent sessions. If file transfers are frequent, check out using rsync with ProxyJump — it can do wonders!
Have you looked into Tailscale? It’s one of the easiest solutions to get remote access to your servers without all the SSH hassle. It might simplify your setup a lot!
Thanks for the suggestion! The IPs I mentioned are actually internal, so I didn't share any sensitive info. I do access them from various locations, so I’ll consider the DNS option for sure!