A good tutorial for managing a server/VPS?

[Grizzly]

Theoretically the server should come secured with whatever OS/control panel/apache installed on it. However, that's just a theory and is disproved by hosts every day, so I would check to make sure. At least with a managed server you should get everything set up for you, as you are paying the host to manage it for you. An unmanaged one should come with everything installed on the server, but, I wouldn't dare hazard a guess at security. The best way to learn is to do the things yourself. As I said, I started off trying things, if I couldn't get it right then I would open a ticket and request them to explain what they did. Most hosts love that, as it allows them to teach you what to do so you won't have to bother them next time.