Plesk Centralizes Management

• By The WHIR, May 28, 2004

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Plesk Centralizes Management

Philbert Shih, theWHIR.com

May 28, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- When SWsoft (sw-soft.com) unveiled version 7 of the Plesk control panel in February, CEO Serguei Beloussov promised that hosting providers would soon see a fully distributed multi-server management solution for Plesk servers. Holding true to its top executive's words, the Virginia-based hosting automation software developer announced on Thursday that it had released the beta version of Plesk Expand, an add-on to the Plesk 7 control panel that gives shared and dedicated hosting providers the ability to centrally manage their growing multi-server Plesk environments.

Web hosting providers of varying sizes administer hundreds and even thousands of servers on both Windows and Linux platforms. One of the biggest challenges they face, says SWsoft director of marketing Kurt Daniel, is to pull together all these servers into one unified infrastructure. Plesk Expand is designed to do exactly that, bringing order, efficiency and manageability to multiple-server, multi-platform hosting environments. The solution creates an integrated hosting environment, allowing hosts to centrally manage multiple Plesk 7 servers running on Linux, FreeBSD and Windows platforms.

"Plesk Expand provides hosts with an easy way to unify their Plesk servers in a centralized fashion," says Daniel. The main benefit for hosts, he says, is the flexibility, greater control and productivity it affords. Built for use with at least 3 servers, he says, the solution is easily scalable up to thousands of servers, able to accommodate medium and larger-sized hosts.

In addition to centralized server and domain management, Plesk Expand features a range of functions, including centralized client, IP and DNS management, centralized login for all customers and a full XML application programming interface. And more features and enhancements are on the way. Beloussov said in a release that future versions of Plesk Expand will include fully distributed mail, DNS, and database deployments as well as clustered environments, update management, centralized back-up and other features.

Plesk Expand can be auto-installed on the Web, giving hosting providers the ability to instantly integrate the add-on with their existing Plesk 7 control panels.

Daniel is quick to point out that Plesk Expand is about more than just managing servers. Plesk Expand makes it easier for hosts to add on services for customers, he says, helping hosts to optimize the management of their hosting operations, as well as deliver value-added services to customers.

SWsoft has long prided itself on developing solutions that meet the needs of hosting provider clients, and Plesk Expand was no exception. "This is something that is being demanded by our customers," says Daniel, echoing comments made by Beloussov. As part of this ongoing dialogue, SWsoft encourages its customers to provide feedback, using beta releases such as this, to help ensure its final product addresses their requirements.

The release of Plesk Expand comes just over three months after Swsoft?s February launch of Plesk 7. With 70 new enhancements, Plesk 7 is the second upgrade to the control panel since SWsoft acquired Plesk a year ago, in a deal that made it the largest hosting automation software developer in the world. SWsoft followed the acquisition with the release of version 6 of Plesk in late June of 2003 and made Plesk compatible with the Windows platform in November with the release of Plesk 6.5.

The full release of Plesk Expand is slated for some time in June. And with Plesk 8 already in development, expect SWsoft to continue its pattern of releasing updated versions of its control panel that feature innovations designed to make life easier for hosting service providers.

Tags:  Windows  Linux  value-added services  control panel  Plesk  EDS  Promise 

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