Plesk

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Plesk
Developed by Parallels, Inc.
Latest release 8.3 / January 2008
OS Windows and Linux
Genre Automation
License Proprietary
Website http://www.parallels.com/en/products/plesk/

The Plesk software package is a commercial web hosting automation solution. Originally released under the U.S. company Plesk Inc. and designed in Novosibirsk, Russia, Plesk became an SWsoft product when SWsoft acquired Plesk Inc. in July 2003.[1] Plesk is now shipped under Parallels, Inc. since Parallels and SWsoft merged in January 2008.[2]

Contents

[edit] Overview

Plesk allows a server administrator to set up new websites, e-mail accounts, and DNS entries through a web-based interface. The administrator can create client and site templates, which predetermine resource allocation parameters for the domains and/or clients.

Plesk is Linux- and Windows- based. Plesk for Linux/UNIX supports multiple POSIX platforms, including Red Hat Linux/Fedora, SUSE, Debian/Ubuntu and FreeBSD. Plesk for Windows supports Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems.

Plesk installs custom versions of or manages versions of MySQL and PostgreSQL databases (Microsoft SQL server and Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine under Windows), Tomcat Java server, ColdFusion server, as well as CounterStrike and Battlefield 1942 game servers.

[edit] Version history

Version Released
Plesk 8.3[3] January 14, 2008
Plesk 8.0[4] March 30, 2006
Plesk 7.5.3[5] May 13, 2005
Plesk 7[6] February 10, 2004
Plesk 6.5[7] November 20, 2003
Plesk 6[8] June 26, 2003

[edit] Reported Issues

[edit] Security

Some users have complained that Plesk is not secure in the sense of multihosting security since all virtual hosts are run under the same Apache user and share the same configuration.[9] However, in Plesk 7.5.6 for Windows and onward, all virtual hosts can run under their own worker process group, secured using their own respective IIS user. In Plesk for Linux, they cannot.

[edit] Backup and restore

One shortcoming in Plesk's data back and restore functionality is the mechanism by which Plesk stores backup files, using server disk space before uploading files to a separate FTP server. Because Plesk backup files can be quite large, this mechanism effectively limits the usable server storage space, forcing administrators to choose between not backing up data or leaving large amounts of storage unused.

[edit] Competing software

[edit] References

  1. ^ HostReview : Web Hosting News : SWsoft Acquires Plesk and Confixx to Create Global Hosting Software Powerhouse
  2. ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/30/parallels_virtuozzo_containers_4point0/
  3. ^ SWsoft Releases New Virtualization Licensing Upgrades @ VIRTUALIZATION JOURNAL
  4. ^ http://www.thehostingnews.com/news-plesk-8-0-for-linux-released-by-hosting-virtualization-firm-swsoft-2163.html
  5. ^ SWsoft's Plesk 7.5.3 for Linux/UNIX Released; Addresses Open Source Community with Inclusion of Debian, CentOS and SuSE 9.0 -AMD 64- Support. - Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical
  6. ^ Web Host Industry News | SWsoft Unveils Plesk 7, Deployed by 1&1
  7. ^ Web Host Industry News | SWsoft Releases Plesk 6.5 For Windows 2003
  8. ^ Web Host Industry News | SWsoft Launches Plesk Control Panel 6
  9. ^ Full Disclosure: PLESK hosting mass deface
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