Which one do you think has more advantages?

Plesk I think, simply because it can be more administrator-friendly. More options than Ensim and can be easier to work with.

Plesk. I work with Ensim and it is making me sick. One problem after the other and updating packages is impossible. And don't count on Ensim to release any kind of frequent patches/updates either. LS 3.1 has been going for about a month and not one patch or update has been released.

One advantage of Plesk that's often overlooked is the low amount of memory that it needs. PSA 2.5 requires 32 MB memory while Ensim needs 256 MB (512 is recommended). CPanel, by the way, also needs 256 MB.

Unless you want those kind of resource hogs on your server, you should go with Plesk.

Personally, I prefer Ensim, and now with 3.1 it has the resellers features, its even better

Plesk is more user friendly and easy to operate, but it doesn't have the user control panel ... so if the user cp isn't important and you are new in the server stuff go for plesk :)

Tazzman,

What kind of problems did you have with Ensim? Critical?

We have had a smooth experience with ensim during last 3 months. (but it was a managed solution)

We had only some problem with Bandwidth Manager stoping every few hours.

I want to see if I will be able to solve them if I purchase an unmanaged ensim server.

Mac

What kind of problems did you have with Ensim? Critical?

The problem isn't so much with Ensim as it is with the kind of crowd Ensim attracts. They get the want-to-be-billionares who start a web hosting company at Rackshack. I am willing to bet that 95% of all people who complain about Ensim are at RS. We have used Ensim since 12/00. We love it. We also love their support. Does Ensim have issues? Yes, and some damn annoying ones at that. But what control panel doesn't?

No, the issue isn't so mush with Ensim as it is with the unskilled people who buym it. It is like some wanna be yuppie buying a BMW that has NO warrenty. Things run great until something breaks. Now that it is time to get under the hood and fix something, they can't.

Same with CPs. They make everyone webhost. Just go read the RS forums. I have never heard so many stupid questions. I can't believe these people call themselves host.

I get so sick of the same people always bashing Ensim. Why do you buy something if you don't like it? Move on and get over it.

The fundamentals are the same for EVERY CP. If you are not an administrator, then no CP is going to help you when sh** hits the fan. Either host at a managed providers DC, or hire an admin.

Of course there are some skilled people using Ensim too. But these people usually deal with the annoying issues or work with Ensim. It is usually the non-skilled tht get burned and want to vent about Ensim to cover there own inabilities.

Originally posted by noti
Plesk is more user friendly and easy to operate, but it doesn't have the user control panel ... so if the user cp isn't important and you are new in the server stuff go for plesk :)

There is a user control panel. PLESK has three levels of CPs:

Administrative Level
Reseller Level
and Domain User (Client) Level

AM I AT RACKSHACK: No and until I hear some better stories about hardware replacement issues I never will be.

IS THE SERVER UNMANAGED: Yes and I knew and realised from day one what this meant.

HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN RUNNING IT: ABOUT 5 MONTHS.

AM I A TOTAL LINUX GURU: No, but I certainly know enough to find my way around.

WHEN DID MY PROBLEMS START: When I upgraded to LS 3.1, before that I couldn't say I totally loved Ensim, but it did its job and run stable.

WHAT PROBLEMS: Mostly it's a problem with apache freezing. There are only a few low load sites on the server so I very much doubt that's the cause and it doesn't just freeze at peak times, but randomly. Also it's only apache that freezes, everything else (ftp,...) stay up and running.

Also mySQL froze once and wouldn't restart without rebooting the server.

WOULD I STILL BE SWITCHING TO A DIFFERENT CP IF I WASN'T HAVING THESE PROBLEMS:

Yes I would. I host a very select few, so I have constant contact with them and I don't think any one of them has a kind word to say about Ensim. Also some question marks have been raised on Ensim business practices lately and I don't like the fact that Ensim support will gladly charge you an arm and a leg to answer your questions should you have any 31 days after you have purchased the product. The least they could do for their customers is have some staff in the support forums.

LS 3.0 was around for just under 6 months and in that time Ensim only released 4 patches for it and no updates for php etc.

Always look in the error logs, never can find anything to indicate what caused apache to freeze. Maybe I just got unlucky and something went wrong during the install procedure or I just happened to get a build that still needed some work. Talking about install, Ensim is supposed to activate quota's when installing. When I installed it said it did this, but when I checked when it was done it hadn't, so I had to do it myself.

Actually, I can't say with 100% certainty that Ensim is the cause of all my problems, but everything seems to point in that direction. I'd have an Ensim tech jump in and have a look, only I think I'd be taking out a loan if I did that.

As for the part in the post above about only inexperienced people bashing Ensim, I can tell you I practically don't use the CP to admin my server. When I go in, I go in via SSH. The only thing I do use Ensim for is adding new accounts. I realize very well many 'I wanna get rich so I'll just start a hosting company on a rackshack box' hosts try to use the CP to get everything done, only I know it doesn't quite work that way. I'm also not out to make a quick buck. I can tell you that I don't make a single dollar from the server (soon to be servers) I run.

EDIT: When it raines... Just installed the Ensim apache fix. Haha, now my server has frozen entirely. It finished install9ing the patch and then totally froze :(

Tazzman, my comments were not directed to you, but meant to be a generalization of what *I* see with Ensim bashers. Your post was also a little off. I will break it down

Plesk. I work with Ensim and it is making me sick. One problem after the other and updating packages is impossible. And don't count on Ensim to release any kind of frequent patches/updates either. LS 3.1 has been going for about a month and not one patch or update has been released.

1) "One problem after the other and updating packages is impossible. "

Impossible? Need I say more?

2) "And don't count on Ensim to release any kind of frequent patches/updates either."

I have received multiple notices for patches and security fixes within a few weeks. Are you on their mailing list?

3) "LS 3.1 has been going for about a month and not one patch or update has been released."

Actually about 3 weeks. What exactly is broke that needs patching with 3.1? I know there are some functionality issues, but those are not bugs.

Look, as stated before, this wasn't directed to you personally. It was a broad statement to group the exact people who know who they are. It is always the same people bashing Ensim. I went and read some forums on RS site and couldn't believe the questions they were asking. No big deal to ask questions. But when you are a "host" and need to ask a forum how to restart apache.... come on.

Points well taken and I probably shouldn't be posting about Ensim anyway as I can't give an honest opinion because of the fact it has gotten me totally frustrated over the past 3 weeks.

Yes, you can update things like php etc., but it's not as easy to do so as I would like it to be. I'm not on the mailing list, but I'll be sure to add myself.

I hate people who suggest this. Especially from some other host who hasn't yet experienced the joy of fraudulent chargeback's.

The list is good. You will get quick updates.

Also, I understand frustration. We have open tickets with them. But they have always been helpful and in the end, they have no more issues then any other CP we have used. Cobalt comes to mind and well as Plesk.

I do agree they need to work on their support forum. It is crappy. You get more info off Rackshacks forums. They should give some users free licenses to moderate the support forums.