Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : Webmin or Plesk for a dedicated server control panel?

[Vyper]

Who out there has used the two of these or have at least some experience using these two control panels.

Plesk looks very clean and manageable, but is a bit slow as far as the demo is concerned. I've heard that some have problems with auto responders too.

I haven't heard about Webmin too much, but looks like it's loaded with tons of features. I think it's free too? I know dedicatedhosting.com and skynetweb.com use this.

I don't like to rely on demos since you can't really test every feature. Any suggestions?

[Dexter]

Well i've played with both and being a lazy kinda guy I like plesk better becuase it handles everything needed for webhosting with a simple control panel for endusers to take care of stuff themself. But if you want control and features (and the fact that it's free!) then webmin is your cup of tea...

[alchiba]

I don't see the two products as equivalent, although they have a few overlapping features. Plesk was designed for the hosting industry and supports the creation and maintaining of virtual Web sites. Webmin is a remote administration tool for the server at large. Webmin is free and can be downloaded at http://www.webmin.com.

[rhoare]

As others have said, Webmin is just for the server admin, not really aimed at endusers. This suits me, as I maintain all the domains on the server, but not ideal for resellers.

One nice thing about Webmin is it reads/writes standard configuration files, rather than generating its own from templates as I believe Plesk (and the Raqs) do. So you can use scripts, editors, etc, to do your initial bulk setup, then just use Webmin for quick edits.

For example I generate the dns files and virtual domain stuff for httpd.conf offline (for 150+ domains on the server) then upload, and fine tune with webmin. Would be far too tedious to do by hand, which the Raqs certainly and Plesk probably force you to do.

Rob

[eva2000]

Originally posted by rhoare
As others have said, Webmin is just for the server admin, not really aimed at endusers. This suits me, as I maintain all the domains on the server, but not ideal for resellers.

One nice thing about Webmin is it reads/writes standard configuration files, rather than generating its own from templates as I believe Plesk (and the Raqs) do. So you can use scripts, editors, etc, to do your initial bulk setup, then just use Webmin for quick edits.

For example I generate the dns files and virtual domain stuff for httpd.conf offline (for 150+ domains on the server) then upload, and fine tune with webmin. Would be far too tedious to do by hand, which the Raqs certainly and Plesk probably force you to do.

Rob

rob, may i ask how do you generate the dns files off line ? is there an app that can do that ?

[rhoare]

I use a few small custom Perl scripts to take my domain list and generate this stuff. Sorry, not in a form that would be usable by others at this stage.

Rob

[etones]

Hi, im new to dedicated stuff too.

Just wondering, can pleask and webadmin be used together at all?

[Dexter]

Originally posted by etones
Hi, im new to dedicated stuff too.

Just wondering, can pleask and webadmin be used together at all?

Well I can't verify but I've been told that becuase of the way that plesk uses databases and special templates that it won't work webmin.

[JTY]

I'm pretty sure they won't work together. Also I see no reason to have them both installed.

[mkaufman]

I'd go with WebMin, RackSpace installs them on all their servers. It's easy to use and just has about every feature I could think of

[Racin' Rob]

Can Webmin and Plesk be successfully setup on the same server?

[eva2000]

hey etones nice to see ya over here as well

well i'd recommend webmin as well, rackspace my host installs it as default on their linux servers. If you search the vbulletin hosting forum, someone had trouble with their mysql setup and plesk for their vbulletin and ended up removing plesk for webmin anyway.

[etones]

Hi eva, nice to see you over here too!!

Looks like I am in the same situation are you were a while back, I need to go dedicated.

I have seen these two options, both look good but both want a min 6 month contract....

Catalog.com: ($379)
http://servers.catalog.com/redhat.htm

PIII 650 256KB Cache, 128MB RAM, 9GB SCSI HDD
50gb Bandwidth, 4ips

Dialtoneinterne.com ($289)
http://www.dialtoneinternet.net/linu...wfeatures1.htm

Looks eactly the same as catalog.com but with 65gb bandwidth, burstable. They use Server Interface 3.0 however, bad... good?

What do you think? Rackspace is really too expensive, over double the price for comparable systems from these two comps. But I suppose u get what you pay for.

Thanks agani all.

[Chicken]

Note that Dialtone and Catalog do not meter bandwidth usage in the same way. Too long to explain here, but a search for '95th percentile' or maybe '95%' or 'dialtone' should give you the 411 on this topic.

Also, the price you quoted from catalog was almost twice as high as someone here who got a server from them recently. I'd call them and ask (rather than relying on the site for pricing).

You may want to check out http://ultraspeedusa.com for another solid choice. They have their own version of a VDI control panel that people like as well.

[GumMan]

I had similar questions about webmin and plesk and contacted their tech support. It was easy to get a real person and the answer is yes, they can work together but you wouldn't want to use webmin to perform the same tasks performed by plesk.