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  1. #1
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    selling Plesk vs. Cpanel reseller accounts

    I have always used whm/Cpanel for resellers. I am considering using Plesk, maybe exclusively.

    There have been a lot of threads about the inability to oversell the bandwidth by resellers.

    I was wondering if I could get some input by providers as to how difficult it is to 'sell' Plesk reseller accounts vs. Cpanel accounts.

    I'm getting another server this week and I am thinking of buying a Plesk license for it, but I may just get another Cpanel license.

    I am considering on starting this server with just a T-1 line until the xfer starts pushing the limits, and then moving up to 10Mbps (and 100 if I ever reach it) so I would have *almost* unlimited bandwidth at my disposal, only limited to a 100Mbps pipe essentially, and would add another server or port if needed, to keep my end of any plans I have sold. I would never advertise unlimited, but let's just say I would have a lot of BW.

    Cpanel is a lot more popular, but Plesk certainly isn't a dead horse. Any suggestions of what has proven to work, or has been a complete failure, would be appreciated.

    Also, does Plesk limit resellers by their available disk space as well as BW, or just BW?
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  2. #2
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    Plesk is slow, where as cPanel is faster and skinable. Resellers can oversell both disk and bw, where as on plesk I don't belive u can oversell. (could be wrong about Plesk)

    Resellers clients get www.<yourdomain>.com as a login and customers if they know anything about Plesk, they would know they are resellers. cPanel seems to be much better at annon hosting.

    cPanel has more features like pre-installed scripts and appers to the customer as more features, and would often choose cPanel over plesk.

    When I first starting Plesk i needed a lot of help with it, now I have cPanel and its so easy. There are some great skins out there.

    I think cPanel is easier to sell, as a reseller myself.

    Only think I miss from Plesk is mySQL db names like joe instede of username_db

  3. #3
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    ... and resellers can set-up auto account creatation, in cPanel, where as Plesk you have to do it by hand, or purchases easypsa.com

    Webmail.domain.com I also miss that from plesk

  4. #4
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    I agree with you SpritAu that I personally like Cpanel, but I really can't be very fair because I've never done any more than test the demo account.

    Cpanel does have the ability for http://domain.com/Webmail/ though, as long as you remember the trailing '/'.

    Some people though seem to be doing all right with it though, but I don't know if it is just as easy to sell as Cpanel is. Personally, I wouldn't search out someone with a Plesk server if I were a reseller, but then again, I've been told I am far from normal .
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  5. #5
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    Plesk is more $? Where as cPanel is once off unlimted domain licence?

    If you have a local box that you can play around with why not download the free 1 domain version of Plesk, install it and see if you like it.

    Wow I learn something today /webmail/

  6. #6
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    Another thing Plesk has problems with people behind proxies with port 8443, so I bet you'll get a lot of Questions "Can't access control panel", this may be an issue with if support starts going up.

    How easy is domain.com/cpanel/ and domain.com/whm/? Compaired to https://www.domain.com:8443/.
    And you get SSL warnings when accessing Plesk, e.g https://www.bjcwebdesign.com.au:8443/

  7. #7
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    I do NT admin work on occasion at a fortune 100 corp. and I can't get to Cpanel or WHM through their firewall either. I believe Cpanel uses :2082 and WHM uses :2086.

    The biggest reason I am considering Plesk isn't really the cost, it's the service. I'm not colocating this server, it will be dedicated. The center only offers Plesk, so it only supports Plesk. If I have a WHM/Cpanel support issue, I won't be able to use them, I'll have to go elsewhere. Being at the box has advantages in fixing problems, and I'll be paying for it anyway.

    If I were to decide solely on the panel, I would choose Cpanel. Cpanel is only 200 bucks more than Plesk Unlimited, and allows resellers to oversell bandwidth. I also get paged when someone tries to hack into the server (which is quite often, I might add), gives me daily updates of activities, and has automatic updates based on how 'cutting edge' I want my servers. I'm not sure if Plesk does any of this.
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  8. #8
    I think cPanel is the best control panel at present, you won't be sorry if you use it.
    AceWebHosting.Com
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  9. #9
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    Originally posted by NetworksData
    I think cPanel is the best control panel at present, you won't be sorry if you use it.
    I have never had to use Cpanel's built-in support, but I may have to if I use it here. Has anyone any experience with the responsiveness and/or depth of this support? I'm not really good with the 'behind the scenes' aspect of Cpanel. Hacking an XMB forum is one thing, but fixing Cpanel problems are out of my league presently (although, like I said, I haven't had to deal with it). I'd hate to have to hire outside help at a moment's notice. My customers are used to very fast, personal care, and I'm not about to change my business model.

    In other words, if I stay with Cpanel at this center, and something goes haywire like an account that gets locked out due to bandwidth that shouldn't be, I would have to put in a WHM server ticket and wait for Cpanel.net to fix it. I would be sorry if they either charged me for fixing it or got into a finger-pointing match with the center so I had to hire an ad-hoc sysadmin to fix it.
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  10. #10
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    SpiritAu, just to respond to a few points if I may.

    - Speedwise, I find them similar.
    - Plesk is skinable.
    - Resellers get a username as a log in.
    - Anonymity would be fairly similar too I think.
    - Cpanel has more features/pre-installed scripts but most (us included) don't directly support them.
    - The one time regular license fee for Cpanel is higher than an unlimited domain Plesk license. There is no ongoing cost for support/updates for Plesk. The Cpanel alternatives are 1,2 and 3 year licences, or an ongoing monthly rental/lease fee via an authorised NOC or reseller. These are just comparisons of the standard published prices. Obviously better deals can be struck, for both control panels, in certain circumstances.

    There are workarounds for a few of your other points. Our preference is Plesk, but both do have their own good and bad points.

    Regards

    Gary

  11. #11
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    You have a nice site, Editor.

    I was curious about one thing, why is there a separation of In vs. Out date xfer limitations?

    Are resellers with Plesk able to have their own nameservers?

    I didn't realize that Plesk had no cost for updates and support. Has anyone used their support that could comment?

    Resellers being able to oversell by a couple of times as long as they stay within their plan has been a pretty easy sell for us so far. Don't you have a hard time selling that considering if they divided their account by 5, they could only sell 4 accounts plus their own?

    Also, if I figured out how to make it work with the BW, is the disk space able to be oversold for my resellers?

    Is Plesk set up the same way as Cpanel where a person has either a hosting account, or has reselling priveleges and can host unlimited accounts (or a configurable amount of accounts) under them?
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  12. #12
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    Originally posted by skelley1
    You have a nice site, Editor.
    Thanks.

    I was curious about one thing, why is there a separation of In vs. Out date xfer limitations?
    That's only on aussiehosts.com.au (Australian based - physcially), in keeping with the way we're charged.

    Are resellers with Plesk able to have their own nameservers?
    Yes.

    I didn't realize that Plesk had no cost for updates and support. Has anyone used their support that could comment?
    Support is free, via Plesk themself. They have a fairly active forum with Plesk representation. Really though, there's not a whole lot that goes wrong with it over time. Updates/patches within a major version are free. I made that comment about special deals away from the authors though...in once such case Webreseller offer a very cost effective upgrade from 2.5x to 5.0x.

    Resellers being able to oversell by a couple of times as long as they stay within their plan has been a pretty easy sell for us so far. Don't you have a hard time selling that considering if they divided their account by 5, they could only sell 4 accounts plus their own?
    We only have two reseller servers, and only one of those is dedicated to resellers. They love it I'm sure. We chose to raise some multi-domain plans instead. When someone goes we'll fill the slot. But in answer to your question, not at all. We've structured our plans on what we can deliver to those clients. None have asked to risk offering more than that.

    Also, if I figured out how to make it work with the BW, is the disk space able to be oversold for my resellers?
    There's always a work around. We can easily let someone oversell by raising their quotas based on an agreement. But it hasn't been a problem. The matter is being addressed by Plesk I believe though, will hard limits becoming optional.

    Is Plesk set up the same way as Cpanel where a person has either a hosting account, or has reselling priveleges and can host unlimited accounts (or a configurable amount of accounts) under them?
    Yes, that's correct.

    Cheers

    Gary

  13. #13
    Originally posted by skelley1


    I have never had to use Cpanel's built-in support, but I may have to if I use it here. Has anyone any experience with the responsiveness and/or depth of this support? I'm not really good with the 'behind the scenes' aspect of Cpanel. Hacking an XMB forum is one thing, but fixing Cpanel problems are out of my league presently (although, like I said, I haven't had to deal with it). I'd hate to have to hire outside help at a moment's notice. My customers are used to very fast, personal care, and I'm not about to change my business model.

    In other words, if I stay with Cpanel at this center, and something goes haywire like an account that gets locked out due to bandwidth that shouldn't be, I would have to put in a WHM server ticket and wait for Cpanel.net to fix it. I would be sorry if they either charged me for fixing it or got into a finger-pointing match with the center so I had to hire an ad-hoc sysadmin to fix it.
    Cpanel.net doesn't provide support to end-users, most of time you have to rely on your own, if you have problem you can ask your license provider or people at cPanel's forum or here for help. The guys at cpanel will help you only if it is a bug in Cpanel. But Cpanel is not hard to use and you have total control of your server, for example if an account is locked due to bandwidth you can unlock it by setting its bandwidth higher in WHM. I havent got any problems with cPanel so far and I really like it.
    AceWebHosting.Com
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  14. #14
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    Thanks Editor for the answers, they're making it harder for me to decide

    I don't really want you to go into your business model too much on this thread Editor, but by 'based on an agreement' do you mean that you have an agreement that they are paying for say 5G but you will let them show 15G in Plesk, accepting that they would be responsible for overcharges over 5G? PM or email if you'd rather.

    I only mentioned the locking-out because I keep a backup reseller account with someone else and ran into this problem with a hosted client. My WHM (although reseller version) was not able to fix it by even giving the account unlimited everything and then going to the un-suspend page. I had to go to the server host to have it fixed. Luckily he is a great host himself, and fixed it as soon as I contacted him (Alan at splashhost.com BTW). I don't know if this particular problem could have been fixed through my server WHM panel directly or not. Alan is kind of a guru, so it could have been something way over my head.
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  15. #15
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    I believe (though could be wrong) that there's a bit of a bug there in Cpanel that can randomly lock a domain down that has to be resolved at root. I am not 100% sure. But your assumption above that, in that with Plesk you can allocate x amount of data transfer/disk space under the proviso that it is billed above a lower amount, is correct.

    Regards

    Gary

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