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  1. #1
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    Jul 2009
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    How important is a control panel for (not in) VPSes?

    Hi all, in particular the subscribers/owners of a VPS, what is the importance you place in a control panel for your VPS?
    By control panel, I mean those like Vtonf, Lxadmin, HyperVM etc, not cPanel/DA.
    What kind of features do you actually use, and what are deemed absolutely necessary/minimum expected?
    Hope to get some views/opinions here.

    Roy

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Most people on WHT will probably tell you a panel is required. It makes things like reboots easier if something goes wrong... you won't have to submit a ticket to support. With that said, I can tell you right now that about 40% of our clients never even log in to the panel. So it just depends on the person.

  3. #3
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    I prefer a hypervisor simply because I don't want to bug my host for reboot / restart issues, or doing things such as setting rDNS, or OS reloads. Having that control "in the palm of my hand" is one thing I deem necessary so that I can fix things expediently without placing and waiting on a ticket. I hate waiting on someone else when customers are breathing down my neck.

    Other than that, I do NOT like a control panel.
    (Lxadmin would be similar to cpanel, DA, btw..it's a hosting control panel, not a hyprevisor).

    Basically, if you are reselling space to site owners that do not know shell, and want to control their own hosting components, you pretty much have to have some control panel to offer.

    Personally, for anyone that wants a control panel, I use reseller accounts. For anything VPS class and up, I control the web sites for customers...they usually have FTP access only, so I just don't go there. On one VPS combined with my own OpenVZ dev enviro, I'm testing certain control panels clustering (forced or otherwise), but that's about the only exception to my rule. I currently have one sub-hosting niche site running on Virtualmin just because.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    Kandy, Sri Lanka
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    A hypervisor CP is something great to have so then i don't have to go and submit tickets for reboots, os re-installations etc. That way it's much faster to get things done. Also ability to make full o/s level backups just b4 u try sumtin risky on your vps.

    But AFIK not many log into this CP as it's not much needed daily as a wbhosting CP. actually once you get your setup running smoothly with everything done, then the hypervisor is not used that much. Usually the 1st couple of months after the provisioning of a vps, the hypervisor CP is used heavily. then the usage degrades a lot.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by gunemalli View Post
    A hypervisor CP is something great to have so then i don't have to go and submit tickets for reboots, os re-installations etc. That way it's much faster to get things done. Also ability to make full o/s level backups just b4 u try sumtin risky on your vps.

    But AFIK not many log into this CP as it's not much needed daily as a wbhosting CP. actually once you get your setup running smoothly with everything done, then the hypervisor is not used that much. Usually the 1st couple of months after the provisioning of a vps, the hypervisor CP is used heavily. then the usage degrades a lot.
    I disagree in the fact that the hypervisor serves the same purpose that a KVM serves on a dedicated / co-lo server. Once it's set up, you don't have to use it much, but when you DO need it, there is no substitute. When I have paying clients waiting on something a simple reboot will fix, it's invaluable being able to fix it while still on the phone, and not wait on a ticket to be replied to.
    VPSs are netorious for not rebooting correctly, so just for that reason, it's really a must-have for those basic functions (at least for me). If you have one VPS, no big deal, but when you find yourself admining 10+ because of growth, it really become a must-have just from the base control aspect.

    I also keep a few around for testing purposes, and I like being able to load or reload any OS on a whim.

    But hosting control panels? Meh. Sadly some customers insist on them, but I just don't load them on VPSs.
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  6. #6
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    I forgot to mention one thing, i was speaking on th point of view of the customer/client, not the service provider. I'm a vps client and what i've mentioned above is from my experience. I don't know from the point of view of the admins, cos i've never been there.

    Sorry if i offended in any way.

  7. #7
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    No offense taken on my part, for sure...it's all just a good discussion, and good question

    Yes, I do agree that it's not used too much, as far as the hypervisor functionality, and it's importance, as you have alluded to, is really dependent on if you use it alone for your own hosting needs, or as a back-door to quickly gain control over a situation that could affect multiple customers that may be on a VPS. Some customers can "mess up" and run a script that does something memory-intensive or just plain bad code, and the only recourse is to pop the power. Hmmmm..maybe I should charge for that....
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  8. #8
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    Sep 2004
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    Users definitely need at least VPS restart, OS reinstall, clear firewall rules, reset root password and critical VPS information like used memory etc.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    for example, if a user overloads his VPS or reached memory limit he will not be able to ssh to the server and will have to reach support.
    Or he can simply reboot from the control panel without having to wait a second. Usually a lot of users preffer not to speak to support. I would say that a control panel will be pretty much appreciated by the client.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by sheic View Post
    Users definitely need at least VPS restart, OS reinstall, clear firewall rules, reset root password and critical VPS information like used memory etc.
    Sounds like a good list, thanks!
    I'm always very hesitant in providing such root level tools, which is why I've only an option to do "hard reboots" in the self-developed control panel. I guess one day I'll send a mass mailer to all the VPS owners to ask whether there is anything in particular they'd need.
    But I'd like to think that those who opt for a VPS, either generally do not muck about with it much, or would have the technical expertise to resolve situations, failing which would be contacting support.

    I think I'd be a very paranoid one if I were a customer.
    If a control panel enforced email confirmation (like forum sign-up authentication), would you find it a hassle or would you consider it to be a necessary security measure? Do any of the existing control panels do this?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by ConceptLane View Post
    Sounds like a good list, thanks!
    I'm always very hesitant in providing such root level tools, which is why I've only an option to do "hard reboots" in the self-developed control panel. I guess one day I'll send a mass mailer to all the VPS owners to ask whether there is anything in particular they'd need.
    But I'd like to think that those who opt for a VPS, either generally do not muck about with it much, or would have the technical expertise to resolve situations, failing which would be contacting support.

    I think I'd be a very paranoid one if I were a customer.
    If a control panel enforced email confirmation (like forum sign-up authentication), would you find it a hassle or would you consider it to be a necessary security measure? Do any of the existing control panels do this?
    It's almost a necessity for anyone buying a VPS. Creating of a backend hypervisor system login should only be completed after your fraud protection system and any manual checking you want to do, and be behind SSL.

    Other than that, when you hand it out, there's not much to destroy (it's a newly created VPS) and if it's setup by an actual admin in the future, and has something to loose, then the chances of it being fraudulent are nill. Just having it online, while it may seem scary, if done right, it's just as safe as any other connection protocol (ssh, etc). Just keep it encrypted. If one can bank online, one should be able to reboot a VPS.

    I would not rely on a simple email verification. There needs to be some other system in place, fraud protection is good for generally keeping a lot no-good-users out (illegale activites are usually not paid for w/ good credentials, and generaly trip fraud detection flag measures).
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  12. #12
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by ConceptLane View Post
    Sounds like a good list, thanks!
    I'm always very hesitant in providing such root level tools, which is why I've only an option to do "hard reboots" in the self-developed control panel. I guess one day I'll send a mass mailer to all the VPS owners to ask whether there is anything in particular they'd need.
    But I'd like to think that those who opt for a VPS, either generally do not muck about with it much, or would have the technical expertise to resolve situations, failing which would be contacting support.

    I think I'd be a very paranoid one if I were a customer.
    If a control panel enforced email confirmation (like forum sign-up authentication), would you find it a hassle or would you consider it to be a necessary security measure? Do any of the existing control panels do this?
    We do not require email confirmation for the billing account.
    But the welcome email (containing VPS root password etc.) is sent to the sign-up email and does not appear in WHMCS messages.

    A valid email address is a minimum security measure. Though it's not much.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Canada
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    A control panel outside the server that handles billing, start, stop, reboot and basic configuration issues of a server is a must.

    A control panel installed *inside* the VPS can be very useful for webhosting and simplifying the configuration of a servers software (cPanel is our favorite).
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