Automation is everything in the web hosting arena. Without it, many of the same tasks that have become simple would revert to being tedious. Even the most skilled administrators dread dealing with the raw aspects of a web server and operating system. These are some of the factors that have led to the advent of administrative tools like Plesk. The Plesk software makes a popular control panel choice for web hosting providers and end-users in shared, virtual or dedicated server environments. Compatible with both Windows and Linux platforms, it provides all the tools needed to control a complicated web server or simple website. It is also highly regarded as the most stable and reliable control panel on the market. This article will give you an introduction on Plesk and overview some of its capabilities.
Plesk Features
The Plesk control panel aims to the simplify various administrative processes. It lets you create and manage domains, install SSL certificates and even access the built-in site builder for putting your website together. You can perform a number of simple tasks such as setting up email accounts, webmail and autoresponders as well as more advanced functions like billing customers and blocking spam with greylisting. In addition, Plesk gives you the ability to manage files through a web-based file manager or by means of a FrontPage administrative panel. Whether its viewing a website’s bandwidth usage or managing customer accounts, it can all be done within the confinement of this extremely capable control panel. Plesk offers tremendous power, able to reduce operating costs and resource usage by automating a variety of tasks.
Control Levels
Plesk offers four levels of login, each with their own responsibilities and privileges. These levels include:
Administrator – The highest level, this login allows the administrator control virtually every component of the system. Once logged in at this level, you can centrally manage multiple servers be it an HTTP web server like Apache or a database server like MySQL.
Client – The client level login allows resellers to obtain creation rights from the system administrator.
Domain – The third level login is designed for the website owner or end user. These permissions are what provides a user the ability to manage their hosting account.
Mail User – The fourth level login is designated for individual mail accounts. Here, users can login and maintain their email accounts, change passwords, configure spam filters, change virus settings and more.
Plesk is One of the Best
Though it extends benefits to the end-user, the Plesk control panel was designed with professional web hosting providers and experienced system administrators in mind. It enables companies to be very successful by providing the ability to maintain thousands of accounts per server with a high level of performance and better security than most competing control panels. The software comes bundled with a variety of tools and even includes an application installer that allows end-users to incorporate blogs, bulletin boards and other types of program. Plesk delivers the seamless automation needed to enrich and simplify the technically challenging hosting operation.
