cPanel headquartered in Houston provides website hosting providers with workload and server automation, as well as a management console for creating and launching websites, managing email and web files, and other administrative tasks.
$15.99
per month
Plesk
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
Plesk is a server control panel, providing a solution that enables usres to build and manage multiple sites from a single dashboard. Users can also run updates, monitor performance and onboard new prospects all from the same place. Plesk also boasts a robust toolkit for Wordpress management, and supports other CMS. It is available on the public cloud of the user's choice.
$12
per month
VMware vCenter
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
VMware vCenter is an advanced server management software that provides a centralized platform for controlling vSphere environments for visibility across hybrid clouds. VMware vCenter is no longer sold as a standalone product and is now available as a part of VMware Cloud Foundation.
I've only ever really used cPanel-type web host control panels. CPanels are very cumbersome and clunky. They don't allow one to update all their hosted website's CMS, templates, and plugins, from within their system. This is a SERIOUS time- and headache-saver, in my opinion! I …
Both cPanel and Plesk are similar, however Plesk was choosen because it of it's ease of use and available extensions. The administrator can create client and site templates, which essentially is allocating resources for domains and/or clients. Also, Plesk is designed to …
I've found cPanel to be much more intuitive than Plesk over the years. Both have had very clunky interfaces, however a great deal of development by both Plesk and cPanel has been done in this area. I feel that cPanel at the moment has an easier interface to work in (however it …
I personally use it for any website hosting I do for me and others. There are a few others but I have stuck with the old tried and true and it always works for me and I know how to get around it so it has become a breeze for me. For those who are extremely new to websites and hosting or to those with very little technical know how cPanel could be very overwhelming and they might want to do like a managed WordPress hosting where they don't really have to see or deal with cPanel. I also probably wouldn't use it for straight email hosting. If you have thousands of cPanel accounts it may get very expensive and that could be a factor.
Plesk is well-suited for website creators who have been developing websites on a regular basis. If one is new to website development, Plesk could be a bit confusing and difficult to navigate. However, if one has experience on another type of platform, like CP (Control Panel) which is used by other web hosts out there, then it will be much easier to navigate the Plesk panel. Keep in mind there is definitely a learning curve, as Plesk really is quite different. Overall, new users will learn to love the ability to have more control over their websites.
The VMware vCenter server is very useful in maintaining the CPU/RAM/datastore resources are balanced when there are multiple ESX/ESXi host servers. It is clear what resources are being used, and it is easy to migrate VMs to different ESX/ESXi hosts. Being able to remotely connect to the VM servers in vCenter when you cannot have other remote connections helps in maintenance and troubleshooting.
Automatically update the CMS, plugins, and templates of all your websites, depending on your CMS, all at the same time, with just a few strokes of your keyboard.
Enables one to set up a schedule to back up your websites, automatically, and easily download/save the backup files off-site, for safety.
Makes it easy for users to use a backup file to reinstall a website, with just a few strokes of the keyboard. Excellent service!
The costs can be a limiting factor for some businesses if you are not using a web hosting company that uses it. I have been experimenting with Cloud hosting, which can be very daunting for the novice. There is an option to install it on the cloud but it is expensive.
Currently, the HTML 5-based vSphere Client lets you manage the essential functions of vSphere from any browser, however, it would be nice if they would port all management functions over to the HTML 5-based Client.
Performing updates and upgrades to the infrastructure is a bit challenging for someone that may not be as intimate with vSphere. I think the updates/upgrades should be more integrated into the UI and provide the ability to push to the hosts, etc...
It would also be nice to have a more robust snapshot management tool to prevent snapshot overgrowth. It would be nice to be able to set a lifespan for the snapshot(s)
We are very dependent on this software, it has become a much needed tool to perform the daily tasks that are required to maintain the virtual server environment. VMware has become very pricey over the years, so we are looking for alternatives for cost savings strategy, but nothing has been found to be on par to what we are currently using
Although it can be a little bit bloated with a lot of options and configurations, it's very straightforward to use and maintain. So it's a great option even if you don't have large experience in hosting configuration. The WHM tool is more suited to heavy users since it requires more expertise, so it has a steep learning curve to better understand how to use it.
I work with vCenter for 10+ years and i love it. I can find my way around and can help building and expanding the platform. It is easy to use and there are a lot good communities for the extra support when needed. Even the Homelab community is of great value.
The support comes in the form of an extensive library of how to articles and community input. For most situations this will give you plenty of information and resources to trouble shoot. Live support really then would need to default to the hosting provider who provides the cPanel for your use.
VMware support has always been fantastic and they have been invaluable in solving tougher issues that have been run into. Most of the time, any oddities encountered are fixed by available updates. This can be deduced by support quickly with logs within vCenter. We have not run into something yet that support was unable to help with. They either have a solution already, or they are able to find one quickly.
Since moving away from the Windows Server hosting the vCenter application and instead using a virtual appliance, it has become much easier to implement and deploy the new versions. We can easily create a snapshot or clone of the vCenter vApp to ensure any problems encountered during the upgrade can be mitigated with a fall back to the old version to prevent unscheduled downtime.
The direct server management tool access provided by cPanel hosting accounts is far superior to any shared or "standard" web site hosting packaged offered by any of the numerous web host providers I have used and or evaluated over the 20+ years of my experience working in the internet industry.
Plesk has a much more intuitive platform that allows for customization and scalability within an organization. It has the advantage when it comes to the ability to adapt to the current state of the company and grow with it organically. There are a few limitations that would make me choose a competitor, and there is good value for the price.
