Getting Started with Plesk
Getting Started with Plesk
Plesk is one of the web hosting industry’s leading control panels for Linux and Windows web hosting services and provides users with a common interface for both platforms meaning that having web hosting packages on either platform needn’t be a management headache any longer. Plesk is seen as the best web hosting control panel available for Windows web hosting services as it has proven to be the most stable available and offers users a number of features that aren’t available with other Windows web hosting control panels, most notably it’s support for Coldfusion, amongst other technologies. Plesk is an easy to use control panel for many since it’s interface is based on the design of Windows Vista, whilst previous versions were based on the general design/theme of Windows XP; this means that users will find it easy to use certain features within Plesk, although the more advance features are more likely to be used by those who know Plesk inside out. Plesk is developed by the software vendor Parallels who also develop the very popular Virtuozzo VPS daemon; this means that it is very easy to find a web hosting provider that is able to offer Plesk for free or at a low price for VPS server and dedicated server users. As a web hosting customer you may find it more beneficial to start off with a shared web hosting package if you wish to use Plesk; using and managing Plesk on a VPS server or dedicated server requires a certain amount of skill since it isn’t the easiest of control panels to manage.
What makes Plesk different?
Most web hosting control panels are designed specifically for one operating system, such as cPanel is designed solely for Linux and DotNetPanel is designed for use on Windows only; the one thing that sets Plesk apart from these other control panels is the fact that it can be used on either Linux or Windows servers – this allows web hosting providers to offer Linux and Windows web hosting services without the need to use two different control panels for Linux and Windows web hosting servers. Plesk’s user interface also helps to make it stand out from its rivals; it uses a design which is based on that of Windows Vista which helps to make the user interface more friendly and graphically appealing to users – past versions of Plesk used a design based on the theme of Windows XP. Other factors that help Plesk to be different from other web hosting control panels include:
- Price for the consumer – as many web hosting providers are official partners of Parallels, the company that makes Plesk, since they offer VPS hosting services that are based on the Virtuozzo VPS daemon that is made by the same software vendor, you will find that such web hosting providers will be able to offer you Plesk at a lower cost than other control panels that are available, and in some cases you may even find a web hosting provider that can offer you Plesk for free as long as you choose to go with a VPS server offered by them
- Comprehensive support – as Plesk is both easy to manage and use for most web hosting support technicians, most web hosting providers are able to offer comprehensive support for VPS server and dedicated server hosting customers who have Plesk installed on their servers – this means that if you are facing an issue with Plesk, you can contact your web hosting provider to have them sort out any problems you are having – it is a good idea to go with a web hosting provider that is an official partner of Parallels since this means that your web hosting provider can get support from them for problems that they can’t fix themselves
- Official documentation – unlike other control panels, Plesk comes with official documentations which covers the entire control panel – this makes it easy for both clients and server administrators to refer to the documentation, and since it is web based it is very easy to search through – this also means that using the control panel is made easier for both new clients who may not have used Plesk before as well as system administrators whose experience may lie with other web hosting control panels, but it is obviously important for them to know how to use Plesk.
The features that help make Plesk different from other web hosting control panels are also the features that make it easy to get started with. Because of Plesk’s GUI, many people who haven’t used web hosting before find the control panel very easy to use as the interface that they are using is one which is similar to their Windows operating system interface. Depending on the form of web hosting you have chosen, you will most likely be provided with access to Plesk regardless of whether you are using Windows or Linux web hosting.
How do I get started with Plesk then?
Plesk is fairly easy to get started with; to begin with you need to login to the control panel which can be easily done by following the link to the control panel that your web hosting provider has included within your welcome email for your new Plesk web hosting service. Once you login to the control panel, you are presented with many different options that you can make use of to manage the different aspects of your web hosting account and domain name; it is important for you to know what all these different features do as you don’t want to end up changing something which will cause your domain or website to cease functioning correctly. Plesk is able to offer you a large range of functions that you can use to manage the different aspects of your web hosting service and domain name hosting; these range from standard email account features right up to SQL server database hosting services for more advance users. The main features to be aware of when getting started with the Plesk web hosting control panel include:
- Email accounts – it is more than likely that you will want to setup email accounts for the domain that you are hosting on your Plesk web hosting account, and because of that it is important for you to take note of this feature – Plesk provides you with the facilities to create and manage email accounts under your domain name that you have hosted under your Plesk web hosting account, and if your web hosting provider has enabled spam and anti-virus protection then you can also configure these 2 features independently for each of your email accounts under your web hosting account
- FTP accounts – this is another feature that you should make note of when getting started with Plesk as you will want to have FTP access to your web space so that you can upload your website files and start running your website off your new web hosting package – in most cases you can create as many FTP accounts as you want, and Plesk will provide you with the facilities to create and modify FTP accounts – it should be noted that without at least one FTP account, you will be unable to upload any files to your web space via FTP – if you don’t wish to use FTP then you can always use Plesk’s built in file manager
- DNS servers – it is important for you to change your domain’s DNS servers when you purchase a new web hosting account as otherwise your domain won’t function correctly with your new Plesk web hosting account – Plesk provides you with the facilities to configure custom DNS records if needed, although this is only really suitable for advance users who may have other services running on their own servers but are using shared hosting for their main website – it should be noted that if you alter certain DNS records then your website may not function correctly.
Such features ensure that it is easy for you to get started with the Plesk control panel. As Plesk provides all users with an intuitive GUI, new users shouldn’t find it too hard to navigate to the noted features that they can then make use of to get their website started on their new web hosting package. If you are unable to understand a certain part of Plesk then you should contact your web hosting provider as they should be able to help you, as long as the problem is simple.
In conclusion, Plesk is an easy control panel to get started with even more the most technically incapable people. As its design is based on that of Microsoft Windows, many first time users will find it easy to navigate and many of the features on offer are very easy to use. If there is any Plesk feature that you are unsure of then you should contact your web hosting provider, or alternatively you can refer to the control panel’s official documentations that is available through the Parallels’ website if required.
