The biggest challenges we run into as system admins and web experts are multiple server management, site management, and maintenance. If we don’t do this right, we face consequences. We waste time and resources. So it’s essential to own a web hosting control panel – making the whole thing simpler. While being able to create sites, apps, automate tasks, handle website security, and more.
Plesk Onyx is an all-around control panel and WebOps solution. Devs rely on it for its coding environment. Not to mention everyday tasks as it offers many extensions. Including Node.js, Ruby, WordPress Toolkit, Joomla Toolkit and more.
Plesk Control Panel Bonuses
Plesk supports Docker, which empowers developers to create and manage their new software. Do this by managing and deploying all Docker containers straight from the control panel. Additionally, Plesk offers GitHub integrations – deploying apps and sites quick from a Git repository, remote or local.
Plesk server management continues to add to its multiple server management capabilities. By giving absolute control of multiple accounts and subscriptions across all servers.
Multiple Server Management with One Control Panel
Plesk’s Multi Server extension lets you administrate multiple servers and routine tasks with just one control panel. Doesn’t matter if you’re a hosting provider, reseller, or manage your own hosting. Constantly switching between several hostnames, username IDs, and so on is exhausting.
Plesk designed its Multi Server extension with this in mind. For effective and secure multiple server management. With this extension, you can perform hosting actions on many servers. And manage the infrastructure with ease. This because memorizing hostnames, passwords, and login identifications become unnecessary.
It’s similar to simple web server management. However, the same scope of features is related to a number of servers. All through a single control panel.
Why the Multiple Server Management Extension?
You can install this extension directly from Plesk’s extension list. But note that you need to install Onyx on all your servers first. You’ll have all the features that Plesk has. But with this extension, you’ll gain additional functionalities:
- Managing as many customer subscriptions and accounts as you want from your control panel.
- Choosing between any billing systems you like, including yours.
It’s a very useful business-ready platform. Ideal for development studios and web designers who manage many different sites and clients.
What Plesk Multi-server management Consists of
- At least two nodes which are all connected to each other using the SDK extension.
- The basic two nodes include Service nodes and management nodes.
- Plesk multi-server that will be installed on all extensions with all nodes.
- All of the nodes that will have the same license key and configurations.
Subscriptions and Customer Account Management
So we said that this system comes with two nodes – service and management nodes. You use the service node to manage hosting. Because it has the power to host sites, system databases and emails. It also ensures quality load-balancing. This is important since it decides which node will provide hosting for the new subscription. Meanwhile, the multi-server extension has a separate API extending from Plesk’s API. Giving the power to add commands within the system.
The management node is a single Onyx server. Useful for both customers and administrators. And it servers a single point login spot. All new customer accounts go into this node too. But remember, this node has no tools for any hosting actions. So we use the management node to create accounts and the service node to manage their hosting.
Additionally, when a customer logs into the management node, they see and manage all subscriptions hosted through service nodes. You can see the following information on the subscription tab:
- Status – a status sign that shows whether a subscription is successful or not.
- A service node IP address that is provisioned for a certain subscription.
This is how Plesk server management can help you with web server management and multiple server management. You as an admin can rely on this comprehensive platform for its capabilities at all times.
UPDATE: Starting from Plesk Onyx 17.8 Multi Server feature is no longer available