Plesk
{{short description|Web hosting and data center automation software}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Plesk
| logo = Logo Plesk.svg
| screenshot =
| screenshot size =
| screenshot alt =
| caption =
| developer = Plesk International GmbH
| released = 2001
| programming language = PHP
| operating system = Windows, Linux
| language = English
Russian
Spanish
German
Portuguese
Japanese
| genre = Web hosting control panel
| license = Trialware{{cite web|title=Plesk: Download and Trial|url=https://www.plesk.com/|website=www.plesk.com|publisher=Plesk|access-date=4 April 2017}}
| website = {{URL|www.plesk.com}}
}}
Plesk is a commercial web hosting and server data center automation software developed for Linux and Windows-based retail hosting service providers.
It was developed by Plesk International GmbH, a company with headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and Schaffhausen, Switzerland, with offices in Barcelona, Spain, Cologne, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, and in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, where it was created in 2000 by Dimitri Simonenko.{{Cite news |last=Pressler |first=Margaret Webb |date=2000-06-12 |title=inBusiness |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2000/06/12/inbusiness/f0cb6fc7-d7b2-448a-8f7b-e95a16f68bb0/ |access-date=2023-01-18 |issn=0190-8286}}
The hosting automation software was initially released by Plesk Inc. and first went live in 2001. In 2003, Plesk was sold to SWSoft,{{cite web|url=http://www.hostreview.com/news/news/030610swsoft.html|title=SWsoft Acquires Plesk and Confixx to Create Global Hosting Software Powerhouse - HostReview.com|first=DevStart|last=Inc.}} which became Parallels in 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/12/swsoft_parallels_name_change/|title=SWsoft to abandon itself and become Parallels|website=The Register }}[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/30/parallels_virtuozzo_containers_4point0/ SWsoft Parallels does Virtuozzo Containers 4.0 thing] - Hypervisors are for the weak - Posted in Servers, 30 January 2008 20:59 GMT(By Austin Modine) The Register[https://archive.today/20120708012239/http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=1744 SWsoft to change its name to Parallels] - Date: 11 December 2007 Author: Paul Mah (TechRepublic.com) In March 2015, Parallels renamed the service provider division to Odin. In December of the same year, Plesk became a separate business entity.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyhostnews.com/new-hyperscale-cloud-offerings-ecommerce-and-wordpress-solutions-and-more-in-the-offing-from-newly-acquired-plesk-lukas-hertig-plesk/|title="New hyperscale cloud offerings, eCommerce and WordPress solutions and more in the offing from newly acquired Plesk" - Lukas Hertig, Plesk. - Web Hosting - Cloud Computing - Datacenter - Domain News|date=9 May 2017}} In 2017, British Oakley Capital Limited acquired Plesk{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Nicole |title=With Acquisition by Oakley Capital, Plesk Ready for Growth |url=http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/with-acquisition-by-oakley-capital-plesk-ready-for-growth|work=Web Host Industry Review |date=2017-05-15 |df=dmy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729052336/http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/with-acquisition-by-oakley-capital-plesk-ready-for-growth |archive-date=2017-07-29}} and it has since been a part of WebPros, a global SaaS platform for server management. Currently, WebPros comprises Plesk, cPanel, WHMCS, XOVI, and SolusVM.
Licenses
Plesk, with latest version Obsidian 18.x, is available in the following license configurations:{{cite web|url=https://www.plesk.com/editions/|title=Plesk License Configurations|website=www.plesk.com|date=24 November 2017 }}
- Plesk Web Admin Edition: 10 domains.
- Plesk Web Pro Edition: 30 domains. It also includes Plesk WordPress Toolkit full-featured.
- Plesk Web Host Edition: Unlimited domains. The administrator can also create additional reseller accounts.
The license price{{cite web|url=https://www.plesk.com/pricing/|title=Plesk License Types|website=www.plesk.com|date=20 March 2017 }} also distinguishes whether a license can be used for a dedicated server or a virtualized server. Licenses for dedicated servers are usually slightly more expensive.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
Pricing
Plesk sells all three licenses for a monthly or annual price directly. All three editions can also be obtained from official license resellers.
In March 2018, Plesk announced{{cite web|url=https://openprovider.com/plesk-end-life-versions-price-increase/|title=Plesk End-of-life Versions Price Increase|website=www.openprovider.com|date=2017-03-07|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=1 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001055220/https://openprovider.com/plesk-end-life-versions-price-increase/|url-status=dead}} its first price adjustment in 18 years of business, increasing the prices of all Plesk licenses that had versions earlier than 12. The company claimed that it was to cover the increasing cost of support and management over the past two decades. Following the announcement, Plesk created a FAQ page.{{cite web|url=https://www.plesk.com/pricing-change-faq/|title=Plesk Price Increase FAQ Page|website=www.plesk.com|date=30 September 2017 }}
Support
Live and email support{{Cite web|url=https://support.plesk.com/|title=Plesk Help Center|website=support.plesk.com}} for Plesk is available in English, Russian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Japanese. Plesk licenses purchased directly from Plesk include full free support.
Criticisms
One criticism of Plesk is that the recommended method of removing it is a complete reinstall of the OS{{Cite web |last=Yakubov |first=Stefan |date=2023-03-13 |title=How to uninstall Plesk |url=https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410908355730-How-to-uninstall-Plesk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230313103713/https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410908355730-How-to-uninstall-Plesk |archive-date=2023-03-13 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Plesk}} after backing up, which complicates the concept of trialware by binding an administrator to the product by facing considerable downtime of a server.
Version history
Timeline
| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:0 0 0.5em 1em;" |
| Date
! Milestone |
|---|
| 1999
| Release on Linux |
| 2003
| Release on Windows {{En dash}} Acquired by SWsoft |
| 2007
| Merged with Parallels |
| 2009
| Focus towards Parallels automation away from Plesk going forward {{En dash}} Plesk moved into Maintenance mode |
| 2014
| Launch of Plesk 12 |
| 2014
| Launch of Plesk extensions catalog |
| 2015
| Renaming of service provider business to ODIN {{En dash}} Acquisition of Odin Automation by Ingram Micro |
| 2016
| Relaunch of Plesk as a separate business unit in January 2016 {{En dash}} Launch of Plesk Onyx |
| 2017
| Launch of WordPress Toolkit 2.0 {{En dash}} Launch of WordPress Business Server {{En dash}} Acquisition of XOVI |
| 2018
| Launch of SEO Toolkit and Joomla! Toolkit {{En dash}} Launch of Smart Updates {{En dash}} Acquisition of SolusVM |
| 2019
| Launch of Plesk Obsidian {{En dash}} Launch of My Plesk portal |
| 2020
| Launch of SolusIO |
Plesk University
In January 2016, Plesk launched Plesk University online.{{cite web|url=https://www.plesk.com/university/|title=Plesk University|website=www.plesk.com|date=22 March 2017 }} Through its university, Plesk provides courses on how to use their products and services.