What you need to know about our new reseller platform

As many of you will know, we’ve been working on replacing our reseller platform architecture for quite some time. After a long development cycle we’ve been excitedly testing our alpha release internally for a little while now, and we’re very happy with the results. This month sees the platform roll out in beta form, ready to accept clients who want to move their sites over. There are some caveats to be aware of when making the change.

The new reseller platform is a radical change from our legacy reseller plan. For the life of our reseller service, some 15+ years, we’ve relied on the Plesk software to power the platform. Fact fan: we were users of Plesk version 1, way back in the early 2000s. The reseller plan is our final hosting product set to make the move to systems designed and developed in-house; these help us to deliver the very best hosting environment and experience.

In moving away from Plesk to our own software there are several major changes. If you’re currently using a Plesk based reseller plan, you’ll want to review the differences before moving over.

Firstly, the new platform releases with the following packages and versions:

• PHP – 8.0, 8.1 (8.2 should be available shortly)
• httpd – 2.4.54
• MariaDB – 10.7.4
• Python 3.10
• Perl 5.0

PHP is the headline item in that list for many users. Before making the leap, you will want to ensure the software you use is compatible with the 8.0 release of PHP. Our support team will be able to advise generally if you have any queries but ultimately your software providers will be your main points of call (especially for more boutique items).

If you can’t make the move to the latest PHP release, you can’t make the move to the new reseller platform. One of the big goals of our new platform is increased security, and that means we need to enforce the use of modern, up to date and secured releases.

As well as software versions, the feature set of the new platform will differ from Plesk too. The full list of features essentially mimics our existing Professional Hosting platform – another that’s built entirely in-house. That list is as follows:

• Email – IMAP and POP
• Webmail
• Backups
• Snapshots
• Password Protected Directories
• Mailboxes
• Mail Aliases (Internal redirection only)
• DKIM
• SFTP / SSH
• Git
• Subdomains
• Let’s Encrypt
• Custom SSL Certificates
• Databases
• Domain Aliases
• DNS Management
• Crons
• CGI

If you rely on a tool, service, or feature not in that list please check with us before making the move. Some services offered via Plesk (e.g. Tomcat JSP support) will not be replicated on the new platform. Our team are happy to advise on alternatives, but please do review your sites and needs before migration. A migration backwards may not be possible.

At this time we’re moving legacy clients over on demand, while the system is brought up to full speed. New customers will be created on the new platform by default. In 2023 we will be delivering a careful and considered automated migration program, to get as many people as possible on the new platform. Keep an eye on your inbox in the new year for more info there.

The current reseller platform will be provided as is for now, for those who need to rely on it a little longer. As per our previous emails on the legacy platform, it is now end of life. In time, as we move clients to the new platform, we will issue a sunset notice for the final closure with plenty of notice for remaining users.