Re-architecting Plesk environment

[leojs]

Greetings all,

Just seeking some feedback.

Quick background: We started with a single server Plesk for Linux small HSP and later based on client demand added a Windows 2003 Plesk box (customers wanting ASP.net, Microsoft SQL, ColdFusion, etc.).

We use the Linux Plesk server as the primary DNS, and the Windows Plesk server as the secondary dns. The issue we have is, when we sign a new customer and they use our pri/sec dns servers for their domain, there is NO automation when the domain is added to the Linux Plesk box to automatically create the domain on the Windows Plesk server as the secondary (and the other way around, some people use Windows Plesk as the primary hosting platform and we have to manually config the domain/dns on the Linux as the secondary).

Is there a way to maintain both Windows and Linux servers and automate DNS management? We were thinking of just putting pri/sec DNS on the same box for each the Linux and Windows servers easing management, but if the server goes down you lose pri/sec DNS.

Perhaps the answer is to split out DNS management away from the Plesk servers all together, but what I am trying to do is avoid a customer from needing a dozen systems to login to for various tasks (example, we have been considering using ModernBill for billing automation, Kayako for help desk, etc. so I am trying to avoid having a customer need a login/pass for each system.

We are not married to MB or Kayako-- we're just trying to eliminate all the manual process right now, automate billing (using Quickbooks right now, all manual-- horrible), have a solid help desk (heard Kayako is one of the best but open to suggestions), and the best possible user experience (unified login would be great).

Thanks for any feedback to help a little HSP take things to the next level here. We can't scale the business effectively with our current setup.

-Leojs

 

[breun]

To let two Plesk servers be eachothers secondary DNS you could use ART's scripts: http://www.atomicrocketturtle.com/Joomla/content/view/50/29/

We just used a separate server for secondary DNS and installed PowerDNS on it and used its brilliant 'supermasters' feature to setup automatic secondary DNS for all our Plesk machines: http://downloads.powerdns.com/documentation/html/slave.html#SUPERMASTER

Both of these methods have the advantage that the domain doesn't need to be added manually to the secondary DNS box.

 

[Starchild]

Modernbill no more...

We made the decision to move away from Modernbill in favor of Parallels Business Automation. Modernbill is working on support for Virtuozzo Containers but the release date is not specified (at least not that I have heard). We need support (ideally native) for Windows and Linux Containers. Kayako is a solid Help Desk solution and integration with PBA is now supported. I would suggest keeping your Kayako implementation. You are correct. You can't scale effectively with Modernbill at the core of your enterprise. There are things the application simply is not capable of doing that a growing Provider will find essential. We recognized this early in our formation.

 

[rviradia]

Modernbill is the worst billing system of all time, so slow it makes you want to pull your hair out. IMO WHMCS + Virtuozzo would be a great combination (WHMCS + OpenVZ/HyperVM already works great), but as a very long time HSPcomplete user, it does the trick as well, although it could be better and faster.

 

[Starchild]

Goodbye Modernbill

You are right. Modernbill was a nightmare from the start. Just getting it installed correctly was a process that caused use to age. We paid Moderngigabyte to do the install. After the install it was months before we could get Modernbill to interact with Plesk. Again, it was not a good experience and a costly one in terms of the time lost.