Service delivery automation and management of Virtuozzo based cloud servers and Plesk with RackNap

RackNap’s integration with Virtuozzo API enables quick and automated provisioning and delivery of cloud servers, while Plesk automation ensures issuance and termination of Plesk licenses, in real time.

Virtuozzo Cloud Servers – an introduction

An industry leading virtualization platform for web hosters and service providers, Virtuozzo provides System Containers™, virtual machines and software-defined storage in a single solution. Virtuozzo enables enterprises and service providers to efficiently utilize the existing hardware at a very low total cost of ownership – at any phase of its lifecycle. It provides a number of benefits:

Here is a screenshot of Virtuozzo panel with which the administrators can manage the cloud servers:

Plesk Panel – an introduction

Plesk – the most used cloud platform and control panel to run and manage applications, sites and various other services across the globe, is an extensible, open, modular and flexible platform.

The new Plesk panel version – Plesk Onyx, comes with functionalities like multi-server management and framework ready environment for most advanced programming languages like Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby and has integrated support for Docker, Github and more. It enables resellers and service providers differentiate themselves by creating targeted and simple managed offerings and/or creating managed solutions with any third party providers, like AWS or Azure.

Why is automation the need of the hour?

With automation, the service providers can greatly reduce the overhead expenses, in terms of resources and the required infrastructure.

• For system administrators, service automation translates to better management of the infrastructure, with minimum time investment and reduced probability of errors.
• For the end users, service automation is a way of becoming self-sufficient and getting more control over their services.

The need for Virtuozzo and Plesk panel automation

Now, Virtuozzo automation and Plesk panel automation is important because in its absence:

1. When the customer orders the Plesk panel along with his cloud server i.e. Virtuozzo, the Plesk panel deployment has to be done by the system administrator with the license key.
2. Moreover, when due to any reason whatsoever, if the server terminates, the Plesk license is not terminated automatically. And this license if not terminated manually timely, results in the license cost that have to be borne by the service provider.

An ideal automation platform should not only be able to provide service providers, system administrators and the end customers with all the benefits of automation mentioned above, but should also be able to:

1. Install the Plesk panel automatically along with the provisioning of the Cloud server, without any manual intervention.
2. Terminate the license in real time, automatically, as soon as the cloud server terminates.

There are a number of Virtuozzo automation solutions, but RackNap is the one providing Virtuozzo API automated tasks with Plesk automation.

RackNap – automating the deployment and termination of Plesk panel with Virtuozzo based cloud server.

RackNap provides end to end automation for not just provisioning and deployment of Virtuozzo based cloud servers, but Plesk panel too, thus saving the costs of the service providers; minimizing the hassles of management for the system administrators; while providing the end customers self-sufficiency and control of management from within a single panel – his RackNap member panel.

Various benefits of RackNap’s automation of cloud service delivery and Plesk panel include, but are not limited to:

1. Automated license key generation and deployment of Plesk panel with the automated provisioning of the Cloud server – without any manual intervention, with the service and Plesk panel login details visible in the client’s member panel, within few seconds of placing the order.
2. Within RackNap, the system administrators get the power to start, stop, backup, migrate, clone or delete the server through Virtuozzo API integration from within the administrator panel, while the customers get the power to check the resource consumption details, ‘start’, ‘stop’ and ‘restart’ his cloud VPS, upgrade it and take backup too.
3. Auto-updation of all the changes done by the client in his member panel or by the system administrator in his RackNap’s admin panel in the Virtuozzo panel – in real time. This Virtuozzo and Plesk API integration enables RackNap to act as a single dashboard for management of all client services.
4. Termination of Plesk licenses in real time, automatically, as soon as the cloud server terminates. In case of suspension of the server, the Plesk license continues with no effect on it from the server suspension.

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