Plesk v. Ensim

It's a contest in the low-end virtual server space as Plesk unveils a turnkey virtual private server package positioned as a competitor to Ensim's ServerXchange.

by Amy Newman Managing Editor of www.serverwatch.com [December 12, 2002]

Plesk unveiled a turn-key virtual private server (VPS) package that combines a new 10-domain version of its Plesk Server Administrator (PSA) 5.0 hosting automation platform with the Vserver open-source VPS technology.

The entry-level virtual server is being priced at $1,000. When combined with PSA 5.0 Master, the software that manages up to 50 PSA servers from a single console, the price jumps to $1,199.

Plesk is pittting this offering against Ensim's ServerXchange, which the vendor claims provides similar functionality at an entry price of $20,000.

Developed by the Linux open-source community, Vserver is the de facto standard for VPS technologies. According to Plesk, the combination of Vserver with PSA 5.0 is an offering that boasts a highly competitive price/performance threshold.

"PSA-VPS is the next logical step in the evolution of our industry," said George Pappas, president and CEO of Plesk. "In speaking with our customers, we saw the opportunity to repackage PSA to drive the emergence of a new class of service that revolutionizes the economics of hosting for a growing segment of the industry."

Since PSA-VPS is VPS-based, the specially packaged 10-domain VPS version of PSA can be run on most VPS software.

Support packages are available from Plesk for PSA-VPS that apply to both PSA 5.0 and Vserver.

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