New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
Is Cloudlinux really necessary?
thecreator_
Member
in General
Hello everyone,
I am considering providing shared web hosting. Is cloudlinux really necessary for this? What are the drawbacks of providing shared web hosting without Cloudlinux?
Comments
Isolation is important in shared environments.
CloudLinux isn't the only solution to this anymore. If using DirectAdmin, I think their Pro-Pack + Bubble Wrap would be worth considering as well, though I've not messed with it much.
It’s better for hosts than it is for customers. The ability to burst high resource usage is important, but preventing it is important to massive overselling. I usually assume if someone is advertising it, they’re telling me they pack boxes as hard as they can.
Which is fine, tbh. But if I’m looking for above average in performance and I’m willing to spend to get it, I’m not spending more money and choosing a host that brags about using it at the same time.
Well, couldn't a client with "a bad configuration file" make a whole server fumble without it?
Yes, don't use shared hosting that does not use cloudlinux + cagefs. Period.
No disadvantages.
Yeah, but the ability to burst is important enough that it justifies taking that risk. Maybe if you only applied limits to accounts that were abusive that would be okay, but most providers just use it to set low ceilings for everyone instead.
Or:
Set formal limits in plans.
Set actual limits in config (maybe 3-4x formal limits).
Warn users who pass formal limits too often and ask if they can limit their usage or if they'd prefer to lower their technical limits.
Technical limits far higher than formal limit (or allowed limit) to allow for bursting but protect other clients.
I'd say most providers list the limits somewhere, at least the reputable ones.
We list our CloudLinux limits publicly. I don't see it any different than VPS hosting in that regard. You get the resources that you pay for and if you need more to burst from time to time, you purchase the plan that can accommodate it. (Just as you would with a VPS or similar)
As I've said a hundred times though and still strongly believe:
The implementation of addon domains across panels is terrible.
cPanel should never have set that trend and other panels should never have followed.
That feature alone has caused so many managed hosting providers so much pain.
One hacked WP site slowly spreads to more, you think you've cleaned it, no, it's hidden in another site, slowly spreading to more.
It should have been isolated from the start.
With a VPS you've got SWAP though.
And processes etc aren't limited in the same way.
I understand what you're saying and I agree but there's differences making it somewhat different.
There's an option in cln to set mem and vmem(swap)
This is a bit of extreme.
As @MannDude has pointed out already, there are other similar solutions nowadays, like DA ProPack + BubbleWrap. Cgroups is in the standard kernel, you don't need CloudLinux to limit resources anymore.
Even CWP (let's keep aside its security issues that are OT in this context) can limit resources per user without CloudLinux.
In any case it must be used properly, otherwise it can just be a way for the provider to host more accounts with poor performance in the end.
So I would not say that CloudLinux + CageFS are a must nowadays.
I tried propack directadmin which has feature to limit resources but when I compare with cloudlinux lve , I have better experience with cloudlinux LVE to limit resources
I am on the fence with cloudlinux with DA.
The only reason I use it is to have the PHP options somewhere obvious where people look for it.
Is not about limiting resources.... is all about cagefs effectiveness.............
If you're running a shared hosting business, CloudLinux is an essential piece of equipment. I Don't prefer hosting companies to use it as an excuse to use their resources more than 50%. Websites can cause random spikes of resources due to plugins, Cron Resource use, and other random stuff that can cause a server to break down. CloudLinux prevents that from happening with cagefs isolation.
BubbleWrap works well also.
Boys, remember this: cloudlinux and litespeed designed to squeeze every last drop from your hardware and cram as much tenants as possible. Those software peaces are not designed to improve tenants well being in shared hosting environment.
Usage of mentioned software depends on business volume. If you just starting - there is no need for anything fancy. KISS.
Disagree. You need a proper isolation solution to prevent one account from affecting the others, security wise, as a responsible hosting provider.
CloudLinux provides a lot more than just isolation and resource throttling, for example: support for NodeJS, Ruby, Python, etc... not forgetting the PHP selector (which is excellent and provides a great deal of flexibility you don't get with cPanel or DirectAdmin's own version).
There's also mod_lsapi: https://www.cloudlinux.com/getting-started-with-cloudlinux-os/40-stability-features/932-mod-lsapi-installation-configuration/
And a bunch more cool stuff.
It's definitely a valuable asset to any shared hosting server.
Sure, you can achieve some, maybe all, of its functionality without it - but personally, I'd rather have have it all in one neat package.
I second that, not being completely shutdown because a neighbor is an asshole is one of the things I as a tenant would consider part of my well being.
So, without cloudlinux nowadays is impossible to achieve proper isolation? Myth and incompetence. Cloudlinux designed for providers to control more aspects of served resources to end user. This allows to stuff way more accounts per server.
@LTniger That's your opinion.
Anyway, trusted solution, yes cloudlinux.
@thecreator_ if you are running a Hosting Company then yes. Otherwise no.
Bastab ; )
What about docker?
You want to become a Hosting provider and cannot afford a CL license cost?
Ensim had this but never had huge traction and was bought out and eventually killed.
I see propack mentioned in directadmin with bubble wrap. Its goal is the same thing as cagefs but doesn't work with php-fpm right now. If you use apache, you need fastcgi otherwise you are back to litespeed or openlitespeed. You'll find things don't work as well, like screen or tmux and are left using dtach. Cloudlinux overall is very ahead of where propack is.
If you are cannot invest in cloudlinux, consider just getting a reseller plan from a shared provider. It’ll save you some money, at least until you make enough to invest in your own server setup.
CloudLinux isn't AS needed if you're not on shared though.
Well yes, but OP is saying he wants to provide shared hosting services. For single account sites, you don’t really need cloudlinux as much.