When To Use Cloudlinux On Your Virtual Private Server (VPS)

If you’re using your VPS hosting package to resell web hosting, then you probably want to look into using Cloudlinux.

Cloudlinux allows you the ability to set cPanel specific limits where you can define a set amount of member, I/O usage, Inodes (files), etc. protecting the entire machine from becoming overloaded.

Back in the “old days” when one customer started using too many resources, entire servers would become sluggish creating a bad experience for everyone.  This also created the need for a number of reboot requests, crushing uptime.

We use Cloudlinux on both our Shared and Reseller hosting packages and publish our cPanel specific limits so our customers know exactly what to expect.  If a customer needs more resources, we recommend upgrading to our Basic Business package or to a VPS.

PHP Selector

Another tremendous benefit to using Cloudlinux is their PHP selector that displays inside each cPanel account.  This allows your web hosting customers the ability to set their own version of PHP, add extensions, and adjust their memory/upload limits.

Back in the “old days” customers had to create confusing php.ini files and sometimes had to even submit a ticket to get an extension re-built into php.  We have some demos of using the php selector here.

Increased Security

Cloudlinux also comes with a feature called CageFS.  This creates a  unique php filesystem for each cPanel account.  Essentially each used is placed in a “cage” where they cannot go out through the rest of the server.

This greatly enhances the overall security of the VPS and creates a much more redundant environment.  This is one of the reasons we recommend using a Reseller hosting package to host multiple domains vs. using the cPanel add-on domain feature.

If you have the opportunity to have a unique file system for each domain; why wouldn’t you want to take it?

Database Performance

Database usage is by far one of the biggest reasons for memory consumption on a web server.  It just takes one use to do a mySQL dump on a large database to eat up a ton of memory.

To combat this, Cloudlinux has their mySQL governor that actually limits this process so not one user can eat up all the RAM in the machine.  Once again this greatly adds to the overall performance and redundancy of the server.

Reseller vs. Popular Websites

If you’re reselling web hosting on your VPS, Cloudlinux is a must in my opinion.  I always tell customers if they don’t purchase it immediately, the will eventually.  The benefits far outweigh the cost and headaches without it.

Additionally, if you host a website on your VPS that often has traffic spikes, Cloudlinux is a great way to keep it online!  For example, I used to own a professional wrestling website back in the early 2000s.

During big events such as pay-per-views our traffic would increase as much as 10 times in a couple of hours.  Using Cloudlinux you can ensure the entire server won’t go offline during this big spikes, but instead pace the server with the resources available.

Cloudlinux Video Tutorial

I filmed a brief tutorial about all of these benefits and demonstrate some of the most popular Cloudlinux features:

When ordering your VPS, you can select the Cloudlinux operating system from the available templates.  If you already have a VPS and would like to add Cloudlinux, simply submit a new sales ticket and we’ll get it added.  Let us know if you have any questions!