RE: Sentora/Zpanel VS Webuzo
12-25-2014, 03:14 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-25-2014, 03:42 AM by kellenw.)
Webuzo is pretty cool (I use it for a few projects), but it has its fair share of bugs currently, which can really be a pain to figure out. It is also a single user panel, so it isn't suitable for managing a multi-user (customers/clients/resellers) environment like Sentora is. The pros for Webuzo is its fantastic scripts and apps management/auto-installer which is based on Softaculous (Softaculous is the owner/developer). The ability to install different stacks (LAMP, LEMP, LLMP, MEAN, etc.) with just a click of the mouse button is pretty awesome. Same goes for being able to install memcache, varnish, mongo db, dovecot, exim, CSF and on and on. Not having to do these things through the terminal and knowing that they will integrate perfectly with all the other software used under Webuzo is a very strong asset.
I'd love to see script and apps management features in Sentora as it really is a huge asset. Unfortunately, it's also a huge project to undertake. In my experience, Sentora/Zpanel is much easier to work with when setting up new websites and working with DNS. The email configuration options in Sentora/Zpanel are much more robust than Webuzo as well. CSF, Fail2ban, Spamassassin and clamav integration is lacking in Sentora/Zpanel, and I think that's a big drawback. These can be installed manually though, and managed outside of Sentora/Zpanel (it's just more of a pain to do so). To be fair, Webuzo also lacks these integrations, except for CSF, which it does have. They (webuzo) claim to be working on spamassassin and clamav integration right now, but they've claimed that for over a year, so take that for what it's worth.
As far as security goes, I think they are about the same. Honestly, ALL web panels are about the same with regard to security holes/concerns. No web control panel is going to be 100% secure, ever. It's simply not possible. However, one of your best and easiest strategies in securing any panel is to restrict client access by IP address and/or hostname to SSH and web panel (via htaccess, hosts.allow/hosts.deny and/or a firewall) and get a firewall/brute force detection mechanism in place such as CSF, BFD, Fail2ban, etc set up with appropriate rules and alerting, so attacks are mitigated and you are notified when they occur. This should go without saying, but you should NEVER run an Internet exposed server without a well configured firewall and brute force detection.
Ultimately, your decision to use a web control panel should come down to which one best satisfies your particular project needs. Some panels are stronger in certain areas and weaker in others. In my case, that means I sometimes use VestaCP or Webuzo or something else, but I use Sentora/Zpanel more than any other option, and I often combine them with Ajenti web admin panel (it provides a lot of server admin features that most web cp's don't have, like UPS monitoring/alerting, firewall control, stronger resource monitoring, etc.). Back to Sentora though. Once setup properly, Sentora/Zpanel "just works", and I've found it to be one of the easiest panels for new clients to learn and work in. In other words, that cuts support costs, and can be a huge time/money saver. Again, use the panel/solution that best fits your project needs, and I'm willing to bet you'll choose Sentora/Zpanel for many of them.
I'd love to see script and apps management features in Sentora as it really is a huge asset. Unfortunately, it's also a huge project to undertake. In my experience, Sentora/Zpanel is much easier to work with when setting up new websites and working with DNS. The email configuration options in Sentora/Zpanel are much more robust than Webuzo as well. CSF, Fail2ban, Spamassassin and clamav integration is lacking in Sentora/Zpanel, and I think that's a big drawback. These can be installed manually though, and managed outside of Sentora/Zpanel (it's just more of a pain to do so). To be fair, Webuzo also lacks these integrations, except for CSF, which it does have. They (webuzo) claim to be working on spamassassin and clamav integration right now, but they've claimed that for over a year, so take that for what it's worth.
As far as security goes, I think they are about the same. Honestly, ALL web panels are about the same with regard to security holes/concerns. No web control panel is going to be 100% secure, ever. It's simply not possible. However, one of your best and easiest strategies in securing any panel is to restrict client access by IP address and/or hostname to SSH and web panel (via htaccess, hosts.allow/hosts.deny and/or a firewall) and get a firewall/brute force detection mechanism in place such as CSF, BFD, Fail2ban, etc set up with appropriate rules and alerting, so attacks are mitigated and you are notified when they occur. This should go without saying, but you should NEVER run an Internet exposed server without a well configured firewall and brute force detection.
Ultimately, your decision to use a web control panel should come down to which one best satisfies your particular project needs. Some panels are stronger in certain areas and weaker in others. In my case, that means I sometimes use VestaCP or Webuzo or something else, but I use Sentora/Zpanel more than any other option, and I often combine them with Ajenti web admin panel (it provides a lot of server admin features that most web cp's don't have, like UPS monitoring/alerting, firewall control, stronger resource monitoring, etc.). Back to Sentora though. Once setup properly, Sentora/Zpanel "just works", and I've found it to be one of the easiest panels for new clients to learn and work in. In other words, that cuts support costs, and can be a huge time/money saver. Again, use the panel/solution that best fits your project needs, and I'm willing to bet you'll choose Sentora/Zpanel for many of them.
