Codeless Server Control
Do we really need another control panel? Ok let’s see …
Who uses them:
Developers demand the highest possible quality for their operation or clients. Inexpensive cloud hosting providers like DigitalOcean, Amazon, Linode, UpCloud, Google Cloud have met this need both in terms of high-performance servers and security.
However control panels have increased in demand primarily because if the barebone nature of their servers. By default, purchased servers come with an installed ‘core’ operating system and a root password or SSH Key. Managing your server is via CLI (command line interface) which for the most part is a time consuming exercise most developers can live without.
Existing options:
We have behemoths like cPanel and Plesk which are expensive and take a fair chunk of your server space. And while they offer a wide array of options, for most users only a small section is relevant. Add domain, email, database.
A better option are remote Control Panels which offer small footprints like Runcloud.io, Severpilot.io or Moss.sh but they too can become expensive. For example one offers a free server and domain usage but if you need something like an SSL Certificate it gets expensive (Really?), or others become quite expensive if you need to run multiple servers and domains. In some cases there is also a question of modifying installed packages for better control? The control that comes to mind is ‘you’. Making it difficult for ‘you’ to control your server if you disconnect from their system.
The wish:
My idea of the perfect control panel.
- It must have a tiny footprint, as in zero.
- It must be really smart and guide me.
- It must do magic in the background
- Packages are installed with none to minimum alterations (mostly security)
- Transparency: Managed server(s) is completely independent from control panel. ie: The panel dies, the server doesn’t care and keeps on running.
- It must offer unlimited usage
- It must be almost free
The Result:
Introducing Snac:
Snac is an intuitive control panel that guides you through the process of managing unlimited users, domains and databases while the backend quietly takes care of updates and security.
When you first connect your server to Snac it installs all required packages and you’ll be ready to go in 10–15 minutes (SSL included).
Btw, during installation Snac gives you a variety of server stack options such as Static, PHP or Lemp (all stacks include optimized Nginx and SSL).
All this is accomplished without a single line of code.
Of course it’s not all about coding. I designed the panel in three flavours, light, default and dark.
Oh, and about transparency. Provisioning your server is accomplished with as few modifications as possible so that if you disconnect from Snac at a future date your server keeps running happily ever after and you won’t go crazy trying to maintain or tweak it.
The cost:
Snac is about 8 cups of coffee per year, and believe me you’ll need a lot less coffee once you try it :)
Bonus: Snac if free until January 1, 2020. Try it.
Thank you for reading,
Roger Remacle
