What does Virtualmin do?

Virtualmin is a popular open source web hosting control panel with over 150.000 installations worldwide. It is meant to be run on Linux or BSD based server operating systems such as (most commonly) Debian, CentOS or RedHat supported distributions. It is the first program being installed alongside Webmin (see Webmin documentation) after setting up the bare operating system on your server.

Its main functionality is creating and hosting virtual private serves (VPS) with fully independent users, mailboxes, web application development environments, websites, web applications, quotas, account rules, and instances of web server, database server, and create other needed software. The most common use cases on what to run on a VPS are tools like WordPress for creating websites, Netxcloud for running a cloud storage, Plex for a private media library or streaming functionality or any E-Mail application to host your own E-Mail addresses via your own domain.

All in all, Virtualmin does virtualization regarding servers on just one main server machine, similar to cPanel or Plesk.

What about hardware?

Instead of having multiple hardware servers for each website or other applications, you can run multiple websites or applications just from one main hardware server where you devide its ressources into multiple virtual servers (VPS). That way, you save money and ressources. Be aware that you cannot run unlimited virtual servers. The number of VPS you can run is determined by the hardware configuration of the physical server machine. A cheaper lower spec/performing server machine may only support a couple VPS, whereas an expensive higher spec/performing server machine can host a vast number of VPS. You should always choose a server machine that suits your needs.

How does Virtualmin help and how does it compare?

Virtualmin offers extensive features e.g. LDAP or 2-factor authentication, as well as extensive command line management and one-click-installments for popular applications like PHP, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla etc. Virtualmin presents itself with a use friendly UI and file manager on desktops and mobile devices alike. It is a cost-effective solution for any web hosting purposes. Compared to other solutions like cPanel or Plesk, Virtualmin can offer more functionalities or the same but beeing free and open source at the same time, not adding additional cost for licensing on top of the quality support you are getting by Interstellar Consulting GmbH.

Vitualmin runs on top of Webmin (see Webmin documentation) in form of a module, so it is strictly dependent of a present Webmin installation.