OptimaNet uses Parallels Plesk Panel together with MagicSpam from LinuxMagic to significantly improve customer satisfaction at its hostfactory.ch web hosting business.

OptimaNet Schweiz AG, a leading Swiss provider of online services, uses Parallels Plesk Panel with MagicSpam from LinuxMagic to empower its customers with self-service provisioning and keep them happy by protecting servers from spam emails and a range of other common server attacks.

Partner Summary

OptimaNet Schweiz AG was founded in 2003 to provide online services of all kinds, including virtual shared hosting on Windows- and Linux-based servers under its hostfactory.ch brand. Since 2009, hostfactory.ch has also been offering virtual private servers. All of its servers are managed using Parallels Plesk Panel. Altogether it manages around 150,000 mailboxes across almost 20,000 domain accounts for small businesses and consumers on its Parallels Plesk Panel nodes.

Business Situation

One of the most critical elements in ensuring customer satisfaction for OptimaNet's hosting business is how it manages spam and other potential threats to its customers' accounts. Over the years, it became obvious that the basic spam solution that the company had in place was no longer sufficient. As Andi Herzig, an administrator at hostfactory.ch explains, "We weren't able to offer our customers' mailboxes enough protection. Our service agents were receiving too many complaints about the volume of spam they were receiving, and the number of false positives which are messages being labelled as spam that were actually from approved senders. We needed to look for a better solution."

Solution

Fortunately, they learned of a solution that was suitable for Parallels Plesk Panel on both Linux and Windows ‐ MagicSpam from LinuxMagic. MagicSpam for Parallels Plesk Panel is an easy to use, simple to install module that rejects spam at the SMTP level. That means MagicSpam not only stops the spam, it stops a lot of the other attacks as well and protects before the server has to process them. This keeps bandwidth and CPU loads down, as well as ensuring that the server is not simply 'bouncing' spam mails, which can mean server owners find themselves on spamming blacklists.

"We liked the MagicSpam Parallels Plesk Panel add-on immediately, because it checks mails for spam against recommended best practice before the spam begins to overload the Mail Transfer Agent software that transfers the mail to the client computer. We also liked the great value it offered in terms of the cost of server licences," said Herzig.

Benefits

OptimaNet uses Parallels Plesk Panel primarily because they offer a high level of automation. Using the Parallels Plesk Panel API, customers can manage their hosting plans themselves. As Andi Herzig confirms, "Parallels Plesk Panel provides client and domain administrators as well as mail users a huge number of features to help them manage their hosting accounts independently. It works perfectly. Not only that, the integration of MagicSpam within the Parallels Plesk Panel GUI makes management of MagicSpam very easy."

"The results have been impressive." Andi Herzig comments, "About 80% of all incoming mails may be rejected by MagicSpam, even before further checks are performed by content filters, so the MTA never gets overloaded. Our customers' mailboxes are much cleaner as a result, and that has been reflected in a dramatic reduction in complaints about high spam levels and false positives. Ultimately, that means our customers are much happier."

However, as Andi Herzig is keen to point out, the relationship that OptimaNet has with its hostfactory.ch brand. Parallels is at the heart of this success. "Our partnership with Parallels is very, very valuable for us. Only with the help of Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels customer support is it possible to serve so many clients with so few administrators. The automation of processes and the independence Parallels Plesk Panel gives customers is outstanding. And Parallels staff are always keen to help ‐ you never feel like you have to solve a problem on your own."

Future Plans

OptimaNet intends to grow its customer base and the number of domain accounts it manages significantly over the coming years, powered by Parallels Plesk Panel and MagicSpam.

Andi Herzig concludes, "If you are managing one or several servers and a high volume of incoming mails, using Parallels Plesk Panel together with MagicSpam will help you ensure customer mailboxes stay really clean, while still keeping your costs low."

Published October 2011