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New All-In-One Gameserver Control Panel
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New All-In-One Gameserver Control Panel

CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
edited July 2017 in Help

I am currently working on a all-in-one (billing, support, server manager etc,) gameserver control panel for my own hosting company.

The control panel currently looks like this:

It includes billing via payment methods such as PayPal, PaySafe cards, bank transfers and credit and debit cards, a server manager, so clients can manage their server with tools such as advanced statistics, mod installer/manager, live console and other basic features as updating the base files and mods and stopping and starting the server and other basic tools such as an FAQ and a support system. The control panel supports Windows, Linux and BSD, it also operates using its own, highly optimized protocol written in Node.JS.

Made a quick video showing off the basics: https://tinyurl.com/y8uppp3b

I had the idea to create a separate version of the control panel that I will be able to rent out to other people to either have them use it on their own servers (control panel still being hosted by us, of course) or have people rent a Virtual Dedicated Server or dedicated server from us.

Would there be a market for such a thing? Especially since TCAdmin seems to dominate the market at the moment, whilst it is not perfect either.

Feel free to leave me with suggestions and ideas, like suggestions for more tools and functions, are highly appreciated.

Thanked by 2pbgben MikePT
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Comments

  • if it's stable/bug-free I would definitely buy this, looks really good

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    I have put up a demo account with a Minecraft server in it. The login details are:

    Log-in page: https://panel.oasis-hosting.net
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Password: LETdemo

    Note that only one user is allowed to log-in at any one time, it is something I plan on fixing asap.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    Made a quick video showing off the basics: https://tinyurl.com/y8uppp3b

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep

    Looks great!
    How many game servers this panel will support?

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    OBHost said: Looks great! How many game servers this panel will support?

    I made it so it supports almost any game. We are currently using it to host Mount & Blade: Warband, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Minecraft, Arma 3, Rust, Garry's Mod and Team Fortress 2. We are also working on implementing TeamSpeak and mumble.

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep

    Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

    Thanked by 1pbgben
  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    OBHost said: Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

    I will definitely look into those games, thanks for suggesting them. What do you think about the concept of renting out the control panel use, so resellers can use them for instance?

  • AnthonySmithAnthonySmith Member, Patron Provider
    edited July 2017

    CConner said: control panel still being hosted by us, of course

    CConner said: It includes billing

    It's those 2 things in isolation and in combination that would make it a no for me.

    I don't want the complexity of managing 2 different customer sets and billing methods, booking keeping and accounting, so either it needs a WHMCS (and similar) module or an add-on for pulling data.

    It absolutely has to be self-hosted, a conversation that has been done to death around here so I won't cover the reasons why again.

    Aside from that, I love the idea/look/design, you are probably on to something good if you execute the business side of things properly and take some time to understand your real market.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    AnthonySmith said: I don't want the complexity of managing 2 different customer sets and billing methods, booking keeping and accounting, so either it needs a WHMCS (and similar) module or an add-on for pulling data.

    You mean 2 customers sets because hosts want to offer additional services beside gameservers? No problem! The control panel will also support cPanel, making it an all-round control panel, at least, for game oriented hosts.

    We want to implement billing with the control panel so you only have to access one control panel and that is it. Additionally, for the ones that really need a WHCMS implementation, we can of course do that. I have put that on my planner as to-do. Thank you for your suggestion.

    AnthonySmith said: It absolutely has to be self-hosted, a conversation that has been done to death around here so I won't cover the reasons why again.

    I am struggling a bit here, as the control panel is written mainly in PHP (which is very difficult to properly protect). We've written the part that interacts with the actual server in Node.JS and can be reasonably well obfuscated and is what is safe to give to our customers.

    I imagined the control panel being hosted by us, so we can make sure everything works as intended and to keep our source code secure. Our customers will still be able to use their own domain with it. I have not read all the discussion that has been going on, but what are the major complaints people have with this solution?

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep

    @CConner said:

    OBHost said: Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

    I will definitely look into those games, thanks for suggesting them. What do you think about the concept of renting out the control panel use, so resellers can use them for instance?

    70% Hosting Companies do the co-location or purchase dedicated servers and install all panels on that machines by virtualizations or use the dedicated servers from their own dc or from the co-location part, If you offer them to purchase from you again then they will not take too much interest on your panel.
    Add license system but make it self hosted..

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    OBHost said: Add license system but make it self hosted..

    I see, I will try to make this possible.

  • How is this better than Pterodactyl?

  • joepie91joepie91 Member, Patron Provider
    edited July 2017

    CConner said: I am struggling a bit here, as the control panel is written mainly in PHP (which is very difficult to properly protect). We've written the part that interacts with the actual server in Node.JS and can be reasonably well obfuscated and is what is safe to give to our customers.

    I feel like you're kind of missing a few points here.

    First of all, there's no such thing as "protecting" source code, from a technical perspective. The idea that PHP/Python/JS/[insert language here] is somehow 'protectable' whereas C++/C#/[insert other language here] is not, while a common story going around, is nonsense. All of it can be deobfuscated and/or decompiled, and usually in little enough time that it's not going to deter pirates.

    Secondly, if you're worried about people 'stealing your code' (which seems to be the undertone here), you should probably take a step back and reevaluate why you consider this a problem. Not only is this a legal problem and not a technical one, and not only is it inherently unsolvable from a technical perspective, but it also suggests that perhaps there's a problem with your business model.

    Customers should want to pay you for the software, because that means they get support, updates, bugfixes, and so on. The only reason why this wouldn't be sufficient to keep a company running, is if your support is poor enough that people don't want to pay for it - in which case, why aren't you fixing the support quality?

    In the end, support is what it all comes down to, and it's the only thing that can produce a sustainable long-term income from software. Cracking DRM and deobfuscating code is trivial for somebody who's trying to pirate your software (either for fun if non-commercial, or for profit if commercial), and it only has to be cracked once to nullify the 'protection' for the entire world.

    And guess who actually suffers from DRM and obfuscation? The legitimate customer, who's just trying to fix an urgent bug in their deployment. For them, there are no incentives to crack the DRM / deobfuscate the code, because it's too expensive. In other words: by obfuscating code and/or applying DRM, the only people you're causing a problem for are your legitimate, paying customers. You shouldn't want that.

    It's the same story with "you can't self-host". Serious businesses will not outsource something that's critical to their core business to a relatively unknown third party, and potentially not even to a well-known party, because it means they have no control over a critical part of their business and are beholden to your decisions in full.

    And to address the issue of 'piracy' in particular; there are roughly three groups of "pirates":

    1. Commercial pirates; they have the money and incentive to crack whatever you throw at them.
    2. Non-commercial crackers; they enjoy the challenge of cracking stuff and being the first, and the more hindrances you add, the more fun it will become for them.
    3. Non-commercial 'unskilled' pirates, typically unable to afford the software; they will get their cracked copies from groups 1 and 2, and they weren't going to buy your software anyway.

    TL;DR: Stop screwing over your legitimate customers by trying to 'force' them into not doing anything with the software you don't want. It will not deter pirates. Keep your customers by offering unparalleled service instead. And if there's really a problematic user, then use legal means to stop the infringement; it's a legal problem, not a technical one. Also, code in and of itself does not have value.

    </rant>

    CConner said: I imagined the control panel being hosted by us, so we can make sure everything works as intended

    A SaaS model is not required for this. There are plenty of error reporting systems that can be deployed on systems outside of your control. This problem was solved a decade ago.

    Thanked by 3cassa nulldev luissousa
  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    joepie91 said: Secondly, if you're worried about people 'stealing your code' (which seems to be the undertone here), you should probably take a step back and reevaluate why you consider this a problem. Not only is this a legal problem and not a technical one, and not only is it inherently unsolvable from a technical perspective, but it also suggests that perhaps there's a problem with your business model.

    First of all, thank you for the load of information you've just provided me!

    I will be continuously providing updates with new and improved features - I don't really mind it being used illegally as I am targeting proper businesses. I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

    I've looked in to HHVM, but is not something I want, especially since I will be providing the panel to customers and the overhead is too big to be effective, I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    SolidxGaming said: How is this better than Pterodactyl?

    I can't show you just yet, but we are working on a new version of our backend and frontend. This version of our control panel is currently in production.

    First off, our control panel is and is going to be even less cluttered, than the free alternative. I will also be providing support in regards to helping customers install it and maintaining the software, so that if a bug appears it will be patched a lot faster than a free alternative would generally do. Our control panel is all-in-one, which means it includes a support and billing system, something that control panel seems to lack.

  • joepie91joepie91 Member, Patron Provider
    edited July 2017

    CConner said: I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

    Again: this is a legal problem, not a technical problem. It cannot be solved in a technical manner. Everything I've said applies to this too (and this scenario falls under the "commercial pirates" group). Obfuscation is not the solution here, simple as that.

    CConner said: I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

    That obfuscator is trivially cracked.

  • @CConner said:

    SolidxGaming said: How is this better than Pterodactyl?

    I can't show you just yet, but we are working on a new version of our backend and frontend. This version of our control panel is currently in production.

    Our control panel is all-in-one, which means it includes a support and billing system, something that control panel seems to lack.

    That's more of a disadvantage than an advantage for most.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    SolidxGaming said: That's more of a disadvantage than an advantage for most.

    I get that it is, that is why I will be implementing an option to turn native billing and/or support off and integrate the panel with WHCMS.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    joepie91 said: CConner said: I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

    Again: this is a legal problem, not a technical problem. It cannot be solved in a technical manner. Everything I've said applies to this too (and this scenario falls under the "commercial pirates" group). Obfuscation is not the solution here, simple as that.

    CConner said: I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

    That obfuscator is trivially cracked.

    Currently offering Node.js code review, tuto

    At first this is why I also wanted to go the SaaS route, so that I can keep the source code private. Since I made this thread I found that a large group of providers prefer to have full control over the application they are running, which is understandable.

  • And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    SolidxGaming said: And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

    But their service is not paid, so I can't imagine them being able to help assist customers as a paid service would.

  • @CConner said:

    SolidxGaming said: And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

    But their service is not paid, so I can't imagine them being able to help assist customers as a paid service would.

    Well they do. Their support staff is one of the best I have experienced so far. Maybe you should check out their Discord server.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    SolidxGaming said: Well they do. Their support staff is one of the best I have experienced so far. Maybe you should check out their Discord server.

    Will do. Thanks for making aware that such a control panel also exists. Looking through their source to get some inspiration :)

    Thanked by 1SolidxGaming
  • LeviLevi Member

    Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version).

    Roll out your software! Do it!

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    LTniger said: Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version).

    Roll out your software! Do it!

    Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm!

    I will be releasing this for our own hosting company around August, and keep it there for some time to allow me time to discover bugs and fix them, as well as adding new features etc.

    I am thinking of a per server based subscription, so no "master licenses" required, something to the sound of:

    Small business / community:

    1 server: 4.99$ /month
    2 servers: 9.99$ /month
    3 servers: 12.99$ /month
    4 servers: 15.99$ /month

    Sizable business:

    5-10 servers: 24.99$ /month
    10-20 servers: 35.99$ /month
    20-30 servers: 45.99$ /month
    30-100 servers: 99.95$ /month

    Any suggestions concerning the price are very welcome!

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep

    @CConner said:

    LTniger said: Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version).

    I am thinking of a per server based subscription, so no "master licenses" required, something to the sound of:

    Small business / community:

    1 server: 4.99$ /month
    2 servers: 9.99$ /month
    3 servers: 12.99$ /month
    4 servers: 15.99$ /month

    Sizable business:

    5-10 servers: 24.99$ /month
    10-20 servers: 35.99$ /month
    20-30 servers: 45.99$ /month
    30-100 servers: 99.95$ /month

    Any suggestions concerning the price are very welcome!

    Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    OBHost said: Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

    You can manage as many servers as you want from one control panel. Don't get me wrong for saying "master license" - I meant that I will charge a flat fee per server instead of an initial fee like others do.

    In order to install the control panel, you must install the master files on your webserver, and then install the slave files on the servers you wish to control.

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep
    edited July 2017

    @CConner said:

    OBHost said: Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

    You can manage as many servers as you want from one control panel. Don't get me wrong for saying "master license" - I meant that I will charge a flat fee per server instead of an initial fee like others do.

    In order to install the control panel, you must install the master files on your webserver, and then install the slave files on the servers you wish to control.

    Its great then and if you are adding whmcs module then make option (Use Whmcs or Default billing module) it will be best for many of gaming servers provider who use whmcs..

  • CConnerCConner Member, Host Rep

    OBHost said: Ita great then and if you are adding whmcs module then make option (Use Whmcs or Default billing module) it will be best for many of gaming servers provider who use whmcs..

    If you want, you can send me an e-mail at [email protected] so I can put you on the notification list for when this comes out.

  • OBHostOBHost Member, Host Rep

    I will contact you once you release..

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