2017 was a year unlike any other here at cPanel. As we start 2018, I’d like to share some of the highs and lows of 2017 with you.
cPanel; The Company.
We continued our tradition of bringing customers to our development teams, having two such visits during 2017. Representatives from companies as diverse as InMotion Hosting, Maui Global Communications Corporations, VexxHost, and Host4Yourself were just some of the customers that we brought to cPanel HQ. Among the topics discussed were EasyApache 4, needed improvements to the in-product backup system, and streamlining system deployment.
Late in the year, the company marked a small milestone in its life: our office building now has a sign. Everyone at cPanel, Inc. is proud to work there. Now we have a sign informing the world of where we are proud to work!
We also added a ton more resources for our clients. Partners gained early access to our updated Brand Guidelines. At the 2017 cPanel Conference, our Wednesday Keynote focused on the importance of Transparent Reporting. We announced our very first Transparency Report and Law Enforcement Guide. These reports and guidelines help our customers understand how cPanel responds to requests for information from any governing body, and what they can expect from cPanel, Inc. in the future.
At WHD.global (now CloudFest) our Marketing Team launched a brand new co-marketing initiative with our Partners. The program helps customers with marketing collateral and materials designed to improve customer acquisition and education. Several customers are nearing the launch phase. We aim to make the program widely available sometime in 2018.
In September an estimated 27 to 33 trillion gallons of water fell across Texas and Louisiana, courtesy of Hurricane Harvey. Everyone felt the devastation caused by the event, even if not personally affected. After first taking care of our employees, friends, and family, we came together to rally for our town. We donated countless hours of physical labor, a ton of resources, and together raised $21,850.16 for the Houston Food Bank.
cPanel & WHM; The product
We started the year with version 62, the first release according to our new LTS plan. Tons of new features and feature improvements came with that version, becoming one of our most widely adopted versions of all time. Our new LTS model allowed us to streamline delivery of product changes (both enhancements and defects).
March brought the end of support for CentOS 5, RedHat 5, and CloudLinux 5 and we realized some of our customers were in a sticky situation. Moving away from an older Red Hat based operating system to a newer version is not easy. The number of servers still using this older version was high, much higher than at a similar time of ending support for CentOS 4. We decided to extend product support for two more security releases, bringing support to an end in October. We are pleased with the results. The share of CentOS 5, and cousins, dropped over 50%. The rate of change was faster than the same period the year prior.
We added ready-to-run server images of cPanel & WHM with version 62. These are the same images we use internally for development and testing. cPanel & WHM Deployers and Integrators use these images in a variety of ways. We are happy to reduce the cost of building and maintaining deployment of new systems with these.
In October we started testing out a potential new license type called cPanel Solo™. The Solo license is intended for customers with simpler needs, who only need a single hosting account on the server. Testing is still in the early phase, ideal for early adopters. If you are interested you can buy a solo license today from the cPanel Store (note: at this time it is not possible to convert an existing server from a non-Solo license to a Solo license, nor vice-versa).
cPanel 2018
We only scratched the surface of what 2017 was, and 2018 is shaping up to be an equally exciting one! Keep a close eye on this blog to see all the latest.
