cPanel control separate web and mysql server?

[NDanecker]

Can cPanel control separate hardware boxes, 1 for mysql, 1 for Apache and 1 for Mail?

It doesn't seem to make sense (from a performance aspect) to have 1 box with cPanel, MySQL, Apache and Mail.

Sorry if this seems academic for you guys. I'm new to both cPanel and Linux so be easy!

Thanks!

 

[JaredR.]

cPanel is not designed for this type of configuration. This is planned for a future version, but there is no timeframe for this. That said, cPanel does provide support for DNS clustering. The following section of our documentation explains the DNS cluster feature:

Guide to DNS Cluster Configuration

Also, you can use a remote MySQL server. This requires shutting down MySQL on the local server and using only the remote MySQL server. The remote MySQL server does not need to be running cPanel, but you do need to have root access to it. The following section of our documentation explains this feature:

Setup Remote MySQL Server

DNS and MySQL are the only features that cPanel can control in any way on remote servers. You are free to host your mail remotely, by modifying your domains' MX records, but cPanel will have no control over the remote mail server. It will not be able to create or remote mailboxes or control the remote mail server in any other way.

 

[NDanecker]

Do you see an advantage to moving MySQL off the hosted web server/cPanel and onto a dedicated MySQL box? And does this box need to be Linux based or can it be MS Server 2008? I certainly wouldn't want to lose the ability to have cPanel control MySQL for database & user creation, updates, etc.

I like the way Encompass is marketed with being able to move/control separate web servers, MySQL, etc.

Thanks!

EDIT: Sorry - I posted this before reading the MySQL page you linked above. Thanks.

 

[cPanelDavidG]

Do you see an advantage to moving MySQL off the hosted web server/cPanel and onto a dedicated MySQL box? And does this box need to be Linux based or can it be MS Server 2008? I certainly wouldn't want to lose the ability to have cPanel control MySQL for database & user creation, updates, etc.

I like the way Encompass is marketed with being able to move/control separate web servers, MySQL, etc.

Thanks!

EDIT: Sorry - I posted this before reading the MySQL page you linked above. Thanks.

For most situations, the main advantage would be if you built a server from the ground-up intending it to only be a database server and used that as your remote MySQL machine. This allows you to have a purpose-built machine designed to maximize MySQL performance with a cPanel/WHM environment running on separate hardware.

There is a specific situation where many users are trying to use the MySQL database very much (e.g. a machine hosting many internet forums). In this scenario as well, there would be a benefit to offloading MySQL to another server.

Situations where it's not such a good idea:
- You're only hosting a handful of sites that don't heavily use MySQL
- You're intending to use a MySQL server located far (geographically speaking) from the cPanel/WHM server. Ideally, the MySQL server should be in the same facility, preferably the same rack and on the same switch.

 

[Miraenda]

Another big benefit of having a remote MySQL machine could be security. Because that machine would only have MySQL running on it, all connections to it other than the cPanel server could be blocked. This would allow only the ports needed for MySQL and SSH (to edit settings) to be opened and all others that might be attacked shut off entirely. It's a lot easier to lock down a machine that is only running one service (MySQL).