Web Hosting Publicity Announcements News and Information
Web Hosting Publicity Announcements News and Information

CloudLinux Adds PHP 5.5 Alpha2

Leading shared hosting operating system (OS) developer CloudLinux (http://www.cloudlinux.com), announced today the addition of PHP 5.5 to the PHP Selector. With the ability to select PHP versions on a per-account basis, PHP Selector allows shared hosting providers and their customers to try the latest features, just a few days after the release of PHP 5.5 Alpha2.

“PHP is possibly the most widely used aspect of any shared web hosting plan,” says Igor Seletskiy, Founder and CEO at CloudLinux. “Like the rest of the web hosting community, we are excited to start exploring the new features of PHP version 5.5. However, many hosting companies and their customers would not usually deploy an Alpha version on a large-scale, server-wide basis. CloudLinux and PHP Selector make it possible for hosting providers to assign individual accounts their own PHP version without affecting other sites on the same hardware.”

Designed specifically to address the needs of shared web hosting providers, CloudLinux places each individual website in its own isolated container. Much like a virtual private server, each account is then assigned a specific amount of hardware resources, including RAM, disk space, CPU, and disk I/O. With strictly enforced hardware allowances, customers receive consistent and dependable performance, while hosting providers are able to confidently fill their servers to maximize revenue. The isolated nature of each website also allows providers to set custom configurations on a per-account basis. PHP Selector, available from the CloudLinux LVE Manager, is a tool hosting companies can use to assign customers specific versions of PHP, including PHP 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and now, 5.5 Alpha2. In addition, hosting providers can enable specific PHP extensions for each account, and even allow customers to select their own preferred PHP version from within their web hosting control panel.

“Before PHP Selector, hosting providers and their customers had to wait for years before they could get their hands on the latest and greatest features in PHP,” says Seletskiy. “Hosting providers were afraid to deploy PHP because in doing so, they might break customer websites that were not compatible with the latest version. Now, using CloudLinux and PHP Selector, hosting companies can confidently offer PHP 5.5 Alpha2 to those customers who require it, without affecting any other users. It is an opportunity to start using the most advanced features of the best PHP version yet, right now.”

The latest version of PHP adds new features that have been long-requested by web developers. One highly anticipated addition is a new password hashing API (Application Programming Interface) that improves the security of stored passwords. With password hashing, user passwords are stored in hashed, encrypted formats. As a result, it is difficult for criminals to identify the actual password strings, even if they gain access to hashed data. PHP 5.5 introduces a simple, one-line command to hash passwords using bcrypt, a more secure option than MD5 or SHA-1 hashing. PHP version 5.5 also adds support for Generators that control the behavior of loops, support for list(s) in foreach loops, and much more. Hosting providers and customers that use CloudLinux can now begin working with these features using PHP Selector.

“It has always been our mission with CloudLinux to give hosting companies control and flexibility over the services they offer,” says Seletskiy. “Not every provider will want to start offering the PHP 5.5 Alpha, and not every webmaster will want to start using it at this very early stage. However, CloudLinux gives web hosting providers and shared hosting customers the choice.”

PHP Selector has grown to become one of the most popular CloudLinux features for web hosting companies, allowing them to offer customers the customized shared hosting service and PHP version that supports their goals. Now, with the addition of PHP 5.5 to PHP Selector, hosting companies can remain at the forefront of web development by offering plans with access to this new Alpha release.

To learn more about CloudLinux, CloudLinux OS, and PHP Selector, current and prospective customers are encouraged to visit http://www.cloudlinux.com.

About CloudLinux
CloudLinux was founded in 2009 to address the distinctive needs of web hosting providers. The company’s headquarters are in Princeton, New Jersey, and its development team, composed of employees with an appreciable proficiency in the hosting business, is based in Donetsk, Ukraine. CloudLinux is a stable, privately funded company geared toward providing the ideal operating system (OS) to make even the most intricate and divergent hosting needs more straightforward. The company’s flagship OS is optimized to help hosting providers deliver more stable shared hosting services, with account isolation and resource allocation on an OS level.
For more information on CloudLinux, visit http://www.cloudlinux.com