@phoenixwolf recently advertised for beta tester volunteers to help test his shared hosting accounts with DirectAdmin Panel.  Due to the recent hike in cPanel prices, Bladenode.com is hoping to completely replace his over 1200 cPanel accounts worldwide with DirectAdmin.

Like Phoenix, I haven't used DirectAdmin in years, so was eager to see what changes, if any, there have been, and how DirectAdmin compares with not only cPanel, but CyberPanel - a recent alternative to cpanel I experienced and has me very enthusiastic. CyberPanel for me is the equivalent of cPanel without all of its messiness.  So this review will include a comparison with both cPanel and CyberPanel.

If you want to check out my hosting with BladeNode DirectAdmin then you can check it here - it will be a work in progress:
http://directadminlessons.6srv.net/

And with Cyberpanel you can check the WP Installation that was created here - also a work in progress:
http://deanhills.net/

I've decided to do a series of reviews giving different parts of the DirectAdmin Panel a workout.  This review will be of File Manager and mySQL.

First of all, the DirectAdmin Panel looks completely different to the one I remember of a few years ago.  It looks a bit more like cPanel, however I regret to say, it's not as neatly set out as cPanel nor as intuitive and brilliant as Cyberpanel.   Not sure whether this can be fixed with a different template.  From what I can remember from my previous use of DirectAdmin there were a number of templates available.  But at that time already some of the templates were buggy, meaning every one preferred the old template as the templates could have bugs in them.  Hopefully with the new look current DirectAdmin Panel there are options for BladeNode to develop its own brand of DirectAdmin and to organize the order and layout of the icons better.   With my first use of CyberPanel I didn't have to look for anything.  With my first use now of DirectAdmin I was looking and feeling my way around all of the time.  It felt both clumsy and time consuming compared with my first experience of using CyberPanel, the latter experience of which was completely intuitive and at finger tips.

WordPress Experience
The first test for DirectAdmin with my hosting with Phoenix was to give the File Manager a workout by installing my WordPress installation manually.  That means that I downloaded the script from WordPress, extracted it in my computer.  Then zipped the files and folders for uploading to the root folder of my new sub-domain.  I also needed to create a database, so that would give me the experience of using mySQL in DirectAdmin

File Manager
For File Manager user-friendliness, ease and speed of use I score CyberPanel highest - 10/10, cPanel 8/10 and DirectAdmin 6/10. I remember when I was previously learning how to use DirectAdmin my main criticism vs cpanel was that the links were not as intuitive.  One had to figure them out and learn how to use them.  This is the same with the current File Manager.  I'm used to getting all of the functions that are available for working with the file as logically and instinctively possible. I'm also used to a detailed menu of options on top of the File Manager Window - which is not directly available in DirectAdmin.  One has to look for them in the DirectAdmin File Manager with a scroll down tool here and there. If you click on a file in the File Manager of DirectAdmin, only some of the functions are available on right click.  One then has to learn to hover the mouse over the file instead to get a full list of file manager options.  

I prefer to use File Manager to FTP, as it usually is fastest for me, particularly when I want to do quick edits.  cPanel has always been excellent that way (as is CyberPanel), in that there is an option on top of the File Manager Menu with which to edit files.  Reason I prefer the File Manager for edits is that sometimes with FTP bugs can slip in after the file has been edited and saved.  When one does that in File Manager online there is less of a chance for that to happen.  It also speeds things up.  Unfortunately I was unable to get DirectAdmin file editor to work.  I assume it is the function that is available on rightclick that says "Edit in New Tab".  It wouldn't do it for me.  I'm sure it's probably possible and that one has to figure out something else that needs to happen before it can be edited, but with both cPanel and CyberPanel it's effortless.  Again with DirectAdmin it's clumsy in my experience.

These in summary were the lessons I learned with DirectAdmin tonight:

Lesson 1:  to find all of the options for managing a file, hover the mouse over the file and right-click over it.
Lesson 2:  to upload files you have to navigate to the top menu (next to BladeNode logo) and click on  "upload".
Lesson 3:  "Edit in New Tab" doesn't work for me - probably need to ask why - maybe there is something that needs to happen first?

So for me DirectAdmin File Manager compared with both cPanel and CyberPanel failed at being intuitive or user-friendly. It's a learned experience.  Possibly one can "Edit in New Tab", but again that would be a learned experience too, whereas with cPanel and CyberPanel there is nothing to think about - most of everything is instinctive and intuitive.  Particularly CyberPanel has everything just in the right spot intuitively and also sparsely.  With cPanel there are so many tools that are never used, taking up space that distract the mind from the tools that are regularly used.  With CyberPanel the focus is to have as few tools as possible to speed up and declutter the panel.  Now maybe most of the cPanel users aren't really using File Manager and prefer to use FTP.  So then possibly one doesn't have to worry about this deficiency as much.  Also, once one is used to how the File Manager works in DirectAdmin, maybe it won't be a problem after a few times of use.  One will get used to it ..... until the next time of use.


mySQL experience
For mySQL I score cPanel highest - 10/10, CyberPanel 9/10 and DirectAdmin 6/10.

When I created my WP installation manually, first thing I did was to create a database using the DirectAdmin Panel.  There is one link and icon to "MySQL Management" in DirectAdmin but very little to "manage" in it. Just two tools to create and delete database/database user. First thing that struck and puzzled me was the absence of phpmyAdmin.  I'm still wondering whether I missed it somewhere as I searched through the panel, wondering whether phpmyadmin was in a different section of the panel, but could not find it.

I really like mysql of cpanel, but cyberpanel is excellent too with less tools.  I only score CyberPanel one point less as I like the added details for mySQL in cpanel although one doesn't really need all of them.  CyberPanel also has phpmyadmin.  DirectAdmin doesn't have phpmyadmin.  Possibly it can still be added?  If I missed it and it is there, apologies in advance.

• 6x VPS 1 - Host4Fun
  
• 1x VPS 2 - RackNerd
  
• 1x VPS 3 - RackNerd
  
• 5x VPS 7 - ReadyDedis [USA Locations: Atlanta, NY, Seattle, LA]
  
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• 1x VPS 15 - CubeData
  

We're aiming at a date of around 5/6th of January for announcing the winners.  

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PLEASE study the Terms of Service of the VPS/s you request very carefully BEFORE you apply.

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Hello guys!
Happy New Year to everyone to all the P4V Members and Admins! Wishing you all a really great year with all the happiness and joy! 
Stay blessed everyone! Thank you to admins here on P4V for doing a really great job and giving all their efforts for the Members to keep them happy! and almost alot of free hosting forums and hosting are closing down and hope to see P4V Stay Strong for coming years as it has been going strong for many years!

Hey guys,

so today I had this weird question pop up, and I figured It'd be fun to take your opinion on it. 

Nowadays, we've seen a general trend that alot of games are following, ESPECIALLY mobile games.

More and more games are opting for free games with ingame ads and option to buy an ad-free version. However, in the past...from what I remember, old games generally tended to be either premium or ad free, such as Minecraft Pocket Edition, which is still to this date...paid.

What are your opinions on this? Do you prefer having an ad experience or totally a premium experience?

Additionally, what in your opinion has caused this change? Can we credit this to the rise of internet and digital traffic of the world?

Hi,
I was lurking around in this (Suggestions and Feedback) forum when a recent thread caught my eye. I know this has been a controversial topic for a while now. I didn't reply to that thread since my suggestion is a little different from the thread's topic.

One of the reasons why VPS providers give VPS is that they want to help newcomers learn how it is managed and properly run. Also, they want to encourage developers and webmasters who can't afford server hosting. The problems with this method is that eventually the VPS holder may become inactive or the server is not being used to its capacity. I know the monthly post count exists to tackle this issue. Although, what if the holders could post a thread about the project they are working on which is hosted on the VPS. They could update it every month giving a summary of the changes on their website or code. The reason behind this is they can show their gratitude for the VPS provider other than the usual leaving a review. In this way, they get 1 more post to their monthly post count. Maybe, even a special section for this purpose.

This is just a suggestion for the VPS holders. Let me know if you have anything to add to this idea or if I missed out on something.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Hello, Posters

Bladenode.com is going to be offering premium Directadmin Web hosting in late January or early February of 2021. Due to the recent hike in cPanel prices, I have decided to offer DirectAdmin shared hosting and hopefully completely replace my shared hosting market. I manage over 1200 cPanel accounts worldwide and would love to lower my costs.

I have not used DirectAdmin in years and just now relearning how to use it again. I need beta testers to test out my web hosting and let me know how well it runs. It is essential to get the bugs out before paying clients to start using it.

You get to keep this account after the beta test is over.  

So what do I get?
2GB of NVM Storage
30GB bandwidth
1 Domain (free domains allowed or yourdomain.6srv.net) 
5 sub-domains
3 email accounts
5 Mysql Databases
5 FTP Accounts
Softaculous App Installer
Cloudlinux Powered
PHP Selector (PHP 7.4 or 7.3)
FREE SSL
NGINX & Apache
DDOS Protection
New York Data Center

Requirements
Must follow my terms of services. (https://bladepanel.com/knowledgebase/2/B...vices.html)

Must be a member of this forum

Please tell me below why you want free hosting and what you will be using it for.

You must give me a report via direct message or somewhere on the forums if admins allow it. The information must include how you like the hosting and if you have found any problems. 

You are the owner of this account and 100% responsible for it. I have measures in place to protect my network and my servers. I have 0 tolerance for abusers and will be terminated faster than you can say, baby Yoda.

Please understand that you will be placed with real paying clients. Please don't abuse this gift. 

I will request a close on this thread once I have enough beta testers.  

How do I get support?

Please submit all support related issues via https://post4vps.com/Forum-Support-Requests

How Do I get this sweet deal?
Please post below with:
a username (8 characters max)
a domain name or subdomain (yourdomain.6srv.net)
a reason why you want free hosting and what you will be using it for.
Agree to the terms of services. 

All account information will be sent via direct message.

Enjoy
PhoenixWolf
BladeNode Web Hosting

Please note the following VPS Holders still have missing posts for December.  

Note: If your name is not in the list below this means you have completed the number of posts for this month.

VPS Holders with missing posts:
@Rehan   -   7
@sohamb03   -   10
@LightDestory   -   17

Failure to complete the required 20 will result in loss of use of the VPS.  The VPS will be powered down.  If you then wish to keep the VPS you will have the opportunity to reapply for it at the next Giveaway, with a penalty of 100$.

As an avid Apple user, I thought this story was interesting when I first heard about it a couple years ago. Corellium is a ARM virtualization company that specializes in bug bounty and virtualized developer tools for iOS and Android. Now the iOS piece of the company has been very interesting over the past couple years with Apple claiming that the virtualization of iOS violates United States Trademark Laws, so they were forced to take down that stem of there services. In this overview I will break down things in relation to the case and then my personal thoughts of the matter.

1. Apple's View of Security
When Apple first went after Corellium I did not understand why to be honest, I started off my Apple journey with an iPod Classic then got an iPhone 3GS that I jailbroke to make compatible with T-Mobile at the time, as AT&T was the only cellular company that had the license rights to the handset. From my point of view, Apple always cherished the Jailbreak/Hackintosh community under Steve Jobs as we continued to use their technologies and showed them what could be done with them. This focus shifted as the FBI requested Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to the individual behind the San Bernardino bombing in 2015, Apple upholding their Privacy Policy to their users and this marking a pivotal moment in the company's history to the rhetoric of "Actions speak louder than Words." We soon after started seeing companies try to use methods created by the Jailbreak community to serve law enforcement with a brute force tool that could bypass the Lock Screen of any iPhone just by plugging it into a black box. Apple stood their ground and the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Apple that a tech company, even with a warrant, does not have to disclose the information of a user or provide a backdoor into their operating system for law enforcement agencies. Flash forward to 2018, Apple files a lawsuit agains Corellium for virtualizing their operating system iOS 12. Corellium quickly removed the stem from their services and the court hearings began. Apple citing "services such as this not sponsored by Apple could lead to backdoor vulnerabilities compromising the entire ecosystem for all of our customers." December 2020, the court ruled in Corellium's favor with the case currently at an impasse for Apple.

2. My view
Initially I thought Apple was just trying to control the share of the market for services such as this, simply using privacy as the vehicle for their case. Though I appreciated the notion of privacy and keeping the kernel of the operating system in a controlled environment, the kernel has realistically been exposed to the community for years just from the Jailbreak community alone. I always gravitated towards Apple due to their security and privacy policies, but in app development with Android, Google has a pretty solid grasp on security updates especially when it comes to their Pixel/Nexus line of handsets. I feel as if though Corellium won this stage of the battle, but Apple will find the source of the vulnerabilities of which Corellium used to virtualize the OS in the first place, especially with the new Bug Bounty Program they established over the past year. I would love to hear everyone's views on this matter, as I am on the fence with this one. Is it more Apple control or valid security concerns?

3. What's next?
This is the part that interests and excites me, especially when it comes to Post4VPS and the VPS community. With the virtualization of iOS, does that also open up the prospect of macOS virtualization? The operating system being a unix-like operating system would easily run on a KVM node especially if we the community/developers were able to modify to ktexts to be compatible with the networking adapters presented for that specific VPS and then would be able to bake in flagging to force the terminal shell instead of the GUI. What are some of your "wishlist" items that you would hope to see come out of this case?

Thanks for reading everyone, I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts and hopefully have some great discussions out of this.

Hello there,
I have searched on many places but i'm not able to find a good solution or any explanation for my issue so decided to ask it here, I just recently got my hands on a i5-2500 with a Q67 Board. I have a Single Stick 8GB Memory, It was working fine for a week but after a week it started gives me blue screens and pc hang , crashed and alot. But when i do not use it for hours or so it works fine for like many manyyy hours. Even it is up right now for 3 hours.
I did MEMTEST64 and Windows Memory Diagnostic tool but it crashes and restarts my PC but when i leave my pc for a while the test run fine. Now i'm thinking is it really the RAM Module has died? Because i'm not sure yet. I cleaned the ram teeth(connector or whatever its called) with a rubber. Is it could a overheating problem or something else i'm not sure.
I'm thinking of to give it a clean with Isopropyl Alcohol maybe. 

Any suggestions what should i do before i send it for repair? 

Regards,
sAmI

I am opening this thread to discuss how we all see the gaming world in regards of games releases and the hype we put on them.

I want to start saying that our "hype" can be directly translated into "stress" to the developers, it is nothin new. We except something that requires years and years of development and testing in just few months. Let's stay that modern gamers doesn't have much patience like the old times.

For example, let's speak about Cyberpunk 2077. This game was surrounded by a HUGE hype but in fact has been an horrible launch. I am not going to blame the gamers because CD Projekt used gamers' hype to BOOST its sellings.

Nowadays we can see the results:

• Players are unhappy about the out-come of the Cyberpunk 2077. We put too much hype into this game, a lot of announced features has been removed and the game has been released in a un-finished state because gamers WANTED IT NOW.
  
• CD Projekt Red destroyed its reputation. CD Red received a lot of positives review with their previous game, The Witcher 3, but with CP 2077 they are getting fired from everywhere: SONY, GAME MAGAZINES, INVESTORS... They wanted to get the money before completing the game or they needed the money before to complete the game. Who knows. Nothing has been exposed YET.
  
• Developers are TIRED and STRESSED. They have to support multiple platforms and patch everyone of them differently. Moreover the crunching is getting worsen and worsen.
  

Just think about early 2000, game development wasn't that stressful. But nowadays we gamers are just a branch of idiots asking for incredible experience without thinking about the effort needed to make it.

Regards,
LightDestory.