Our plan is to implement web hosting with billing for our clients using Vesta CP, thanks to its functionality and attractive design. However, there are significant challenges when it comes to creating a billing system that looks good and supports local acquiring. Despite this, we are determined to create our own billing system because it is necessary and also an interesting challenge.

In the future, we hope to offer web hosting to everyone, but we know that eventually the vertical scaling capabilities of our server will be exhausted and we will need to consider horizontal scaling.

To achieve our goals, we will use Vesta CP on a second server and enable the two servers to communicate through the API. The challenge then lies in determining which server to use for each client and tariff-template bundle.

Lastly, we wonder if there are any solutions to detect server resource usage automatically and choose the least loaded server. This is a valuable consideration for improving the efficiency of our hosting services.

To distribute the load effectively, there are various practices available such as issuing different DNS addresses for different servers using round-robin. Alternatively, a server can be placed at the entrance to manage load distribution based on conditions. For instance, nginx uses round-robin, weighted round-robin or leastconn.

However, in reality, the web server is just a hardware device with resources, and user accounts are typically stored in a single database. Therefore, ideally, the logic should consider storing information about which server to work with, and where user sites are located, together with the account and other data to avoid the cumbersome process of rewriting and transferring data.

Finally, many load balancing solutions exist on the internet, from Google's Piranha to other approaches that can help you choose the right approach for your server environment.

I have been using WHMCS for two years and find it to be an excellent billing tool. In hindsight, I should have ordered a license directly as the models from other sources, such as whmcs.ru, can be quite buggy. The payment reception is unreliable, as there is no verification of the payment amount, despite my attempts to flag this issue with the developers.

Unfortunately, the code is also closed, which makes it difficult to identify and correct the issues myself. In light of these limitations, I am slowly rewriting and correcting the necessary modules to address the errors that I have found.

Overall, it is always important to carefully consider the licensing and source of any software tool before integrating it into your workflow.

To address your concerns about creating a billing system that looks good and supports local acquiring, you may need to invest in design and development resources to ensure a visually appealing interface and integrate local payment gateways. It's great that you are determined to create your own billing system, as it will give you more control over the entire hosting process.

Regarding scaling, you correctly identified that horizontal scaling will be necessary once the vertical scaling capabilities of your server are exhausted. Implementing Vesta CP on a second server and establishing communication through the API is a logical step to achieve horizontal scaling.

Determining which server to use for each client and tariff-template bundle can be approached by developing a load balancing mechanism. This could involve analyzing factors such as server load, resource usage, and client requirements to determine the most suitable server for each situation. Consider leveraging load balancing algorithms and techniques to distribute the workload efficiently.

Automatically detecting server resource usage and choosing the least loaded server is an excellent consideration for improving hosting efficiency. You could explore implementing monitoring tools that collect resource usage data and use it to make informed decisions on load distribution. Load balancers can also be configured to distribute traffic based on current server loads.

In summary, your plan to implement web hosting with billing using Vesta CP is solid. Overcoming challenges related to billing system design, scaling, load balancing, and resource usage detection will require careful planning and possibly additional resources. However, with determination and the right tools, you can build a successful hosting infrastructure that offers efficient services to your clients.


Here are some additional details and suggestions to consider for your web hosting with billing implementation:

1. Designing a Billing System:
  - Focus on creating an intuitive user interface for your billing system that makes it easy for clients to navigate and manage their accounts.
  - Implement a secure payment gateway integration to support various payment methods, including local acquiring options.
  - Ensure that your billing system generates accurate and detailed invoices for clients, providing transparency and clarity.

2. Scaling Considerations:
  - As you expand your web hosting services, monitor server performance and resource usage regularly to identify when scaling is needed.
  - Evaluate your current infrastructure and consider using virtualization technologies like containers (e.g., Docker) or virtual machines (e.g., VMware) to facilitate easier horizontal scaling.
  - Explore options such as cloud hosting or distributed server architectures to distribute the workload effectively and enable seamless scalability.

3. Load Balancing and Server Selection:
  - Implement a load balancer that can distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers based on predefined algorithms (e.g., round-robin, least connections, weighted distribution).
  - Consider utilizing DNS-based load balancing techniques to distribute traffic to different servers based on geographic locations or other factors.
  - Develop a mechanism to evaluate server health and performance metrics to dynamically adjust server selection based on real-time conditions.

4. Automatic Server Resource Usage Detection:
  - Utilize monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Nagios) to collect server resource usage data and set up alerts for threshold breaches.
  - Develop scripts or applications that use the collected data to automatically determine the least loaded server and route new requests accordingly.
  - Consider implementing auto-scaling capabilities that can spin up new servers dynamically based on resource usage patterns.