Plesk is a web hosting control panel that provides a user-friendly interface for managing web hosting accounts and server configurations. Here is a brief history of Plesk:

1. Early Development: Plesk was initially developed by Dmitry Sklyarov in 1999 as a student project. It aimed to simplify website and server management tasks by providing a graphical interface that could be accessed through a web browser.
2. Commercial Release: In 2001, Plesk was commercially released by Plesk Inc., a company founded by Sergey Kurzin, Rolf Skyberg, and Igor Seletskiy. The control panel quickly gained popularity due to its ease of use, extensive feature set, and cross-platform compatibility.
3. Acquisitions and Expansions: Over the years, Plesk went through several ownership changes and expansions. In 2003, SWsoft (later renamed Parallels) acquired Plesk Inc., bringing Plesk into a larger suite of software solutions. Parallels continued to enhance and develop Plesk, adding new features and improving its performance and security.
4. Plesk Onyx: In 2016, Plesk introduced Plesk Onyx, a major release that brought significant improvements and new features to the control panel. Plesk Onyx focused on enhancing the user experience, simplifying server management, and integrating with popular web technologies and cloud platforms.
5. Continued Development: Plesk has undergone continuous development and updates to keep up with evolving web hosting technologies and user needs. The control panel has expanded its feature set to include website management, domain management, email configuration, security settings, database administration, and integration with various content management systems (CMS) and hosting platforms.
6. Plesk Obsidian and Plesk Obsidian Plus: In 2019, Plesk released Plesk Obsidian, the next major version of the control panel. Plesk Obsidian introduced further improvements in performance, security, and functionality. Additionally, Plesk Obsidian Plus was introduced as a premium edition with advanced features, including WordPress toolkit, developer pack, and more.

Today, Plesk remains one of the leading web hosting control panels in the industry. It is trusted by hosting providers and website owners worldwide for its user-friendly interface, extensive feature set, and cross-platform compatibility. Plesk continues to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of modern web hosting environments and provides a robust solution for managing websites and server configurations.