Hosting Control Panels: A Web Host Comparison
Published on August 21st, 2008 by Matt Hedges in Web HostingYour web host will offer you a control panel. But you can probably guess by the name, but a control panel helps you to manage your website. It keeps all the functions a user may need in one handy place which makes it easier for them. These tools can conclude traffic information statistics, FTP accounts, e-mail account provision, the ability to add sub-domains, file management and much more.
There are a number of different control panels available in the market. These include Cpanel which is among the most popular, Hostopia, Sphera, Ensim, VDeck, NextGenCP etc. They all differ in their look and feel as well as functions. Web hosts usually have their own control panel preferences, which depend upon the platforms they use. The control panels are selected according to their features and ability to perform on a particular platform.
Basic features that you can expect to find in a control panel are as follows:
Mail Manager
Parked Domains
Addon Domains
Error Log
Hot Link Protection
Index Manager
SSL Manager
Backup
Parked Domains
Addon Domains
Password Protect Directories
File Manager
Redirects
Backup
Index Manager
Subdomain
SSL Manager
Error Log
Raw Log Manager
Subdomain Stats
Cron Jobs
Network Tools
Web/FTP Stats
Raw Log Manager
Error Log
Subdomain Stats
How easy a control panel is to use is a good way of noticing the difference between them. A panel such as Plesk is really simple to use whereas the functionality of cPanel is highly regarded. To make the best choice between these control panels, it helps to know the strengths and weaknesses of them. What follows is a brief overview of the control panels:
cPanel:
This is found on Linux systems, it does not provide Windows or OSX support but it does cater for more than 10 versions of Linux. cPanel enables users to take control of their site and is useful for using MySQL databases and organizing email account management.
cPanel has a whole range of functions and provides much more than the majority of control panels. The amount of functions offered is a key reason why it is so popular, that and it is cheap.
Plesk:
Plex is available for Linux and Windows web hosting servers where cPanel is not. Many users find it helpful that Plex has an interface similar to Windows XP. The control panel looks good and offers many features available in cPanel. It can enable any user to build their own site with easy to sue tool. It offers many features but it may be viewed as more expensive than other products, especially cPanel.
H-Sphere:
H-Sphere is also a popular control panel used by web hosts. Just like Plesk, it is also available for Windows, as well as Linux based web hosting servers. It offers a good range of features ranging from complete automation to key functionalities. However when compared with cPanel and Plesk it has less features.
DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin features a number of options that other control panels do not have. However it comes out lacking, when compared to features available with cPanel or Plesk. Furthermore DirectAdmin does not support Windows based platforms, and only supports a few flavors of Linux. On the plus side, it is cheaper than cPanel.
Ensim
Ensim is also available for Windows as well as Linux. It has an adequate interface but lacks in features.
Interworx
Interworx also caters only to Linux based Web hosting servers. It has got a clean and well-organized interface with some impressive features like the site usage snapshot.
Hosting Accelerator
This service is only for Windows and it can feel a bit cluttered which may overwhelm a number of users who are new to this style or technique.
Helm
This is another Windows only web host server and this offers the ability to view billing details from within the control panel.
CWIPanel
There is not a lot to be said for CWIPanel except it offers Windows support and is quite average.
InsPanel
This control panel has also been made only for windows based web hosting server. This is an average product with standard features.
There are a lot of control panels to choose from but cPanel usually ends up on top due to its price, features and ease of use.
Among the recently developed control panels, Pandela.com has come out with its NectGenCP control panel. It has been in development, since a few years and one must say that it is really impressive.
You can tell that modern internet technology has shaped this product. It is simple to use and has been created specifically for web hosting clients. It has such a great ease of use that even novices can pick it up in next to no time. It is said it takes no more than mouse clicks to perform any function. It may seem simple but there is a lot going on and all of the functions aid web site management. The makers of the service have also issued all users with a challenge and if they can think of something they would like in the next version of the product, they will incorporate it.
An overview of the features of NextGenCP:
Domain Control:
All users have full control of any domain and sub-domain and the registration process is very simple. Users have full control over their domain as well as sub-domain. They can also register and host their own domain names easily and quickly.
Managing a Database:
This product makes it extremely simple to create and manage your very own database with just a few clicks of the mouse. phpMyAdmin provides the database management and the data is secured by Database Backup Manager.
Take control of the mail accounts:
NextGenCP can be used to add and manage mail accounts very efficiently. Pandela.com provides an advanced SPAM filtering system, that ensures that the users will not be bombarded with junk mails, or viruses. It also includes mail filters, helps in organizing the mail accounts, as well as filter unwanted mails.
Site Tools:
NextGenCP has plenty of tools, which make managing a web site very easy. Some of these tools are Script Installer, Hotlink Protection and IP Access Manager.
Statistics of the site:
The statistics available will offer all the data about your visitors, a complete tally of bandwidth and traffic consumption and an overview of email accounts.
System for Support:
Having full access to a support system is a great feature offered by NextGenCP. Anytime a user notices a problem, they have to submit a ticket and they will be offered assistance from a member of staff as quickly as possible. It usually takes no more than fifteen minutes to be responded to.
There is no doubt that these functions are marking NextGenCP as one of the best control panels available in the current climate. Competitors should take note that Pandela.com is not stopping here and they intend to improve the service offered by its already impressive product.
Popularity: 11%
