Top

Finding the Best Hosting Control Panel

August 21, 2008

by Matt Hedges

Your 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 is a white variety of control panels available. cPanel is the most popular but others include NextGenCp, VDeck, Ensim, Sphera or Hostopia. Each panel is different and offer many tools and functions peculiar to their own product. The panel you receive may depend upon which platform you our web host uses. Factors for changing a control panel includes what features they have and how do they perform on a specific platform.

Basic features that you can expect to find in a control panel are as follows:

Mail Manager

Mail Manager

Addon Domains

FTP Manager

Disk Usage

Index Manager

Backup

Backup

Subdomain

MySQL Database Manager

Password Protect Directories

Subdomain

Disk Usage

Redirects

Web/FTP Stats

Frontpage Extensions

MySQL Database Manager

Error Log

Raw Log Manager

Subdomain Stats

CGI Center

Cron Jobs

Raw Access Logs

Network Tools

Index Manager

SSL Manager

There are issues that separate control panels, and one is how it easy the panel is to use. A panel like Plesk may offer simple and friendly tools and options whereas cPanel offers many functions. To ensure you make the right choice of control panel, you need to know what is available. You can find out more by studying the following:

cPanel:

Linux based systems is where cPanel is mainly found. It can offer assistance for over 10 types of Linux the and at the moment does not cater to Windows or OSX. cPanel is helpful in controlling everything your site needs including MySQL database to email issues and much more beside.

The range of features and functions provided by cPanel is higher than many services available today and this diversity and price are key reasons in why cPanel is so popular.

Plesk:

One advantage that Plesk has over cPanel is that unlike the latter, it is available for Linux, as well as Windows Web hosting servers. Plesk’s interface is also quite similar to Windows XP. It’s a good looking control panel and has most of the basic features that are available in cPanel. It also has other applications like the web builder tool. With all its features, comes the price tag, that is, it is more expensive, specially when compared to cPanel

H-Sphere:

Many users appreciate HSphere. Similar to Plesk, it is compatible with Windows and Linux. Many functions are provided including the ability to have complete automation and many key functionalities but it offers less than Plesk or cPanel.

DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is unique as it offers many services other panels do not but it does lack some of the functions offered by the main panels. It has a limited range of support with only a few Linux versions and no Windows support but it is a cheap option.

Ensim

Available for Windows and Linux, Ensim doesn’t have a lot of features but it has an interface that is adequate.

Interworx

Again only for Linux, Interworx has impressive features like the site usage snapshot and a well presented interface.

Hosting Accelarator

Only available on Windows web hosting servers, Hosting Accelerator is not recommended for novices as it has a crowded interface that may be confusing.

Helm

This is another Windows only web host server and this offers the ability to view billing details from within the control panel.

CWIPanel

CQIPanel is available for Windows and has no real exciting features.

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.

However, there are new control panels emerging all the time and NextGenCP looks very impressive. It may have been developed over a number of years but it appears to be worth the wait.

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.

Features contained within NextGenCP:

Domain Control:

Everyone can now have full control over their domains and sub-domains and the ability to register and host these domains is extremely simple.

Learn how to manage your own database:

NextGenCP provides everything you need to manage your own website database in just a few clicks of the mouse. All of the management of the database is controlled by phpMyAdmin and Database Backup Manager provides the management of data.

Accounts for mail:

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.

Use tools to improve your site:

There are numerous tools for this product, all of them aiding the management of a site. Some of the tools include IP Access Manager, Hotlink Protection and Script Installer.

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:

Every user of this product will be granted full support assistance. By sending off a support ticket, the matter will be considered by a staff member very quickly. It is said that the average time for response is 15 minutes.

All of the above features have contributed to making NextGenCP, one of the best control panels for web site hosting available in the market. And Pandela.com is not resting on this achievement, but moving on to make NextGenCP even better, with every passing day.

About the Author:

Comments

Comments are closed.

Bottom