Hosting Control Panels: A Web Host Comparison
Your web host provider will offer you a control panel and this will enable you to better manage your site. The control panel is where a user can look after their entire site and holds information on statistics, traffic, hosting functions, access to FTP, email account access, domain issues and the ability to manage files, amongst much more.
The current market has a great number of products to choose from but cPanel is the most popular. Other products include Hostopia, Ensim, VDeck, Sphera, and NextGenCP although there are countless more. Each site has its own individual techniques and style. Each host will have their own preferences with regards to control panel and their decision may be based on which platform they use. The decision about which panel to use is invariably based on price, features and compatibility with certain platforms.
Basic features that you can expect to find in a control panel are as follows:
CGI Center
Parked Domains
Addon Domains
MIME Types
Disk Usage
Index Manager
SSL Manager
Mail Manager
File Manager
Addon Domains
PostgreSQL Database Manager
File Manager
Redirects
Redirects
Index Manager
Subdomain
SSL Manager
Raw Access Logs
Raw Log Manager
Redirects
CGI Center
Network Tools
Web/FTP Stats
Network Tools
Hot Link Protection
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:
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.
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:
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:
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
If you want options that many control panels do not offer then DirectAdmin is for you. It has a wider range but it lacks some features that make Plesk or cPanel so popular. It is also purely for a small number of Linux varieties but it is considerably 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 Accelarator
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
CQIPanel is available for Windows and has no real exciting features.
InsPanel
This is another Windows based server which offers a basic range of features.
There are many control panels but cPanel remains the favorite due to its cost, easy to use functions and wide range of features.
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.
The most up to date internet technologies have assisted the creation of NextGenCP. It is a speedy and simple product that is perfect for web hosts. The quality of the service is shown by the fact that beginners can get to grips with it very easily. The design of NextGenCP is so strong that all features can be found within three clicks of the mouse. Do not be fooled by this simplicity though as there is a whole range of features available. And if this wasn’t enough, Pandela.com has said that if any user can think of any feature that isn’t included in the current model, it will be implemented in the next version of NextGenCP.
These are some of the features you could use in NextGenCP:
Domain Control:
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.
Database Management:
NextGenCP makes it very easy to create a database for the website. All it takes is a few clicks! The database management is done by phpMyAdmin and the data is backed up 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:
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.
Find the statistics behind your site:
Site statistics options in NextGenCP, provides complete information about the visitors, and the amount of bandwidth/traffic consumed by the site and mail accounts on a daily basis.
System for Support:
All users of NextGenCP have full access to the support system. Whenever a user faces any problem, he/she simply has to post a support ticket, and the issue will be taken up by one of the staff as early as possible. The average response time is not more than 15 minutes.
With so many impressive features, there is no doubt that NextGenCP looks one of the best web host control panels ever created. It is also good to hear that Pandela.com is promising to continually improve the service each and every day.