Control Panels for Web Hosting

A control panel is provided by a web host. As suggested by the name, it is the controlling mechanism for the website and helps in managing the website. Control panel is the one place from where a user can do everything that is needed to be done, while hosting a website, this includes tracking statistical information like traffic information, creating FTP accounts, setting up email accounts, adding sub-domains, databases, managing files, among many other things.

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

Parked Domains

Addon Domains

FTP Manager

Hot Link Protection

Index Manager

SSL Manager

Password Protect Directories

Sub domain

MySQL Database Manager

Password Protect Directories

MS SQL Manager(Windows only)

MS SQL Manager(Windows only)

Frontpage Extensions

Web/FTP Stats

Frontpage Extensions

MySQL Database Manager

Raw Access Logs

Sub domain Stats

Redirects

Frontpage Extensions

Cron Jobs

Raw Access Logs

Network Tools

Index Manager

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:

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.

cPanel has more features and options than most of the control panels available in the market at present. This is one of the reasons for its popularity, along with the fact that it is quite inexpensive.

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

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

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

Helm supports only Windows based web hosting servers. Apart from the usual features, it allows the user to see billing information inside the control panel.

CWIPanel

There is not a lot to be said for CWIPanel except it offers Windows support and is quite average.

InsPanel

Again, InsPanel is Windwos based and has little to stand itself out from the crowd.

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:

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

Managing a Database:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Article is published with permission from http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a leading provider of comprehensive reviews of web hosting companies. Visit http://www.webhostingmadness.com for more information about and exclusive deals on web hosting.