Finding the Best Hosting Control Panel

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.

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.

These are features you need on a control panel:

CGI Center

Cron Jobs

Addon Domains

MIME Types

Disk Usage

Disk Usage

Backup

Backup

Subdomain

Addon Domains

FTP Manager

File Manager

Redirects

Redirects

Web/FTP Stats

Raw Access Logs

SSL Manager

Raw Access Logs

MS SQL Manager(Windows only)

Subdomain Stats

Cron Jobs

Web/FTP Stats

Raw Access Logs

Hot Link Protection

Index Manager

Subdomain Stats

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:

cPanel is very commonly used on Linux based systems, it provides support for more than 10 different flavors of Linux, and as of yet, it does not have a Windows or OSX based version. cPanel helps users in managing/controlling everything, from administering MySQL database to creating and deleting email accounts and much more.

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 can be found on Linux and Windows and although it is useable it does not have many features.

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

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

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.

Among the above mentioned control panels, cPanel usually ends up as the favored choice due to its range of features, ease of and affordability.

There have been recent developments in control panels and Pandela.com have developed the NextGenCP control panel. It has been a few years in the making but it looks very good.

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.

These are some of the features you could use in NextGenCP:

Gain control over your domain:

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.

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.

Sites Statistics;

This information will provide total knowledge of visitors and show how much bandwidth is being used and the usage of email accounts per day.

Support System

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.

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.