Every Web host provides you with one, and if you do a lot of work on your Web site it could be something you curse or something you get to adore every single day. A control panel is like the brain behind your Web site’s body. It gives you one place to look at to do everything you would ever need to do to your Web hosting account. You can create E-mail accounts, create FTP accounts, track statistical information and so much more.
Did you know that there are different types of control panels though? I do not think anybody can argue with the fact that the most popular control panel software out there today is cPanel. There are other options out there though. Some might be better, some might be worse.
You shouldn't judge the quality of your Web host by the control panel they offer alone. It is an important piece to the Web hosting puzzle.
The folks at the cPanel Web site say, "cPanel is designed for the
end users of your system and allows them to control everything from
adding / removing email accounts to administering MySQL databases." The
fact of the matter is though that they do that and so much more. Most
often used on Redhat Linux based systems, cPanel provides support for
over ten different flavors of Linux. There is no Windows or OSX
versions yet however. Their interface is clean, with more options and features
than you could shake a stick at. It is easy to see why they are the
number one control panel used today. They do have several competitors
though, chomping at the bit to take their space on the top of the
mountain. cPanel used to have a demo control panel up for folks to test
drive, however I could not find a trace of it on the cPanel Web site
anymore.
Mitch's Score: 5/5
Plesk is available for both Linux and Windows
Web hosting servers. This alone gives them a little advantage over
cPanel. Their interface looks much like Windows XP. You have all the
soft colors and big icons that you would ever need. I have to give them
credit though, because it does look great. They have all the basic
features that cPanel has as well. Take Plesk for a test drive and see what you think!
Mitch's Score: 5/5
Created by Positive Software, H-Sphere is yet another pretty control
panel that you might have access to. It too provides support for
Windows and Linux based machines. From complete automation to key functionalities,
it has many features. Compared with Plesk and cPanel it leaves you with
wanting a little more. Perhaps in the next few versions it will be able
to catch up. The organization inside the H-Sphere is not that great
either. Take H-Sphere for a test drive and see what you think!
Mitch's Score: 3/5
Part one is over, but there are still two more segments to go! Tomorrow I will take a look at DirectAdmin, Interworx, Helm, and Ensim. If you have any arguments, comments, questions or suggestions just let me know and I'll be more than happy to do a follow up article with what you have had to say.
