Web Hosting

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:

Mail Manager

Mail Manager

Addon Domains

MIME Types

Disk Usage

PostgreSQL Database Manager

FTP Manager

Mail Manager

Parked Domains

MySQL Database Manager

Password Protect Directories

File Manager

MS SQL Manager(Windows only)

Frontpage Extensions

Web/FTP Stats

Subdomain

Raw Log Manager

Error Log

Raw Log Manager

CGI Center

CGI Center

Web/FTP Stats

Raw Access Logs

Hot Link Protection

Hot Link Protection

IP Deny manager

Among the differences that ditinguish various control panels, is the ease of use. Some control panels like Plesk are relatively more user friendly. While others like cPanel, are well regarded for their functionality. Before you can appreciate which is the best control panel that can serve your needs satisfactorily, you will need to have an idea of what is on offer in the market. Towards that end, an overview of various control panels follows:

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.

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 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

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

Interworx

Interworx is purely for Linux web hosts but it has a simple interface and features like usage snapshot which are impressive.

Hosting Accelarator

Hosting accelerator supports only Windows Web hosting servers. Its interface is not well organized and appears crowded with options which may overwhelm inexperienced users.

Helm

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

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

Control of 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.

Managing a Database:

This product makes it extremely simple to create and manage your very own database with just a few clicks of the mouse. phpMyAdmin provides the database management and the data is secured by Database Backup Manager.

Mail Accounts:

It is very simple to add and control email accounts using this system. Pandela.com have provided many SPAM filters which should vastly reduce the amount of junk a user receives. There are also features to organize mail accounts, and look through and filter mail that is not desired.

Use tools to improve your site:

NextGenCP offers many tools to improve the site and managing a website has never been simpler. Script Installer, Hotlink protection and IP Access Manager are just some of the tools on offer.

Find the statistics behind your site:

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

System for Support:

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.

There is no doubt that these functions are marking NextGenCP as one of the best control panels available in the current climate. Competitors should take note that Pandela.com is not stopping here and they intend to improve the service offered by its already impressive product.

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