Which control panel should I use ?

[eUKShane]

We get confused regarding this question.......which control panel should I use?

Will try to differentiate them.

Plesk
=====

Advantages

- Provides better support for automation, including an XML-RPC interface allowing PHP or Perl scripts to call functions, optionally from a remote computer.

- Has a large variety of plug-ins, adding to the available features.

- For unlimited domain licenses, Plesk is cheaper to purchase, as opposed to cPanel's.

- Supports SuSE Linux.

- Best for Windows.


Disadvantages

- While good, the user interface is slightly harder to use and customize than cPanel's, and cPanel's is generally preferred by clients.


cPanel
======

Advantages

- There is more software (billing software, support software, and so on) available to integrate with it.

- Out-of-the-box, it has slightly more features than Plesk.

- Cheaper to rent per year, as opposed to Plesk.

- Easy to use, and many clients are used to and prefer the cPanel interface.


Disadvantages

- Does not provide any XML or similar interface that I could find.

- Does not support SuSE Linux, as far as I can see.

- Not works on Windows.

Both of these control panels integrate with various pieces of billing software such as ModernBill (www. modernbill.com/) and AccountLab.

Depending on how you want to use it, H-Sphere
(www. psoft.net/) and DirectAdmin
(www. directadmin.com/) may also be worth considering, although they are generally less fully featured and clients are less familiar with them than Plesk and cPanel.

If you are going to be using a reseller account, the biggest difference between Plesk and CPanel is the user interface. Both are very good panels and we've had a lot of success with each of them.

Ultimately however, I think it's just a matter of personal preference over with interface you'll be most comfortable with. If you've used one over another, I would recommend going with the one you're familiar with. However, no matter what you decide you should see good results.

Please mention your openion here.......so that we can choose better option.

[ArthurDent]

Hello all,

- this is my first post in these forums so well met everyone.

- What the above post does not include is a comparison between Plesk and HSPhere as far as Windows Shared Hosting is concerned.

- Let me clarify what I am talking about:

- In an ideal world, there should be at least one Shared Windows Server sporting the HSphere Control Panel for customers that prefer to use HSphere and that is due to two important drawbacks of Plesk:
1. Plesk cannot be accessed behind a Firewall. HSphere has no such problem. For customers that desire to manage their website hostings when they are behind a firewall ( as in most corporate environments ) this is a serious drawback.
2. Plesk does not have the ability to uncompress an uploaded .zip archive right there on the server. It cannot also do the opposite which is to .zip a file that you want to download form the site. HSphere, via it's "Web Shell" File Manager component can easily do both of this - seemingly simple - things even through a Firewall (since it only uses Port 80).

- So, to sum things up, I believe that the best would be for eukhost to offer the option for customers to have their Shared Windows Hosting Plans located on a Server that uses HSphere. HSphere might not be as new and sassy as Plesk but functionality is far more important than user interface.

- As a side note, I do know that customers have the option to purchase a dedicated-server package and install whatever Control Panel is best for their needs but sucn option is too expensive to switch to from Shared Hosting.

- Providing such an opton might not be as hard as it may sound for eukhost. Servers are contantly being shuffled back an forth. Perhaps it would be sufficient to use an "older" server and set it up with HSphere so that Firewalled customers can manage their sites. If HSphere proves popular enough due to it's superior functionality then the situation couldbe re-evaluated. But offering this option on a "beta" basis would relieve Firewalled customers a lot. I would even accept not having any technical support for HSphere since that would definitely be a burden for Technical Support staff. But having the option is more important than not being able to even see the Plesk login page.

Regards,
ArthurDent

[eUKhost.com]

Hi Arthur,

Plesk and HSphere are now under same company "Parallels". HSphere is the most insecure control panel right now, though it was considered the best control panel few years back.

Investment behind HSphere is not worth as your servers can get hacked any day if you stay on HSphere for long time.

[ArthurDent]

Hello,

- Well, I can't argue about security so I will admit that HSphere is a bad choice. I guess I would have to go over to Parallels and bug them about adding some compress/uncompress functionality in Plesk .

- I am truly impressed by the prompt and fast response in an 18-month-old thread by an official memebr of EUKHost. That is something I wasn't expecting . In any case, I would like to express my sincere approval of the elevated customer care by EUKHost. This is far ahead of the competition and - trust me - I have suffered a lot in the past. Do keep up the good work and congratulations.

Regards,
ArthurDent

[eUKhost.com]

Thanks Arthur

We have suffered a lot in past due to HSphere and there was no reason for me to ignore your recommendation of HSphere control panel. A control panel provider should keep on updating versions with time and one should not allow end-users to run same version for years. Don't forget that there are many big companies deployed by various marketing agencies just to find bugs in various softwares.

Parallels has done big mistake by purchasing some of the dead softwares and they will never manage to recover their investment no matter what they do. We pay for license of over 100 VZ's and over 1000 plesk licenses. I feel sad to see them misusing our money for such abrupt purchases of dead companies and softwares.

[schoolbag]

I have tried out several web hosting control panels (cPanel, ISPConfig, DirectAdmin), and I think DA is the best of them.

Advantages:

- Integrated DNS management for users
- Resellers can easily create custom nameservers
- Reseller statistics
- Easily installable skins

Disadvantages:

- User interface is not easily usable (but if you learn how to use it, you will like it better than cPanel)
- There are not too many plugins available

[eUKhost.com]

Directadmin has improved a lot recently and there are many good features available in Directadmin. Directadmin is the only competitor of cpanel ( in terms of technology used ).

It's sad that we cannot consider Directadmin for our shared hosting requirements as using multiple control panels creates problems for staff as well as customers.

[Scothorse]

I started using Ensim Back in 2002 and it was absolute rubbish. Server hog, pain in the back side to customise etc. etc. Avoid!

Then I compared Plesk and CPanel in 2005, I chose Plesk, why?

- Plesk had an integrated Firewall Module CPanel did not
- Plesk was more versatile for my needs (LAMP)
- Server setup is far better
- Forum posting for Plesk problems were virtually inexistent, leading me to think it was pretty robust.

But that was a few years ago, things might have changed since...

[jc8654]

cPanel
======

Advantages

- There is more software (billing software, support software, and so on) available to integrate with it.

- Out-of-the-box, it has slightly more features than Plesk.

- Cheaper to rent per year, as opposed to Plesk.

- Easy to use, and many clients are used to and prefer the cPanel interface.


Disadvantages

- Does not provide any XML or similar interface that I could find.

- Does not support SuSE Linux, as far as I can see.

- Not works on Windows.

cPanel will soon be bringing a new version out which is designed for Windows. I think it will certainly give Plesk a run for its money!