Today there are plenty of web hosting control panels out there. Linux and Windows both have a selection of panels suited to different server environments. Both operating systems also have a number of both free and paid solutions, so there is indeed a panel for every aspiring web host out there.
One of the better paid packages is cPanel. This package has long been in development, and is a time-tested software package that is popular among professionals. This is because cPanel offers the best of both worlds: all the nitty and gritty features advanced users need, but still sports a simple interface that almost anyone can learn within a day or two. The licensing fees are the only drawback to cPanel.
Webmin is a free, open source, alternative for Unix-like systems. It has the ability to allow developers create plugins for the system, making custom installations entirely possible for specific needs. Webmin was created by a now-current employee at Google, so it has received much attention in the upstart web hosting world.
It’s good to see that some web hosting panels are working in modern features into their inner core. An example would be with GNUPanel, which allows hosting managers to accept online payment processors automatically. Other packages such as cPanel may be able to do this with third party software, but it isn’t built into the system. GNUPanel is based on PHP 5, so it’s also a rather mainstream and easy to pick up code base. GNUPanel supports many features cPanel does, such as one-click installation of Joomla!
Another licensed alternative would be Plesk. Plesk is an alternative to cPanel, as it matches it in terms of speed, security, and features. Each year the two battle it out to improve upon their original designs, but mostly the differences occur within the interface and the licensing costs. One odd thing about cPanel is separating the WHM and administrator panel- which takes some growing accustomed to for those new to the separate systems.
A large website will quickly grow out of the shell that most web hosting panels create. A large website needs to be able to balance a load of traffic among many servers- perhaps hundreds or thousands in some rare cases. This is done through special web hosting panels such as that of InterWorx. This web hosting panel specializes in clustered servers and managing them to create a stable environment. InterWork and panels like it are only for the leaders in Internet industry, however, and common website owners don’t need it.
In Conclusion
A web hosting control panel is a long-term solution: so it’s important that you pick one that you feel comfortable with. If you have any doubts, try out other web host control panels. Try out a few licensed panels even if you haven’t thought of shelling out money for them- it might be worth it!
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