Windows Web Hosting Control Panels
Windows Web Hosting Control Panels
Windows web hosting services come with control panel access so that you are able to manage your web hosting account without having to contact your web hosting provider every time you want a simple task to be carried out, i.e. to create a new email account under the domain which you have hosted with them. The control panel industry has grown steadily along with the web hosting market since as more web hosting providers are springing up, the number of control panel licenses needed has increased; however, some web hosting providers have needed more from a web hosting control panel from what their existing one is able to offer meaning that more control panels have started to be developed and have been released with more features than the next web hosting control panel. Windows web hosting control panels are few and far between because Windows is a closed operating system meaning that it requires quite a bit of programming knowledge in order to be able to produce an application that is able to fully function with a Windows server; however, this does mean that the Windows web hosting control panels that do exist have been coded and built to the highest standard meaning that they are going to be very reliable. Windows web hosting services are also becoming much more popular meaning that web hosting control panels for Windows web hosting services have to be up to scratch so that they are able to meet the growing demands of web hosting providers offering Windows web hosting packages.
The Main Control Panels Available
There are three main control panels that are used by web hosting providers offering Windows web hosting services, these being Plesk, DotNetPanel and HostingController. Plesk is the one control panel that is used by most web hosting providers since it has been around for a long time and is seen as the most reliable and stable solution; HostingController is classed by many web hosting providers as unreliable but DotNetPanel has not yet had much exposure to the hosting market meaning that it isn’t that well known by web hosting providers. Although all three are able to serve the core purpose of being used to managed Windows based web hosting servers and for the provisioning of Windows based web hosting accounts, DotNetPanel has the edge when it comes to the hosting of advanced services since it is able to manage higher level Microsoft applications allowing web hosting providers to venture out from solely offering shared Windows web hosting services. The main advantages offered by each of the free include:
- Plesk – this is able to offer you as the server administrator as well as your customers an easy to use interface which you can use to configure the different settings related to both Plesk and your server as well as to create web hosting accounts for those you wish to create them for – the customer front-end can be used by your customers or those who are hosted on your server to manage the different aspects of their web hosting accounts, and since Plesk makes use of both icons and text it is easily navigatable by even someone with no technical knowledge
- DotNetPanel – the emphasis of this control panel isn’t just on standard shared Windows web hosting services but also on advanced Microsoft service hosting to help web hosting providers extend their range of Windows based web hosting products – as a web hosting provider you can make use of this control panel to offer your users cheap Hyper-V based VPS hosting solutions as well as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 email hosting solutions – such solutions and services are more tailored towards business but by using DotNetPanel you will be able to offer these services at a cheaper cost
- HostingController – this is more of a rival to Plesk since it solely focuses on the offering of shared Windows web hosting services and doesn’t contain any of the advanced provisioning and management features that DotNetPanel is able to offer web hosting providers – however, HostingController still has many features to offer web hosting providers such as a built in back-up and restore feature to ensure that if any data loss because of a software or hardware failure then there will be backups which can be relied upon in such situations.
It should also be noted that cPanel, classed as the most popular Linux web hosting control, is due to release a Windows version of its popular control panel meaning that the current Windows web hosting control panels that are available have a huge task ahead as the new cPanel for Windows is predicted to be a success. All three of the above control panels can however offer web hosting providers a reliable solution on which they can base their Windows web hosting services; however, as a web hosting provider you want to offer more advanced services in which case you can only really consider DotNetPanel.
How do I make the most of a Windows web hosting control panel then?
It is important that you make the most out of any Windows web hosting control panel that you have so that as a web hosting provider you can offer your customers the best Windows web hosting service possible or as an end-user you can get the most for your money in terms of the features that your web hosting package comes with as standard. Most Windows web hosting control panels come with different features that are designed to help you run your business or manage your web hosting account; although you may not think it, you can use many of these features to your advantage. However, if you are the end-user then you may find that certain features have been disabled by your web hosting provider for one reason or another. Most control panels come with manuals detailing how you can make the most of them, and as a customer you may find that your web hosting provider can also guide you on how to make the msot of your Windows web hosting control panel. The main ways in which you can make the most of any control panel include:
- use up all your account resources – although this may not seem like a control panel specific solution, many people choose to purchase a new web hosting package when they wish to host a new website under a new domain – however, if you choose a web hosting package that allows you to host more than one domain then you can ensure that you use up all of your account’s resources and can then move on to purchasing a new web hosting package once you have used up all your resources and wish to host at least one other new website
- use web-based email services – instead of using a desktop email program, you can make use of the webmail client that is offered by the Windows web hosting control panel that you are using since this will allow you to access all your emails from any computer that is connected to the interent – webmail applications almost come with sending facilities meaning that if you are on the move and need to send a quick email then you are able to do so with the use of device such as a PDA which has a built in web browser or just an ordinary computer
- use the web based file manager – control panels for Windows web hosting services typically come with a built in file manager to allow you to manage your web space on the move or in the situation that you don’t have FTP access for example – if you are on the move then you can use the file manager from any computer that has a web browser to upload and download any files to and from your web space, you also have the ability to manage the different files you are hosting and are provided with facilities to rename them, edit them and delete them.
By making the most of the Windows web hosting control panel that you have access to you can also improve the functionality of your website by using the script manager that is provided to install a CMS system or to make use of the DNS facilities to map a new server under your domain name. But as is the case with any web hosting package: the control panel which you have access to is the nerve centre of your web hosting account and is the place that you can control all the different attributes of your account.
In conclusion, Windows web hosting control panels are there to provide web hosting providers with a way in which they can offer Windows web hosting packages to you as the consumer; they are there for you to enable you to manage the different aspects of your Windows web hosting service without having to contact your web hosting provider each time you need something adding or changing. Although there is quite a bit of competition control panel wise at the moment in the Windows web hosting market, wait until cPanel for Windows is released since this is being classed as one of the best Windows web hosting control panels yet.
