Web Hosting Rating

Mint Panel Control Panel Overview

Mint Panel is one of the most unique control panels on the market.  Not only does it offer the ability to automate the management of web servers, but FTP, voice and game servers as well.  Notably more affordable than competing products, the software bundles reseller and billing support to make it a complete automated server management solution.

Centralized Server Management

Mint Panel makes it simple to managed all installed servers from a single console.  Known as the Master Server, this centralized facility allows users of all access to levels to login and manage their respective environments.  This approach helps save precious system restores while enabling administrators to be more productive at the same time.

Extensive User Management

Mint Panel has five levels of login, each with its own unique roles and responsibilities that are defined by the administrator in the above tier.

Administrator – The administrator has the highest level of access, able to easily assign access to all other servers and enable those users to handle their respective management tasks.  Mint Panel also allows administrators to efficiently manage their entire network infrastructure, thus dramatically reducing the probability of system failures.

Reseller – The reseller has the same level of access as the administrator with the exception of being able to manage the master server and infrastructure.  This means the reseller has an extensive level of control over web, FTP, voice and game servers.

Account Holder – The third level of access gives account holders the ability to manage web, voice and game servers as well as create four fourth tier users to manage specific services based on the privileges provided to them.

User – The user represents a login level that is created by the administrator or account holder.  These users are usually assigned to specific servers to perform administrative tasks.

Mail User – The fifth level allows a user to login in an access their own provide area for managing passwords, spam filtering and anti-virus configurations.

Integrated Billing System

Mint Panel comes equipped with a complete billing system.  This fully featured system allows administrators and resellers to create custom invoices, automatically suspend services for defaulted payments, and set up recurring payments for customers.  It also supports multiple gateways with support for custom gateways to be added in the near future.  Perhaps the greatest thing about the Mint Panel billing system is that is lets you bill clients how you want.  You have the option to go with the traditional recurring monthly invoice, the increasingly popular pay-as-you-go model, or both.  For example, you can charge customers $10 a month for a hosting plan or charge them based on factors such as total bandwidth, CPU or memory usage by the unit multiplier of your choosing.  The Mint Panel billing system is completely customizable so you have a tremendous amount of flexibility.

Conclusion

Mint Panel is an all-one-control panel that can be useful in a wide range of environments.  Aside from the qualities mentioned here, it also offers the secure and scalable platform needed to excel in the hosting business.  Expect to hear more about this control panel as it continues to make its rounds and increase in popularity.

cPanel Rolls out RC Version of Windows Control Panel

Last month, web hosting automation software provider cPanel, launched an RC (release candidate) version control panel product to support the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 platform.  Known as Enkompass, the software is a step away from the company’s traditional panels based on Linux, FreeBSD and other Unix-like operating systems.  cPanel is currently working with Microsoft to accommodate customers who prefer a wider range of platforms offering the power of IIS 7 and Windows Server 2008.

In a recent statement, J. Nick Koston, Chief Executive Officer at cPanel, spoke of Microsoft’s dedication and involvement in the web hosting industry over the last few years.  He said that the cPanel Windows development believes IIS 7 is a flexible, scalable, high performance web server that offers the improved security the industry will rapidly adopt.  According to Koston, Windows’ modern architecture and extensive support for legacy products was the major selling point that prompted cPanel to expand its offerings.

Boasting a decade of experience in the field of automation software, the cPanel development team built the Enkompass panel from the ground up, designing the application in native Microsoft technologies to ensure the best in performance and flexibility.  Koston noted that the product was specifically designed to be run in the distributed server environment, allowing one or more Enkompass servers to manage a multitude of servers over a Windows domain.  This enables simplified automation and administration of a server farm or an entire data center facility.

To no surprise, the Enkompass user interface is very reminiscent of cPanel and WHM designed for the Linux platform.  This familiarity was emphasized to help users and end customers better understand the software without having to rediscover the functions needed to maintain their daily operations.   In fact, Enkompass offers many of the same features found in the cPanel and WHM environment, including tools and options designed for administrators and resellers.  It is worth mentioning that cPanel has removed several unnecessary Windows components and included a few Windows-only features as well.  Enkompass supports both the MailEnable and SmarterMail email programs.  To support the new panel, SmarterTools developed a new lite version of the mail program that supports unlimited domains and is only compatible with Enkompass.  In addition, cPanel’s Windows control panel supports Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 as well as MySQL 5.

cPanel has also made security a priority for its Windows control panel.  This is done by using AD (Active Directory), which makes sure user data and reseller privileges are stored in a secure manner.  In addition, the reseller platform has received notable enhancements, now boasting multi-level reselling capabilities that essentially allows resellers to service other resellers.

The people at cPanel revealed that the Enkompass control panel is to be installed on a single Windows server and then extends to provision accounts across multiple web, mail, FTP and database servers, thus allowing hosting providers to easily add new capacity by incorporating additional servers as their needs increase.

The Enkompass control panel is currently available in a test version.  This license is valid for 45 days and will expire thereafter or when the product becomes available for sale.

Popular Server Control Panels

A VPS or dedicated server is only as good as the software tool used to maintain it.  In this article we will introduce you to some of the best control panels the hosting marketplace has to offer.  These applications can help you simplify everyday server management tasks whether they are related to facilitating a shared hosting environment or individual use of another business.

ServerCP

ServerCP is an easy to use control panel that often comes included free in dedicated server and VPS hosting packages.  It is a Linux-based solution that offers a powerful, yet comprehensive web interface equipped with a variety of useful features.  The software supports unlimited domains and provides an extensive one-click installation utility that allows you to install popular web applications that range from blogs and forums to image galleries and e-commerce shopping carts.  ServerCP is currently available in both a premium and free edition in ServerCP Lite.

cPanel/WHM

cPanel is the hosting industry’s leading server control panel.  Offering more features and services than most other panels on the market, it is the most preferred software by web hosting provider and webmasters alike.  The power and diversity of cPanel makes it ideal for reseller hosting or managing sites for customers, staff or friends all on a single server.  Not only does it allow you to administer a web server, but other types of server applications such as FTP, mail and databases.  The interface of cPanel is so comprehensive and well designed that mastering it can be done in a fairly short amount of time.  These capabilities and more qualify it as one of the most flexible and efficient control panels available today.

Plesk for Linux

Plesk for Linux is perhaps the most stable and powerful control panel in the hosting industry.  Though is does not offer as many features as cPanel, the interface is user-friendly, easy to use and designed to streamline various server management functions.  The base license of Plesk for Linux supports up to 30 domains but can be upgraded to support an unlimited amount.  This control panel is an ideal solution for maintaining a physical or virtual private server.

Plesk for Windows

Plesk for Windows is a premium control panel that supports both Windows 2003 and 2008 server operating systems.  This particular software is perfect for the webmaster who specifically desires the power of Microsoft technologies such as ASP, IIS and MS SQL.  Apart from that, it essentially offers the same features and capabilities of the Linux version while retaining all the stability and efficiency that has made Plesk one of the best control panels on the market.

Virtuozzo Power Panel

Virtuozzo Power Panel is a Parallels product available in varieties designed to support both Linux and Windows virtual private servers.  This software provides you with complete administrative access directly from your browser, allowing you to perform tasks such as server reboots, managing web services and processes, restoring backups, monitoring server resources and viewing log data.  Virtuozzo Power Panel gives you an extensive level of control over your virtual environment and makes the best VPS option out of any other panels in our list.

VHCS Control Panel Overview

Designed for the Linux platform, VHCS is an easy to use control panel that aims to take the pain out of web hosting.  While these are definitely notable aspects, perhaps the greatest quality of VHCS is that the software is totally free to use.  This control panel does not offer all the visual bells and whistles of leading commercial products like cPanel or Plesk, but it does get the job done when it comes to server administration and website management.  In fact, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that VHCS ranks alongside some of the best control panel panels of the free or paid variety.

VHCS Web Tools

The VHCS control panel packs a variety of useful tools and many of them can be found in the Web Tools section.  These tools include the following:

Error Page Customization - Custom error pages provide excellent opportunities for website branding and advertising.  Rather than displaying the typical error messages that lead people to believe they cannot access your site, you can add your own content and reveal the meaning of the error through custom 401, 403, 404 and 500 error pages.

Backup and Restore – Having the ability to backup and restore website files is an attribute far too many of us take for granted.  This is something that can be done with ease through VHCS’ user-friendly interface.  You can perform automated daily backups of your files and easily access the most recent version should anything out of the ordinary occur.

Protected Areas - Security is vital for any website, but especially one that accepts outside memberships.  The password protect feature of VHCS helps you increase security by requiring that users enter a valid password to access certain files and folders of your website.

File Manager – VHCS gives you two options for managing your files on the server.  You can do so through the FTP section or launch the web-based File Manager.  The latter makes a perfect alternative for the user who is not all that familiar with File Transfer Protocol and FTP clients.

Summary

VHCS certainly makes a viable option but it does have its drawbacks.  For example, the software does not offer the add-on scripts that are made possible with third-party applications such as Fantastico in cPanel.  It does however, provide everything you need to manage your website in an incredibly efficient manner.  The fact that the program is completely free to download and use for both personal and commercial endeavors is a definite plus.  Updates and patches are released on a regular basis while paid support is available for those who want a piece of mind when using the product.

Whether you require a free Linux control panel solution or one that simply gets the job done, the efficiency of VHCS warrants a closer look.  Even though it is lacking in some areas, it delivers all the features many users require to comfortably maintain their websites.

cPanel and Web Analytics

Now more than ever, it is absolutely critical to understand the habits of your visitors.  You need to know how many visitors are coming to your website, where those visitors originate from, and how they spend their time on your site.  The details you obtain from such analysis can provide you with valuable insight that goes a long way improving site performance.  If you are serious about generating traffic and maintaining a consistent flow of visitors, analyzing your web stats is something that should be done on a regular basis.  Although web analytic software and service solutions can be very expensive, some of the best tools are completely free to use.  You just may have several included in your web hosting package.

cPanel is the most popular control panel on the web hosting market.  The software comes equipped with a host of great features and this includes a suite of web analytic tools that are built into the panel.  Three applications you will generally find in cPanel are Analog, AwStats and Webalizer.  While they may be a little intimidating on first glance, in due time, you will discover that they are easy to use and can work wonders at improving the performance of your site.

Webalizer

Webalizer is a statistical program that makes it simple to find out how many people are visiting your site on a month by month basis.  This is done by presenting colorful table charts and graphs that are straightforward and easy to read.  Because these are basic stats, you can take a quick glance and gather some rather valuable information about your website.  Though very useful, you may want to refer to Analog or AwStats to get more detailed information.

AwStats

AwStats is an open-source application that is both powerful and easy to use.  Similar to Webalizer, it presents statistics of your website in easy to read tables and graphs.  However, it is slightly more advanced as it provides you with details on services such as mail, streaming media and FTP.  With AwStats, static reports can be created via command line interface while on-demand reporting is available through a browser-based CGI program.

Analog

Analog is a more advanced web stat tool offering a style of presentation that differs greatly from both AwStats and Webalizer.  Unlike the other options which offer graphs, this one mainly presents information in the form of text, thus requiring you to pay close attention to the details.  With that said, all the vital information regarding your visitors that you will want to view are exclusively found in Analog.  While many find it more difficult to use, making yourself familiar with this tool is essential if you truly want to access your traffic stats.

If cPanel is your control panel, then you probably have a suite of tools that will allow you to effectively analyze traffic and use that knowledge to bring more traffic to your site.  Each are great individually but when used together, they can be just as, if not more valuable than a high-end solution.