Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

January 26, 2010

DirectAdmin: A Simpler Solution?

DirectAdmin has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years due to it's simplicity. In fact, many users say it is the easiest control panel to use, especially when compared to even more popular solutions such as Plesk and cPanel. Although it is not as feature-packed as cPanel, it contains all of the basic functions needed to run your website and maintain your server. Even with the few features that it lacks, it is seen as one of the best solutions for novice webmasters because of it's exceptionally simple navigational interface. Most people that use DirectAdmin have VPS hosting (Virtual Private Server). With VPS hosting the webmaster has access to a server that has capabilities that are similar to a dedicated server, yet it is still shared with other webmasters. Therefore VPS hosting is often viewed as a middle ground between dedicated and shared hosting. Many people use a combination of VPS hosting and DirectAdmin because it gives them the best of both world's – dedicated and shared hosting.

Key Features

DirectAdmin is renowned as one of the simplest control panels to use, however this simplicity does not sacrifice it's functionality. Aside from easy navigation, it also offers stability, speed and efficiency. DirectAdmin's reliability stems from it's ability to automatically recover from errors that cause system crashes. Perhaps most impressive is that even with all of these benefits, DirectAdmin is still half the price of cPanel and other similar control panels!

DirectAdmin also supports in-depth user administration. The webmaster has the ability to setup and administrate the accounts of new administrators/users and even has the rights to delegate server space to resellers. DirectAdmin administrators can even setup multiple packages for resellers that follow a predesignated set of rules. Webmasters can also control IP addresses by using the IP menu that is included in the control panel.

Reselling Benefits

DirectAdmin also serves many benefits to the reseller as well.  Resellers have the power to create, modify or delete accounts.  Similar to a website administrator, the reseller can select from predefined hosting packages and distribute them to clients.  They can also view the resource usages of their clients to monitor bandwidth and storage.  DirectAdmin allows resellers to interact with clients via a built-in support ticket system.  It also includes a feature that enables the creation of personalized name servers for the benefit of end-users.

Account Creation in DirectAdmin

Domain owners can also use the administrative interface of DirectAdmin to set up and manage multiple POP3 email accounts. You can also set up FTP accounts and access a DNS menu that provides complete control. Domain owners can also view website statistics through DirectAdmin, to improve their traffic techniques. You'll also have access to tools that enhance your site designing abilities and an easy backup utility that let's you backup your entire site with a few clicks.

In the end, DirectAdmin is a worthy opponent to cPanel and Plesk, in fact it is a superior solution for those using the VPS hosting environment.

Tags: dedicated server,  cPanel Tutorials,  control panel,  FTP accounts,  DNS menu,  DirectAdmin,  Plesk,  IP menu,  IP address,  VPS hosting,  virtual private server,  user administration,  website administrator