When you consider hosting a website, what comes to mind first?
In today’s digital world Web hosting control panels are a must-have for system administrators and web hosting providers nowadays. Control panels that manage and automate business tasks. For example, they make it possible to control multiple servers from a single dashboard. Therefore, it must be carefully selected as a smart tool to handle crucial activities like patches, setups, installations, monitoring, etc.
After deciding on a VPS hosting company for your website, choosing a VPS control panel is the most important choice.
Web Hosting Control Panels: A Comprehensive Overview
The control panel is a standard tool for controlling your hosting plan. It enables you to upload files for websites, set up and maintain email accounts, install programs, and manage the domain names you have purchased.
All of these actions can, of course, be carried out straight from the server. But this requires some knowledge of development. The entire website could crash simply because of an oversight. Additionally, because web panels are simple to use and easy to understand, they typically save you time. So it’s only going to protect your Website in more than one way.
Take a look at these common Web Hosting Control Panel functionalities:
Domain Management
To ensure your website is correctly identified, accessible domain management lets you add, remove, or update current ones or delete out-of-date ones of your domain names.
File Management
Arrange existing content in your website’s directory structure by easily uploading and editing your website files for easier updating and maintenance.
Email Management
Simply create and manage your business email accounts with this tool and easily set up new accounts, manage existing ones, and configure email settings for corporate email accounts linked to your domain.
Database Management
You can manage and control website databases for e-commerce platforms and CMS, managing permissions, creating new databases, and enhancing performance to ensure efficient data storage and storage.
Security Features
Configure your website with strong security measures, such as firewall configuration, SSL certificate setup, and frequent software updates, to keep it safe from hackers and other dangers.
Software Installation
With one click you can install widely popular applications like WordPress or Joomla conveniently. This feature makes it easier to set up strong tools that improve the website’s functioning.
Performance Monitoring
Let’s monitor website performance and metrics to ensure speed, uptime, and user experience. This involves tracking load times, server response rates, and visitor traffic.
These are a few features that a hosting control Panel can have, and there are many more.
What to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Control Panel
Choosing a reliable and strong Web Hosting Control Panel is the first and most crucial step toward a successful hosting journey for your business.
Let’s dig deep into what factors you should consider when choosing a Control Panel.
User-Friendly Interface
Managing your domains, email accounts, website, and other hosting settings is made easy with an intuitive control panel. Choose a web hosting provider that offers a user-friendly control panel interface.
Mobile Compatibility
Pick a control panel that is fully compatible with your mobile devices for easy management while on the go, look for a touch-friendly interface, a responsive design, and potentially dedicated mobile apps.
Cost
While price shouldn’t be the only factor to consider, it’s crucial to take your budget seriously when selecting a web host. Make sure the features and resources offered by the various providers align with your business demands by comparing their pricing plans.
Scalability
Look for a control panel that can scale with your growing business needs, allowing easy expansion of resources and services.
Security Features
Make Security your top priority. Make sure the panel you choose provides robust features like firewall protection, SSL certificate management malware scanning, and two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your website or data from potential threats.
Compatibility
Always go for a Control Panel that is compatible with your VPS Operating System, and suits the specific needs of your business.
Customer Support
An important component of every business website is dependable customer service. Pick out a web hosting company that provides fast resolution of any technical issues or concerns by providing 24/7 customer care by email, phone, and live chat.
Backup and Restore
Keeping regular backups is essential to safeguarding the data on your website. Select a web hosting company that has automated backup and restoration features so you can quickly restore your website in the event of a data loss or malfunction.
Popular Web Hosting Control Panels for You
Here are 6 top Control Panels for you.
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CyberPanel
CyberPanel is a useful Web Hosting Control Panel powered by an OpenLiteSpeed web server, offering quick and efficient VPS management for developers and small companies. It provides free basic functions like WordPress management and website creation, while advanced tools like an Apache reverse proxy and a root file manager are available for $139. Key features include OpenLiteSpeed integration for performance, automatic SSL from Let’s Encrypt, GitHub, and GitLab deployment, WordPress staging management, Docker support, email management with spam screening, inherent security features, and a user-friendly UI with extensive documentation.
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CloudPanel
CloudPanel is another good free open-source and easy-to-use web hosting control panel option for you that makes managing server setups for websites and online apps super simple and efficient. You need to set up as many websites as you want, CloudPanel has got you covered. So it’s ideal for small business owners and web hosting providers. It provides you with a simple one-click WordPress installation, you just follow a few steps, fill in some details and that’s it. Easy-to-use interface, NGINX Support, Can efficiently support more than 10 languages, File Manager. -
Virtualmin
Virtualmin is an open-source website and domain hosting control panel based on Webmin, used by system administrators, web hosts, and developers to manage multiple websites and hosting environments on a single server through a user-friendly interface.
Key features include a software installer for web applications like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, database management for MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL, server resource monitoring and limits, strong email features like aliases, auto-responders, and anti-spam protection, and support for automated backups and restores.
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ISPConfig
SPConfig is an open-source control panel for managing multiple servers, virtual, clustered, and physical from a single dashboard supporting Debian, Ubuntu, and CentOS distributions since 2005. A desirable option for individuals, web developers, and web hosting companies due to its user-friendly interface and variety of capabilities.
It offers easy SSL/TLS certificate installation, mail server support, virtualization capabilities, and extensive documentation.
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VestaCP
Vesta is an open-source hosting control panel with all the features needed to manage your web hosting setup. It is ideal for both inexperienced and seasoned users, striking a balance between ease of use and functionality.
Key features include server statistics monitoring, a powerful backup system, a Linux PAM authentication mechanism, a built-in firewall, and a fast web interface.
- cPanel
Web and server administrators, developers, digital agencies, and hosting companies are the target audience for cPanel. It is an easy-to-use control panel for websites and servers, providing a free 15-day trial as well as several paid licenses.
Are there Other Reliable Control Panel Options available?
There are more than 6 control panels available online that you can research to find out which one suits you. Here are a few more options for you.
- ApisCP
- Froxlor
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Control Web Panel
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InterWorx
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FASTPANEL
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HestiaCP
- Plesk
Final Thoughts
To effectively manage a website, it is important to have a Hosting Control Panel with features such as domain and file management. Factors such as scalability, cost, and having a user-friendly interface are also crucial. Today, we discussed six hosting control panels and outlined their specific features to help businesses choose the one that best suits their specific needs.
