WEB HOSTINGModule 4: Hosting Control Panels

INTRODUCTIONMost hosting accounts come with a control panel to manage your account. cPanel is an industry standard control panel for hosting accounts. It gives you options to manage things like files, setup email accounts, add additional domain names, and install software like WordPress.

You may not need to use cPanel if you have a simple practice site, but as you host more sites you will begin to learn some of the helpful tools cPanel has to offer.

MODULE OBJECTIVESUpon completion of this module, you should be able to:

• Define a Hosting Control Panel• Describe the functions of a HCP• Differentiate different types of

hosting control panels• Apply your knowledge to compare

and contrast web hosting providers.

WHAT IS A HOSTING CONTROL PANEL

The control panel is an application designed to control and manage your Web site hosting. Through the control panel you can manage activities such as email creation, opening of your FTP accounts, statistics reports, etc. Though the control panel alone cannot be used as a yardstick to judge the quality of a Web hosting service, it is a vital aspect.

Almost all of the top companies are offering highly efficient technical support. Extra features, such as free domain names, site builder and pricing vary widely, but the control panel makes a difference and you have to pick the service which suits your requirements.

CONTROL PANELS

FOR LINUX ONLY

FOR BOTH LINUX AND WINDOWS

FOR WINDOWS ONLY Helm is a Windows only Web hosting control panel. The Helm control panel has many customer friendly features and the most striking

feature is the billing information. Except the H-sphere, all most all the commonly used control panels don't provide billing information inside the control panel. Helm is easy to operate and has a good standard

interface.

Hosting Accelerator is another Windows only Web hosting control panel. It offers a lot of features, but the interface isn'tt properly

though out and it lacks in extra feature. It suits the seasoned users.

CONTROL PANELS

FOR LINUX ONLY

FOR BOTH LINUX AND WINDOWS

FOR WINDOWS ONLY cPanel occupies the number one place among the control panels, because of its many features with easy operation and inexpensive aspect. It's based on the Linux platform and serves ten flavors of

Linux. Many hosting companies prefer it, as it costs only $20.00/month/server.

Interworx has many features and deserves to be ranked at the top of Linux only platform Web hosting control panels. Inteworx is dedicated

to the Linux platform and has a clean interface

CONTROL PANELS

FOR LINUX ONLY

FOR BOTH LINUX AND WINDOWS

FOR WINDOWS ONLY Plesk is available for both Linux and Windows platforms. Many Web hosting providers who serve both Linux and Windows hosting customers prefer Plesk. The Plesk interface looks like Windows XP, but it's expensive, due to serving both platforms. The Website builder tool and other features integrate well with Plesk.

H-Sphere another control panel for both Linux and Windows. Through H-Sphere is widely used by the Web hosting sites, it lacks some features when compared to Plesk and cPanel, but it offers many features from key functionality to complete automation.

Let’s see..PAYING ATTENTION?

Select one of the options. Then move on to the next slide to check your answer.

True or False:cPanel and Interworx are hosting control panels for Linux only.

False

True

Let’s see..PAYING ATTENTION?

Select one of the options. Then move on to the next slide to check your answer.

False

True

cPanel and Interworx are for Linux only.

True or False:cPanel and Interworx are hosting control panels for Linux only.

cPANEL

cPanel is a Linux-based web hosting control panel. It provides graphical user interface and is packed with lots of features that automates the process of hosting a website like file management, email It is a premium software, which is developed by a private company, cPanel Inc.

Nowadays most of the Linux webhosting servers use cPanel to host and manage websites on their servers. If a person purchases the hosting from companies like GoDaddy, Hostgator or even from smaller local companies, it is more likely that the hosting will come with cPanel.

cPANEL DASHBOARD

WHMWebHost Manager is a web-based tool used by server administrators and resellers to manage hosting accounts on a web server. WHM listens on ports 2086 and 2087.

As well as being accessible by the root administrator, WHM is also accessible to users with reseller privileges. Reseller users of cPanel have a smaller set of features than the root user, generally limited by the server administrator, to features which they determine will affect their customers' accounts rather than the server as a whole. From WHM, the server administrator can perform maintenance operations such as upgrade and recompile Apache & PHP, install Perl Modules, and upgrade RPMs installed on the system

WHM DASHBOARD

Let’s see..PAYING ATTENTION?

Select one of the options. Then move on to the next slide to check your answer.

WHM is mainly used by:

Individual users

Servers administrators and resellers

Let’s see..PAYING ATTENTION?

Select one of the options. Then move on to the next slide to check your answer.

WHM is mainly used by:

Individual users

Servers administrators and resellersWebHost Manager is a web-based

tool used by server administrators and resellers to manage hosting accounts on a

web server.

PRACTICE TASK

Take some time to research and complete this task.

1. Follow along with the “Learn Web Hosting with cPanel” Course – http://wh4s.teachable.com/p/web-hosting-with-cpanel

2. Practice using the different features covered in the course

3. Familiarize yourself with the cPanel documenation https://documentation.cpanel.net/display/ALD/cPanel+User+Documentation

4. Complete the assessments for the “Learn Web Hosting with cPanel” Course

CONGRATULATIONS! You should now be able to:

• Define a Hosting Control Panel• Describe the functions of a HCP• Differentiate different types of

hosting control panels• Apply your knowledge to compare

and contrast web hosting providers.