4 Top Hosting Control Panels

Choosing the right control panel for a dedicated server can be one of the most important things you do. The right choice can increase productivity and generally make your life easier. Here are a few of the most popular:

cPanel and WHM (Web Host Manager)

cPanel is one of the most widely used hosting control panels and is a favorite among unmanaged server data centers, as they can offer it to their clients and not require much external support. It primarily runs on Linux. Starting price: $425 per year.

Plesk

Plesk is another widely-used control panel, sold by Parallels. It runs on Windows, Linux, and other Unix operating systems. Starting price: $839.88.

Virtualmin

Virtualmin is a free and open source option for web hosting, created by the makers of Webmin. The company also offers a paid license that includes support called Virtualmin Pro. Starting Price: $0 or $138.00.

SysCP

SysCP is another free open source control panel, primarily for Linux operating systems. It offers support for third-party modules and automation. Starting Price $0.

In addition to the above, some web hosts offer powerful custom-designed control panels, although they still often offer a choice for the dedicated server clients.

How to create backups with cPanel

Many VPS and dedicated server users have cPanel installed as their control panel. Therefore, it is very useful to know how to create backups of your website or entire server using cPanel. Follow these instructions to make your backups.

1. Login to cPanel on your website (usually something like http://yourdomain.com/cpanel)

2. Under the “Files” section, click “Backups”

There are several backups to choose, all of which will download the files to your computer. If you want automated scheduled backups and/or remote backups, choose another option.

3. To generate a full backup of your website, click the first button.

Optionally, you can choose to backup only a portion of your site, such as home directory, MySQL database, email forwards, or email filters.

4. Click the button of the component you want to download. Your browser’s save dialog should appear offering you a file in tar.gz format, which is a commonly used Linux form of file compression.

Backups are very important, and if you are unable to schedule routine automated backups, this convenient manual backup is a good option.

Common extra dedicated server features

An unmanaged dedicated server is almost like a bare-bones computer. While you get all of the essentials required to call it a server, there are many features that you will want to add. Some of them are free and/or open source, while some require purchase or even subscription services. It is important to know this before getting a dedicated server, thinking that you are getting a complete product.

A good web host will list some of their extra available features, including prices. Here is a brief list of options you might want:

• cPanel or other control panel
• SSL certificates
• Additional IP addresses
• Load balancing for two or more servers
• Anti-virus protection for mail servers
• Routine backup storage
• Additional RAM
• Additional hard drive
• Windows Server 2008
• KVM over IP
• Additional badwidth/data transfer

For prices check your web host’s website.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

cPanel shell scripts for Linux

cPanel is best known as a graphical web hosting control panel. Since it is web based, however, there may be times when a system administrator may prefer or may need to execute commands from the Linux shell, either locally or remotely via SSH. Fortunately, cPanel comes with a host of scripts found in the /scripts directory. Here are just some of the scripts offered:

easyapache – upgrades and reinstalls Apache
addpop – adds a POP mail account
wwwacct – adds a cPanel account
suspendacct – suspends an account
runweblogs – updates statistics for a user
makecpphp – reinstalls cPanel’s internal PHP
cpbackup – backs up all accounts

Other scripts are documented on the cPanel website as well as more specific documentation about updating services. As a warning, cPanel recommends against using any other scripts not listed on their website, although your web hosting provider might install some. If you find a suspicious script, contact your web host.

Source: cPanel Documentation
Photo: Flickr

Web hosting provider script and CMS installation

Many web hosting companies offer free script and CMS installation. In most cases, the installation is automatic and done through the host’s control panel system. For example, users of cPanel might have an option for Fantasico De Luxe, which installs a number of web applications, such as Joomla, WordPress, and OS Commerce.

There are a few things you should consider when using such services:

1. Does the provider’s service provide updates for the scripts?
2. Are they standard installs that can be modified the same way a manual install would?
3. Is the software open and common so that if the user decides to leave that host, they can take their data and design elsewhere?
4. What type of the support does the host offer for these third-party packages?

Depending on the answers to these and other questions, you may decide to use your web host’s services or install the applications you need on your own.

How to setup Google Apps DNS records in cPanel

Google Apps is a cloud computing suite of services that includes web-based email, documents, and other services. Unlike standard Gmail, you can use it with your own domain (i.e. instead of yourname@gmail.com, you would have yourname@yourdomain.com). To setup your domain to use this service in cPanel, you need to edit three things:

1. MX records.
2. CNAME record
3. SPF record.

To edit the MX record, go to the Mail section in cPanel and click MX Entry. Enter the records according to Google’s specification, but exclude the period at the end, as it is not needed in cPanel.

To edit the CNAME records, click Simple DNS Zone Editor in the Domains section. If “mail.yourdomain” is already taken, you can choose another name or click Advanced DNS Zone Editor to change it.

Finally, Google recommends setting up an SPF record. This is also found in Advanced DNS Zone Editor. Once you have that setup, you are finished setting up Google for mail service, but the DNS will take some time to propagate.

Photo: Flickr

cPanel Game Servers

Believe it or not, you can use your cPanel dedicated server or VPS to host online games. All you need is an add-on called cPGS.

Unfortunately, the software isn’t cheap. Starting at $200.00 for a one-year VPS license, it’s a big commitment. But if you have free resources available on your server and are already renting a game server somewhere else, you could save quite a bit of money. Just a few supported games include Call of Duty 4, Battlefield 2142, Left 4 Dead 2, and America’s Army. TeamSpeak support is also included.

How to create FTP account with cPanel

Most cPanel installations will allow you to create multiple FTP accounts even if you have a shared web hosting account. And if you have a virtual private server or dedicated server, you certainly will have this option as well. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Login to cPanel
2. Scroll down tot he “Files” section
3. Click “FTP Accounts”
4. Enter the login name and password
5. Enter the base directory for the user
6. Set a disk space quota (the default is unlimited)

On a shared hosting account, even if you have multiple domains, all FTP accounts will still use your default domain. That means that different domains cannot have duplicate FTP login names. Finally, click “Create FTP Account”, and you are finished.

How to create subdomains in cPanel

A subdomain is an nice way to make a sub-section of your website stand out. For example, if your domain is “garbleygook.com”, and you want the “store” to be noticeable, you could create a subdomain called “store.garbleygook.com”. Creating subdomains in cPanel is much quicker and easier than trying to do it manually with Apache configuration files. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Login to your cPanel on your web server.
2. Scroll down to the “Domains” section.
3. Click “Subdomains”
4. Where it says “Subdomain”, enter the prefix you want before your domain name (i.e. “store”).
5. In the drop-down menu next to it, select your domain (i.e. garbleygook.com).
6. By default, cPanel will place the document root for the new subdomain under the document root for your default domain. If you want it called something else or stored somewhere else, modify that box, but be careful not to mix files unintentionally.
7. Click “Create”.

Once you have created your subdomain, you can modify the settings any time in the “Modify a Subdomain section”, simply by clicking on the document root path of the one you want to edit. It will take you to the file manager for that subdomain. Clicking “Manage redirection” will cause the subdomain to redirect to the URL of your choice.

How to create a MySQL database in cPanel

Question: How can I use cPanel to create a MySQL database?

Answer: cPanel uses its own web-based frontend to make database creation very easy. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Login to cPanel
2. Under the Databases section, click “MySQL Databases”
3. Where it says “Create New Database” enter a short name for your database.
4. Click “Create Database”.

Next, you will need to have a user for the database. If you do not have any users, you will need to create one. If you do, skip to step 4.

1. Scroll down to the bottom until you see “Add New User”.
2. Enter a name and password.
3. Click “Create User”
4. Under “Add User To Database” find your user in the dropdown menu and then find the database you created in the second dropdown menu.
5. Click “Add”.

You have now created a database that will give permissions to the user you created. When you install scripts or applications, they will access the database using the username and password you specified. Therefore, make sure you remember it, but also make sure it is secure.