I've been looking into the logistics of starting a web host for past month or so and this forum has been an excellent resource of knowledge. I've got most of the particulars worked out, (ie. servers, colo, business plan, budget, tax id etc.) But I have a question that has been nagging me as far as control panels.

And NO it's not the old "Which one is best?" line. That's been done to death around here. ;)

What I really need to know is this. If I set up two servers. One as a web hosting server, and the other for DNS and mail servers. Will that count as 1 or 2 servers as far as licensing a control panel?

I ask because like cpanel, most control panels handle not only virtual host configuration, but DNS, mail, FTP as well. And I need to know whether to budget $x or $2x per month.

Kree

I think most software designed for webhosts tend to be a 1 server license i.e If you have another server, you have to buy another license for the control panel.

You might want to look at h-sphere. It support multiple servers and only charge by accounts.

Peter