What web based control panel is the best for multiple users on a server that will allow for different access rights to each user?

Have you checked out Helm? That is what we ahve been using, once you get passed the architecture of it - it is actually a pretty good program

I am currently using Plesk 6.5 For Windows. Plesk 7.0 for Windows is coming out (suspected) by the end of the month.

I have ran Helm on 4 servers and I like Plesk better. I have peaked at an RC release of 7.0 and I think Plesk 7.0 for Windows will be the best one on the market for sure.

If you would like some more detailed info My instant messenger info is below. Feel free to holler at me. I will be back home about midnight EST tonight.

Um has anyone used ensim on server 2003? I wanna know what some of you think of it?

Jake, becareful as your post is borderline self promotion. As you aren't selling anything, but just trying to be helpful I'll leave it.

Thanks Daveman.

That wasn't my intent. I just thought Paco2 might like to have a IM conversation on the different control panels. I should have directed him to the IRC channel for such a discussion.

I am using Ensim for Windows 2003 here and it works great for me. Pretty stable from where I am. It is somewhat like an All-in-One installation which comes with the basic components needed for the clients control panel.

There are many control panels out there. Users usually talks about

. Plesk
. Ensim
. Helm
. InsPanel

you can find many more in this Long List (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21709).

Originally posted by 6PS
Thanks Daveman.

That wasn't my intent. I just thought Paco2 might like to have a IM conversation on the different control panels. I should have directed him to the IRC channel for such a discussion.

Hey have you recieved any info on the new version 4.0? They told me, and said it will be comming out in august, i was woundering if you knew about it?...I hope the graphical interface is better, i also hope they incorperate billing features into it, that would be nice :)

I am using Hosting Controller, it works great, just that some issues with Awstats not yet being solved.

Ensim cannot restrict the bandwidth usage of each user on Windows server.

Not so good.

Helm and Plesk are the best options for Windows2003.
Can't figure out which one is better!:D

Oh, I didnt know that Ensim cannot restrict bandwidth, tsk tsk tsk, that could be a big problem, as I am down to Ensim as my last option for Windows 2003.

As I am yet to try out Ensim, have you guys used ENSIM API for signing up a users?

As to PLESK, looks pretty good, but a few problems with it as I found out.
1. You cannot have DNS, Database, Mail on different servers,
2. Not using Microsoft DNS but Bind (it was a problem for us at least),
3. There is no domain registrar api included with it

I am using helm and works like a charm

Hello

What opinions have about of H-SPHERE comparing with Plesk? both for windows

Dont you need another server running Linux just to use H-Sphere with Windows?

Thanks.

Originally posted by carlosamador
I am using helm and works like a charm

Does Helm have any kind of API to create your own signup process?

Thanks

Dont you need another server running Linux just to use H-Sphere with Windows?
:eek: I dont said something about this

I am comparing plesk with h-sphere

Whatever you do, stay clear away from **ENSIM**
We had ensim on 2 win server and dumped it just recently for
Plesk.
The upcoming plesk 7.5 has almost as much feature as current
Cpanel for linux.

Originally posted by icon911
Does Helm have any kind of API to create your own signup process?

Thanks
It has a form that you can use to create a sign up, if that is what you are asking

Originally posted by kami
Whatever you do, stay clear away from **ENSIM**
We had ensim on 2 win server and dumped it just recently for
Plesk.
The upcoming plesk 7.5 has almost as much feature as current
Cpanel for linux.

Could you explain whts wrong with Ensim, because we are seriously considering using it. Also, Plesk doesnt let you separate mail, dns, database on to different servers. Right?

Originally posted by coreybryant
It has a form that you can use to create a sign up, if that is what you are asking

He's asking about an API which Helm seem incapable of providing .....

Sorry I do not understand blacknight - why would you want the API when then form is there already?

Originally posted by coreybryant
Sorry I do not understand blacknight - why would you want the API when then form is there already?

Well what if you want to collect information that is not on this form. What if you are developing something more complicated then a simple hosting account singup and you need to include a several step process that invlolves collecting information, calculating, displaying optionable items and than processes your account? API comes in very handy in times like that, trust me, I still havent found one.

Exactly.
Not all of us use one control panel on one server.
A lot of us need to be able to integrate with billing systems etc.

With any sane control panel we can easily integrate account activation/suspension/deletion with our billing system. Try doing that with Helm!

Try installing an SSL with Helm!

Originally posted by icon911
Does Helm have any kind of API to create your own signup process?

Thanks



Helm does not currently have an API, however there will be one by version 3.2

Originally posted by SynergyWorks
Helm does not currently have an API, however there will be one by version 3.2
I just hope it is comprehensive.

I'm not sure how good it will be. I think the best bet will be HELM 4 when its finally released. Most people who make addon modules for HELM just drop bits into VB.net and see how it works.

Well I just hope they make some serious improvements. If you compare Helm to DirectAdmin or Cpanel it doesn't take much to realise how far behind it is.

I have found though, HELM has a nice easy layout for customers... with nice big graphics and because its so widely used many customers who moved hosting companies already know how to use it.

Originally posted by SynergyWorks
I have found though, HELM has a nice easy layout for customers... with nice big graphics and because its so widely used many customers who moved hosting companies already know how to use it.
That's just a skin.
DirectAdmin has a very nice skin as well :)
The difference is that DirectAdmin and Cpanel have a much better interface with the OS and daemons than Helm.
Take SSLs as an example. Even the worst linux control panel I have seen can set them up for you without root access. Try doing that on Helm. You can't. You have to remote desktop to the machine and do it manually.

And that's just one example.

I'm sorry, but Helm simply does not cut it.

They've managed to gain a sizeable portion of the market, but the product is not anywhere as good as some people would like to believe.

I know it has its flaws, but im considering what my customers are comfortable with? What control panel would you recommend and how much does it cost?

Plesk seems to be a lot saner tbh

DirectAdmin isnt for Windows! Plesk has Windows recently, but I would strongly recommend Hosting Controller as they are one of the pioneers for Windows Controlpanels and their features have growth leaps and bounds.

I have been using INSPanel for about 9 months. I have 3 resellers with a total of about 150 sites on it.

Overall I am satisfied with my experience.

In particular the company was very helpful when I had a harddrive failure getting things up and going again.

The product is constantly being developed. They just released v1.2 and are expected to have a significant upgrade to v2.0 within a month.

It does not have integrated accounting/billing yet but v2 expects to address that. It integrates your choice of email server (mailenable or xmail or their product). More choices/options are being added on an ongoing basis.

The issue re: Etrinix vs Inspedium does not exist. No one exists but the forum owner on the Etrinix site. Inspedium is moving forward and finding people using their product. The forum is active and questions are responded to in a timely manner.

Their free/demo version works perfectly for 10 sites and can be used as a DNS backup for a licensed site.

The product is promising and I would encourage people to consider it for their windows control panel.

Mindquester

hey what i think that the above post seems to be from a inspanl member.. hmm .. just like that.

anyways, what i was upto is... it also depends on the datacenter offering the panel. in the case of nocster, they have stoped inspanel due to security lop holes and support issues.

now if the datacenter is not offering support, then how could a person chose that control panel.

if he choses it then it would costly in terms of support and even the monthy charges.

The company that I use, uses Helm. I am very happy with it & it seems easy to use

Originally posted by rushik
if he choses it then it would costly in terms of support and even the monthy charges.

I think they had a monthly payment option too.

Originally posted by boonchuan
DirectAdmin isnt for Windows!


I never said it was. Read what I posted

Originally posted by boonchuan

Plesk has Windows recently, but I would strongly recommend Hosting Controller as they are one of the pioneers for Windows Controlpanels and their features have growth leaps and bounds.

No. Their features are still sadly lacking to their linux counterparts.

By comparison Plesk for windows seems to be much better thought out.

I care little for control panel admin interfaces, as long as they stay out of my way (CPanel is infamous for changing stuff I change fromt the command line).

I use both Linux and Windows so H-Sphere, Plesk and Ensim were my options. Plesk was out of the running due to the annoying user interface. I had used Ensim previously and consider it a big piece of junk from all standpoints and still consider it such.

I went with H-Sphere and I'm very happy about it. Interface is great, not too terribly complex for my clients and includes a billing and ticket system. Fit within my needs!

Originally posted by rushik
hey what i think that the above post seems to be from a inspanl member.. hmm .. just like that.


I am not sure what you mean by 'member'. I am on that forum because I use the software. I am not affiliated with the company.

It is appropriate to share our opinions here, that is what I am doing.

M

Ok bottom line, as sad as it is, I cant find a good hosting software to run on windows and have a flexable API. I guess its down to customyzing my application to work with WMI :( Anyone out there tried doing java with WMI?

I guess this should be moved to another forum, hmm whats best place?

We have been using Inspanel for a long time now and have 4 Inspanel servers, several resellers and some thousand customers on the servers.

We are fully satisfied.

Originally posted by blacknight
Exactly.
Not all of us use one control panel on one server.
A lot of us need to be able to integrate with billing systems etc.

With any sane control panel we can easily integrate account activation/suspension/deletion with our billing system. Try doing that with Helm!

Try installing an SSL with Helm!

I've seen you bounce around threads hating on Helm in a bad way. What's your big problem with it? Surely you can find something more to worry about than SSL, which Windows has issues with anyway, and looking up user account information...

I would vote for Plesk 7 for windows .. oops I meant to say Plesk 7.5 :stickout:

Thing I find strange about Plesk is it is a Windows control Panel that has to install Apache to work?

So as a Windows Admin I have to learn Apache as well?

(Yes I sell HELM before anyone moans I am biased).

Originally posted by AGUK
Thing I find strange about Plesk is it is a Windows control Panel that has to install Apache to work?

So as a Windows Admin I have to learn Apache as well?

Use some logic... How are you going to restart the IIS service if the control panel runs on it? Every Control Panel runs on it's own web server separate from the "production web service". And although I did not use Plesk except as a costumer - I assume you would not have to learn anything about apache since it should be updated and managed by the CP itself.

Originally posted by jpetrov
Use some logic... How are you going to restart the IIS service if the control panel runs on it? Every Control Panel runs on it's own web server separate from the "production web service". And although I did not use Plesk except as a costumer - I assume you would not have to learn anything about apache since it should be updated and managed by the CP itself.

Umm, I'm not sure I understand your logic. Not every control panel runs on it's own web server, Helm runs in IIS.

Firstly, there shouldn't even be a reason to have to restart the web service unless your maybe installing some filter or something and even then there's no reason they you can't restart it even with the control panel running on it.

Mark, I support your view on this.

I guess they are using apache because Plesk was originally from Linux, maybe it is easier for them to port over using apache as a controlpanel server to control Windows 2003 machines

Can someone confirm if the latest Plesk 7.5 on windows also requires Apache? I think it's IIS ok now right?

Its iis because it integrates with the server.