Hi,

I am new to dedicated hosting but my requirements may require me to have a Dedicated Win2k server as I need to run ISAPI and custom servers.

I do not plan to resell but merely manage the servers for my own sites, probably about 2 to 5 sites.

Thus being new, does a Win2k server already comes with a web administration (site hosting automation) service which I could use to setup things like DNS, Emails, Web Access and FTP right out of the box ? If not, which Web admin tool should I use ? I do not need all those billing features or anything to that nature.

I know there are quite a number of site hosting automation tools for linux like Plesk, webmin, ensim and so on but could not find a nicely low cost alternative for Win2k.

I know that most would say to go to Linux for hosting because it is more stable and all that but my custom server applications and CGIs need to be PC based.

Thank you.

Aside from the fact this should be moved to the control panel forum, there are Winhose CP's out there. The favourite at the moment would probably be H-Spere (http://www.psoft.net). Ensim (http://www.ensim.com) also offers a Windhose CP, but it's their first version and was only recently released and apparently still needs a bit of work done on it.

Tazzman,

Thanks for the information. I tried to delete this post but it tells me that I am not authorized to delete my post.

I am sorry for posting in the wrong forum and thought to delete it as not to offend anyone but I just cannot do it.

Edwin

I'm sure this post will get 'Chickened' over to the right forum soon enough :dgrin:

<<MOD NOTE: Thread 'Chickened' >>

Our customers seem to have the worst luck with H-Sphera, but it could be human error and not software issues :)

Ensim looks very promising and seems to work very well.

There is also Hosting Controller, but I would recommend against it as it has a few bugs.

Hope that helps!

Thanks guys.

Well, H-Sphere is out of the way, as they sell package of 50 or 100 licenses. All I need is about 5.

Ensim is nice but if I need the maxmailer, it gets a little too expensive for my needs.

Hosting Controller is too expensive for me here. Since I am not planning to start a web hosting business but merely serve about 2 to 5 of my sites.

Thanks again. I will look for other alternatives, hopefully free.

Edwin

If for only 5 sites.. May i make a suggestion of ruffing it. 5 sites harldy call for a control panel. And I am sure a host will sell you cheap mail hosting accounts.

I'd agree that 5 sites doesn't really justify a CP. What you could do is approach a professional Win2K host and ask if they would guide you through the areas you are unsure about.

You may find that one or two will help you setup the 5 sites and charge a small fee for doing so. You'll probably find that the fee would be greatly less than the cost of any CP, and you'll also have the opportunity to set up the sites in the way that you want rather than the way that the CP does.

..you dont really need a CP for that. CPs are usefull when you have a tons of sites which you resell.

Other than you should easily be able to manage you 2-5 sites with the built in IIS Administration and PCAnywhere. And if you're able to get a mail package that has some sort of built in Web Based Admin interface, you're pretty much all set to go

-mat

Thanks for the responses :)

I think what I probably need to do is to brush up on my IIS and Win2K administration before I take the plunge into dedicated solutions.

For now, I will just continue using the shared hosting. It is definitely a lot easier.

Edwin

Running a Win2K server is not as hard as it may seem at first.

Windows Pro, XP Pro and, of course, the server editions all have IIS available. It won't take too long to play around at home and pick up the basics.

It would be a good idea to concentrate on understanding NT security (users, permissions etc) for better server stability too.

Eddy2209, How if you use Ensim demo version (30 days) to set : DNS,FTP, etc..you have 30days to do it before expired license. After this you need mail control panel only..you can use MailEnable (www.mailenable.com), it free!

Giza,

Thanks for the tip. Sounds like an interesting idea. :) I thought that the settings would 'die' after 30 days. ;)

I took a little at the Ensim Webapplicance pricing for the 5 licenses and it does not seems all too bad. It was the mailmax which cost the bomb.

I will play with the demo and see if it solve my needs.

Thanks again.

Edwin :)