Hello,

I read a lot in here about different control panels, where it says e.g. that vhcs on a debian server works like a charm and it´s free.

Now I wonder does it make sense at all to buy any commercial control panel, when other free options like e.g. vhcs, webmin/usermin, sysCP, etc. are working that well?

Despite of that the free panels are developed by the webcommunity, which should ensure constant and fast developement and improvements, shouldn´t it?

Are there probably even free panels out there, that are working better than the major commercial control panels like cpanel,directadmin,plesk,helm? From what I read about vhcs I had some kinda the feeling, but then I am just a newbie reading in this boards... :)

I'm also interested in this topic.

As I know there is no better software, there is a most suitable software for your specific case. That's why I create a thread today asking for my case: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=553628

For example the same people who think that Webmin is a great software, they think is horrible for servers shared for more than one owner, reseller servers, etc. They say is very unsecure for those cases.

Other example: I read something about that CPanel is great for webhosters, resellers, etc. So my question is, what about a panel for a dedicated server which only have a website or more of the same owner?

I'm looking for a panel to manage a dedicated server that only has websites of my own (I don't resell). Besides the server will be managed by a server management 3rd company.

Currently, most commercial control panels blow the free ones out of the water, they're usually faster, with more features, less bugs, obviously provide more support, and are definately more user friendly. Also, alot of users in the "general" international hosting market will not signup to your service unless they see the word "CPanel" in your package's details.

Saying this, if a free control panel like VHCS will support your needs, then why not use it? It all depends on what you want (which in turn usually depends on what your client's want).

Out of all the free control panels, VHCS is definately the best at this moment in time and looks to have a promising future.

Currently, most commercial control panels blow the free ones out of the water, they're usually faster, with more features, less bugs

- raising hand -

I'm not sure about that... Try our solution and tell what's missing (exept invoices and tickets, which are 2 things we are working on...).

obviously provide more support

Obviously NOT! When you think about the fact that cPanel asks 50 bucks for 1 hour of instant messenging support, and that we do it (plus forums) for free...

and are definately more user friendly.

That's a mater of tastes maybe...

Out of all the free control panels, VHCS is definately the best at this moment in time and looks to have a promising future.

And (unfortunatly) promising lack of security announce (if not security fix) if Alex doesn't change his policy.

Thomas

Commercial Control Panels are always Better than Freee

Samander, thanks for all the details and the "why" part of your post...

Thomas

But what about if you have only your own websites (2-3) in a server? Do you really need a commercial panel? I don't think that software would improve nothing in your server.

I'm not sure about that... Try our solution and tell what's missing (exept invoices and tickets, which are 2 things we are working on...).


I haven't tried DTC yet (will give it a shot in a minute) but judging from the screenshots on your website (I assume these are up-to-date screenshots?), it probably needs a more eye catching interface. :)

I'm not sure about that... Try our solution and tell what's missing (exept invoices and tickets, which are 2 things we are working on...).

I have seen your control panel in the past, however only a brief look at a demo version. I have no idea about how your control panel works. Oh, by the way, the demo copy linked to on your website is currently not working. From looking at the screenshots (obviously not giving a full interpretation of your panel), I have thought of the following:

1) As suggested by Canglan above, from screenshots the panel design doesn't look very good. To be fair, it looks ugly, confusing, and none-consistant throughout. However a redesign maybe just what it needs, check out the Sourceforge "help wanted" section i'm sure you would easily be able to get a graphic designer to do some work on the interface.

2) It seems (although I may be mistaken) that your control panel runs on the same HTTPD as client's websites. I personally don't like this approach when it comes to business-grade hosting. I think the control panel should be available even when Apache may of broken. While CPanel and Directadmin both contain their own built-in HTTPD's for serving the control panel, a simple solution would be to run a second (cut down) copy of Apache (or even better, LigHTTPD) purely for serving the control panel. This may be simply personal prefrence, might be worth doing some research on whether other people think this is an important feature.

But what about if you have only your own websites (2-3) in a server? Do you really need a commercial panel? I don't think that software would improve nothing in your server.
It's a bad idea to run ANY hosting control panel if your'e just hosting a few of your own websites. I could understand people using Webmin for ease of setting up and managing the server, but using a hosting control panel is simply pointless.

Oh, by the way, the demo copy linked to on your website is currently not working.

The demo is often broken, because of the way it's setup currently (it's not setup in the way the demo should be). I would have to make a new setup the correct way so the demo can't be broken, but I had no time to do so yet.

1) As suggested by Canglan above, from screenshots the panel design doesn't look very good. To be fair, it looks ugly, confusing, and none-consistant throughout. However a redesign maybe just what it needs, check out the Sourceforge "help wanted" section i'm sure you would easily be able to get a graphic designer to do some work on the interface.

I agree 100% that the graphic design is not the way it should be, the problem is that we don't have a good designer for that and nobody helped. I'll have a try in Sourceforge, I think it's a very good idea, thanks for giving it.

2) It seems (although I may be mistaken) that your control panel runs on the same HTTPD as client's websites.

Correct !

I personally don't like this approach when it comes to business-grade hosting. I think the control panel should be available even when Apache may of broken. While CPanel and Directadmin both contain their own built-in HTTPD's for serving the control panel, a simple solution would be to run a second (cut down) copy of Apache (or even better, LigHTTPD) purely for serving the control panel. This may be simply personal prefrence, might be worth doing some research on whether other people think this is an important feature.

I do not agree AT ALL with you. There is absolutly no reason to run a (heavy) web server other than the one that is already running. This would take some memory, add complexity, etc. If running our own deamon, this would make it possible to have security flows (happened with other control panels in the past). Some might say "yes, but if the web server crashes"... to that, I can answer: yes, and if there is fire in the data center, or an earthquake... Seriously, apache should NEVER be down and should be always running. Taking the assemption that it can fail is the wrong way to go: in a production server, your web server WILL be running all the time, otherwise you are dead...

It's a bad idea to run ANY hosting control panel if your'e just hosting a few of your own websites. I could understand people using Webmin for ease of setting up and managing the server, but using a hosting control panel is simply pointless.

I do not agree with that as well. Even for a single website, you might want to enjoy the benefits of having redundant MX and NS, have your emails protected by antivirus and antispam, have usage statistics (network, cpu, memory, web access), and you don't want to spend HOURS to setup a single server. Especialy mail service can take a long time to configure the correct way. A control panel WILL setup all that for you in less than 10 minutes, without the risk of human errors.

Maybe, if you have ONLY web service and ONLY one website (I mean: no DNS, no MX) on the server, and have some very serious CPU and memory issue, then running an unmodified apache alone, without anything else, might be a good idea.

Thomas

Taking the assemption that it can fail is the wrong way to go: in a production server, your web server WILL be running all the time, otherwise you are dead...That is a fair point, when I wrote that statement I had "noobs" in mind. If Apache dies for some reason, they would more than likely want to restart it using a control panel rather than using SSH, and would like to be able to "fix" Apache using tools provided by the control panel. But then again, noobs should not be running production servers. I guess there are both advantages and disadvantages to using a seperate/integrated HTTPD.

I do not agree with that as well. Even for a single website, you might want to enjoy the benefits of having redundant MX and NS, have your emails protected by antivirus and antispam, have usage statistics (network, cpu, memory, web access), and you don't want to spend HOURS to setup a single server...
This is the reason they created system administration control panels like Webmin. I feel hosting control panels should be used by those who wish to provide some sort of hosting services.