Ok, Tell me what your favorite control panel is and why? I know what i prefer and use, but i'm interested in what you prefer.

I like cPanel for the features and for the extensibility it provides by way of add-ons. However, I also dislike it because it is too tightly integrated with the core components (especially the version of Apache you can run). In that respect, I like Webmin better but Webmin doesn't have all the cool stuff that I like in cPanel :p

I prefer what my clients will prefer and fortunately or unfortunately - that is CPanel. Personally I tend to think DirectAdmin is a better control panel or even Interworx.

I don't like the idea of running all of my services on one machine. I like multiple hard drives and multiple power supplies -- why not multiple mail and DNS servers, ideally in multiple data centers?

I went with HSphere because I like the idea of a clustered solution. It's not the easiest package to wrap your head around, but it's a solid product.

I personally like Plesk because it's a nice interface for the domain users. cPanel is another great choice.

I don't recommend a clustered solution for webhosting because of the complexity -- we see more outages/issues caused by such complexity than we do on less expensive single server environments. Also, having redundant DNS servers does not assist when, say, the website is down (sure DNS for the domain still works, but the website is still not visible).

All good feedback, i too use WHM/cPanel, Directadmin is a simple interface but able to get the job done well and cheaper to license. Plesk is a great utility, lots of pictures, etc.. I think Plesk may be one of the easiest panels to use if you are new to this field, but ultimately i stick with cPanel.

I hear H-sphere is great too for clustered environments.

I've written my own control panel :P

dns is something i outsource however.

If you looking for good windows control panel then better take a look at Hosting Controller, personally I found it best among windows CPs. By the way, they have released a new version which also supports cluster server environment.


Blessed.

For windows, I stick to Hosting Controller, for Linux definitely Directadmin , both are simple to use and neat.

Helm, excellently clustered, simply love the flexibility. Clustering has led to an increase in our profits (significantly) and a realization of actual 99.98% uptime (statistically).

I would recommend Hosting Controller. The interface is quite cool and is very easy to manage. You can check out the its online demo at this link http://hostingcontroller.com/english/products/Hc7/Demo.html

With the new version HC people have done an excellent job.

cPanel has lots of features, but it also has lots of insecurities and is riddled with bugs. It requires a LOT more admin time than some of the more complex systems just because of this. They are also really slow to update to things such as Apache 2.x.

DirectAdmin is super fast, lightweight and easy to use. It does not have the features of some of the others, but it gets the job done and gets it done well. I am not a fan of their DNS interface by any means.

H-Sphere is a great setup, it is complex to get started but once it is going it works well. It allows for scalability and I like the multiple seperate pieces aspect of it. I can't stand servers with everything on one single server. Even on our cPanel servers I run seperate DNS only boxes just to keep loads manageable and add more stability. I am creating a couple of H-Sphere setups now and after you get used to dealing with it the work is actually very easy, plus it allows for Windows and *nux servers/resellers. The licensing is much cheaper than a lot of others also.

Personally I use & Prefer Plesk. Haven't had any stability problems on it. The problems I have had have been relatively easy and fast to fix.

Along with that it doesn't integrate with the core components so you can use your choice of versions for items such as PHP, MySQL, etc...

And the interface is simple and easy to understand for end users along with offering a very direct competing feature set compared to cPanel and the others.

Helm, excellently clustered, simply love the flexibility. Clustering has led to an increase in our profits (significantly) and a realization of actual 99.98% uptime (statistically).

Good to hear ;-)

Currently, H-Sphere is tops in my mind. "Clustering" support, built in billing/tickets, and very functional interface. I like having services spread between multiple servers.

I have been using Hosting Controller version 6 for some time now and really like some of its features such as built in billing, signup utility, customizable templates etc but the features it lacked have been provided in version 7.

1. Version 6 did not support a webserver on Linux but 7 provides this. Now a Linux server can be added in a cluster.

2. In version 7 you can control all the machines through a single interface.

3. The billing has been far improved.

4. With version 7 one can use a great deal of 3rd party softwares such as blogs, forums, site builder, e-commerce solutions etc which could not be used with 6.

5. Version 7 is more customizable and comparitively fast.

I am really looking forward to Hosting Controller version 7.

Direct admin and cpanel are best beacuse they have most features.All other control panel,especialy plesk suck beacuse they are not easy to use and they have very limited features.Direct admin it's best beacuse it's cheaper then cpanel

Direct admin and cpanel are best beacuse they have most features.All other control panel,especialy plesk suck beacuse they are not easy to use and they have very limited features.Direct admin it's best beacuse it's cheaper then cpanel

Actually our customers have found Plesk to be easier to use than cPanel, much easier.

In regards to features I think a feature list comparison would be nice (not sure one exists) but as far as I know Plesk has almost all the features of any other control panel, if not all of them (except a good reseller interface).

i would recommend directadmin for easy use but cpanel if you are selling your sites alot etc

also cpanel and directadmin have very different back up features hehe

Best looking: DirectAdmin by far
Best working: cPanel

Direct admin and cpanel are best beacuse they have most features.All other control panel,especialy plesk suck beacuse they are not easy to use and they have very limited features.Direct admin it's best beacuse it's cheaper then cpanel

I vote for this reply as being the most helpful so far in this thread, NOT!!!! Saying something is better because it is cheaper is so far removed from reality, it's not even funny. If something is better because it is cheaper, that would surely make our purchasing decisions much easier, right? Want the best? Just check the price, if it's cheaper, it's gotta be better.

Saying something is better because it is cheaper is so far removed from reality, it's not even funny.

Or as Confucius says, "Good things no cheap, cheap things no good" :p