Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Cpanel for windows.. would you offer it when it comes out?

[Scout]

Just wondering..

How many web host resellers here are willing to offer Cpanel for windows the moment it comes out of beta..

Coz I really want to get one.

[MrZodiac]

I wouldn't offer, it's cheaper to just run linux servers with cPanel.

[Asher S]

We plan on doing that.

[Rob]

I would have to trial it before making a decision

[Rageki-John]

I wouldn't offer it because it would cost money to get Window's licenses and cPanel licenses so I believe that the price would be too high for most customers.

[Netunt]

I doubt many companys will offer it. Some companys may offer it as a custom package if you ask for it.

[Asher S]

Originally Posted by Rageki-John

I wouldn't offer it because it would cost money to get Window's licenses and cPanel licenses so I believe that the price would be too high for most customers.

Not really- it just depends on the market you are catering to. The Windows market is completely different from *NIX.

[Will-AH]

I sat down with the project manager of cPanel for Windows at HostingCon this year to see a demo. Having been in the Windows hosting market place since NT 4, I always stay on top of all the panels to see how things are progressing in our search for a panel as good as cPanel for Linux.

cPanel for Windows has been promised and put off for many, many years now. I took a look at the product, and from a quick overview it looks OK, but no where near what it will take to be a major competitor in the Windows space in terms of features. The brand name is powerful, but they need to start implementing features that their Linux hosters don't even know they need yet.

For instance, they are launching cPanel for Windows without Microsoft SQL Server support. As any windows hoster knows, this just won't fly. People looking to specifically host on Windows almost always NEED Microsoft SQL Server. It'd be like offering plans on the LAMP stack without any MySQL.

It also does not support anywhere close to all the different 3rd party applications that all the other panels in the industry do. But hey, you have to start somewhere, right? As long as the company is commited to a good product, I think they're going to be a force to be reckoned within 1-3 years.

cPanel has built a tremendous reputation and product for Linux, but moving into the Windows market is going to be very tricky. It's going to be adopted by Linux hosts who know they have customers who want to run asp.net. Now with FastCGI support, they no longer have to sacrifice the performance of their PHP scripts to do this, so that makes it even better. Unfortunately, and I can say this with 100% certaintity, these hosts have no idea what they're getting into. There is a huge amount of knowledge and trouble shooting ability needed to REALLY support a customer on the Windows platform. Are they going to know what to do the first time ASP pages stop loading across the board? What about when a customers Frontpage form is throwing an error without anything useful in it and it's their job to make it work?

Ultimately, I think the Linux hosts that use cPanel to enter into the Windows market are going to be fighting an uphill battle unless their staff is properly trained by an expert in the Windows hosting space who has seen and done just about everything. It's the only way to compensate for the years of knowledge and troubleshooting the platform that the Windows shops have in their favor.

[Will-AH]

Originally Posted by Rageki-John

I wouldn't offer it because it would cost money to get Window's licenses and cPanel licenses so I believe that the price would be too high for most customers.

A Windows 2003 Standard license costs less than $20/month under the SPLA license agreement which all hosters can sign up for. If that price is too high, then the host is probably just a part-time hobbyist who needed space for something and decided to sell some hosting space to make up their costs and went from there.

Either that, or the business is operating with an incredibly small profit margin and trying to compete with Bluehost or HostGator by offering ridiculously cheap hosting. 99.9999% of the time, these businesses will either fail or if they're lucky enough, sell their customers to another host for 1Y revenue or less.

For companies whose customers include those who want to use ASP.NET, the money is not going to be an issue at all.

[XFactorServers]

Originally Posted by Will-AH

A Windows 2003 Standard license costs less than $20/month under the SPLA license agreement which all hosters can sign up for. If that price is too high, then the host is probably just a part-time hobbyist who needed space for something and decided to sell some hosting space to make up their costs and went from there.

Either that, or the business is operating with an incredibly small profit margin and trying to compete with Bluehost or HostGator by offering ridiculously cheap hosting. 99.9999% of the time, these businesses will either fail or if they're lucky enough, sell their customers to another host for 1Y revenue or less.

For companies whose customers include those who want to use ASP.NET, the money is not going to be an issue at all.

Great point. +1