Choosing Your Web Hosting Reseller Software
by: S. Rosendahl
As a web host reseller, one of your most important business
decisions is your choice of web hosting control panel software.
The web hosting software you use will save or cost you time,
money, and frustration.
What reseller control panel features will reduce your
workload? What hosting software programs are integrated with the
reseller control panel or work with it? What website control
panel features will your clients like?
In this article, we’ve compared four quality web hosting
reseller software programs:
- Alabanza
- cPanel
- H-Sphere
- Plesk
All of these reseller control panels come with control panels
for your clients. They all have numerous features — advanced
email management, web statistics, pre-installed scripts,
multi-language support, and more. They all work on Linux
platforms, while H-Sphere and Plesk also work with Windows.
According to the cPanel website, a Windows version of cPanel is
in development.
Other features that set these control panels apart are their
degree of automation, the number of features and ease of use for
the end user, and the features and ease of use for you, the
reseller.
Alabanza
When you become an Alabanza reseller, you don’t just have a
reseller account — you lease a dedicated server from Alabanza.
Alabanza owns the control panel the server, and you resell
directly for Alabanza. If you lease a dedicated Alabanza server,
you can create your own reseller accounts. However, only you can
set up hosting plans; resellers below you will be limited to
hosting plans that you create.
Alabanza offers resellers a high degree of automation with
its Domain System Manager (DSM), which can significantly reduce
overhead and time spent on routine tasks:
- Account creation
- Billing and invoice management
- Credit card processing
- Domain registration
- Email notifications
- Ordering fraud protection
Even novices can sell hosting with this level of automation.
DSM also integrates with bulkregister.com for domain name
registration. It does not easily integrate with other domain
registrars, though.
A key Alabanza feature that resellers can offer their clients
is the Xpress Product Suite, which provides web development and
email management tools. The Xpress Product Suite includes
SiteXpress, a website-building program that features over 300
templates and requires no web design skills.
cPanel
For resellers and end users, cPanel is known for its ease of
use and range of features. cPanel’s collection of over 50
pre-installed scripts and Fantastico auto installer help clients
set up their sites with little web development knowledge.
A basic cPanel reseller account comes with two separate
programs for resellers to manage their business:
- WHM (Web Host Manager) is used to create accounts and
packages, add and suspend sites, modify passwords, view
bandwidth usage, park domains, install SSL certificates, and
perform other administrative functions.
- From the reseller’s cPanel control panel, a drop-down
menu takes the reseller to the control panels for each of
the sites on the reseller account, including the reseller’s
site.
With the addition of an optional program, WHM AutoPilot, you
can automate account creation and suspension, email
notifications, and other tasks. WHM AutoPilot also integrates
with common payment gateways and has a helpdesk, an invoice
module, and other tools.
H-Sphere
H-Sphere is designed for both Linux and Windows platforms.
Moreover, resellers can set up plans for both Linux and Windows
and administer sites on different servers from the same control
panel. The control panel, actually a separate server, also
provides administrative access to the integrated helpdesk.
The H-Sphere control panel server automates account
configuration, credit card processing, domain registration, and
email notifications. It also includes a built-in billing module
and supports over 20 payment gateways.
From the reseller’s point of view, H-Sphere has a higher
learning curve than most other control panels because of its
numerous features. For example, when setting up a new plan, the
administrator has two pages of features to choose from,
including setup and monthly pricing for optional services.
Beginning webmasters may find H-Sphere too complicated for
their needs. More advanced users, however, appreciate the
features and control that H-Sphere offers the end user. A key
feature is the ability to have control over separate domains
with multi-domain hosting.
H-Sphere comes with the website builder SiteStudio, which
guides users through a variety of style choices and stores
content separately from the layout. No HTML or FTP knowledge is
required.
Plesk
Plesk is known for its stability and security. Resellers and
end users like its simple navigation, its clean interface, and
its professional appearance. It comes in versions for both Linux
and Windows platforms.
With Plesk, all users use the same control panel but with
different levels of control:
- Server administrator
- Client / reseller
- Domain owner
- Mail user
Each level of the control panel gives the user control of
that level and the level(s) below it. Email users, for example,
can log into their mail user control panel to change their
password, add autoresponders, and change other personal settings
without having access to the domain owner control panel.
Plesk handles SpamAssassin at the mailbox level rather than
at the domain level.
This feature enables users to whitelist or blacklist email for
each email address, allowing each email user to have individual
settings.
SWsoft, the company behind Plesk, also offers SiteBuilder, a
five-step website builder using pre-built templates. SiteBuilder
has over 300 templates in different categories to choose from,
and users can publish their sites without any HTML or FTP
knowledge.
If your Plesk reseller account is with a web host that offers
HSPcomplete, you will have some automation available with your
account, such as credit card charges and email notification. |
