CHOOSING YOUR WEB HOSTING RESELLER SOFTWARE

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.

about the author:
about the author: lois s. is a technical
EXECUTIVE WRITER FOR WEBSITE SOURCE, INC.
http://www.websitesource.com. her established
writing skills coupled with experience in the
WEBSITE HOSTING [2] INDUSTRY HAVE PROVIDED
internet professionals with marketing, product
and service ideas for many years.

circulated by article emporium [3]
------------------------------------------------