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Almost all web hosts include control panels in their offers, giving customers the ultimate solution for managing domains, email accounts, design templates, site statistics, data bases, marketing tools and much more. Realizing most web host clients lack the knowledge required for a more technical interface control panels are essential to the web hosts. For a website owner and web host customers control panels are a godsend. Lacking the knowledge and interest web host users still can make the necessary adjustments through the control panel’s user friendly interface. And with a strong demand comes great supply that could fill five sky scrapes. Even though control panels are primarily used by web hosting clients, many web hosts also offer management, administration and maintenance to web host resellers and their clients.

Optimal Web Hosting Experience

The purpose with control panels is thus to make the web hosting experience more controllable and user friendly. Nowadays control panels like cPanel and WHM has developed their interfaces to make sure just about anything can be done through an easy to use GUI. You’ll not only have simple control over your domains and storage space but will find all applications and services you need to optimize your website. Traditional features have also been upgraded with accessibility and excitability directly in the web browser. Many control panels include site builders, ftp connection, video tutorials, backup wizards, advance statistics, MySQL management, image managers and more. Some of these applications might cost extra to exercise.

When Choosing a Control Panel

Bottom line is that control panels are a must for web host clients. Depending on what you need and want there a many web hosting deals to choose between. Most offer just about the same thing, but with more or less emphasis on certain applications. Important to think about when actually choosing a web hosting plan according to their available control panel is this.

• Interface graphics. See if you can get a peek on the interface graphics. The structure and design of the control panel is extremely important and maybe the feature that differs the most control panel to control panel. Remember, this is the place you will spend most time managing your website. Most control panels also offer different skins and the possibility to customize, fonts, colors and structure.
• Supported Operative Systems.Make sure that the operative system you’re using is supported and optimized for. Most web hosts support Windows but if you’re devoting your website to e.g. graphic design and use an Apple computer a control panel that is made for Mac Os X is should be your preference.
• Fulfilling Your Need.There are many things you can do with your website and a control panel offering a wide range of application you can help you become a web-wizz. But it might cost you more money and steel time you should be putting on developing your website. So first priority should be to make sure you have everything you need. Additional features can then be considered a plus.

Tips on Control Panels To Look For

Below we have listed four of the most used control panels by web hosts. Make sure to find out what control panel a web host offers before signing up. You will not regret it. Just follow the links to find out more about the control panel in question:

• cPanel
• Supreme Control Panel
• Helm
• SiteWorx
• Plesk

This is the ultimate control panel. Supreme Control Panel is used by many web hosts such as CorrectHost for one particular reason. The fact that this control panel has been built for both new and more experienced users. By offering assistance and an easy navigational interface plus a great variation of services all user needs are fulfilled.

Both video tutorials and add-ons

In the horizontal menu bar the user will find the useful functions and services. Email options, web tools, live stats, site management and help center. It’s all there and every section offer more than five services. The help center enables the user to interact and learn with video tutorials, ticket archive and FAQ’s. Live stats are available for bandwidth, traffic, error log and databases. Supreme Control Panel also helps users in building their website with web tools and installable scripts. The email function brings nothing new to the table but keeps the standard with spam-filters and a webmail option. Domain settings and file manager are controlled through the site management section that furthermore offers full database control, PHP settings and FrontPage Extensions.

Web Host and Control Panel in one!

Available in 13 different languages, including Ukrainian, Supreme Control Panel is the control panel of the people. Services normally only usable on the web hosting index page can be directly done from the control panel. Search a domain name, setup new account, renew web host plan, get news feeds. You name it!

Customized Control Panel

Although the color and design of the control panel is ultimate as it is the user can customize it according to personal taste. The structure of function and service display is set and may not be changed but has been created by experts to please the general user.

The internet has been the greatest media evolution since radio and television, and today is powered by nearly 50 million websites.

The idea of the internet came almost three decades before web hosting services came into being in 1991. It started with the idea of networking�

In 1962 J.C.R. Licklider at MIT wrote a series of articles where he visualized a Galactic Network concept based on the idea of a series of globally interconnected computers where information and resources could be accessed from any site. While heading ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), the Computer Sciences program at MIT, he convinced his successors about the importance of computer networking.

In 1965, Lawrence G. Roberts and Thomas Merril started the first, but very slow computer. Paul Baran’s design of packet switching method was the only way to make it faster.

In 1966 Roberts unveiled his plans for ARPANET, the first wide-area network ever developed.

In 1969, they successfully linked computers at UCLA, The Stanford Research Institute, The University of California Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. Each computer was a host making them all able to interact with one another. Over the next 2 years, they would add 19 more hosts and 13 nodes to their little network.

In 1971 Roy Tomlinson wrote the first basic e-mail program, and it was quickly advanced by Lawrence G. Roberts. With this, researchers could finally send and receive messages over their network. Soon the @ symbol for e-mail addresses was adapted.

The `70s also saw the birth of TELENET, the first commercial version of an internet provider, and other networks.

Also, TCP was officially split into TCP/IP (Transmissions Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) in an attempt to unify all of the budding networks that were coming up in North America and around the globe. TCP is the host to host connection used by computers and IP passes the separate packets of information between computers.

In the `80s there was rapid growth and development and the TCP/IP format was first used to tie the ARPANET system to several other networks. The format allowed the networks to access each other while operating individually. It was then that the term “Internet” officially came into being, meaning a series of networks linked together by the TCP/IP format.

In 1984 the Domain Name System, or DNS, was introduced, a term for computers to be able to distinguish themselves from one another. Six domains were introduced: edu (Education), gov (Government), mil (Military), com (Commercial), net (Network Resources), and org (Organization). On March 15, 1985, Symbolics.com became the first registered domain name.

Welcome to the World Wide Web

In 1991 the National Science Foundation (NSF) decided to lift commercial restrictions on the web. With the birth of electronic commerce many companies believed that there might be a future in website hosting services.

The same year, CERN unleashed the World Wide Web (www) onto the world, which incorporated Tim Berner-Lee’s new HTML computer Language. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and uses specifications for Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). It became the universal standard for locating website addresses.

Website hosting, with advancement of technology has become inexpensive and much less complicated than when it began. It started with big companies renting out extra space on their servers and has now become big business in itself. There are multitudes of companies that offer web hosting.

Technology is advancing at a fast pace, evolving computers and the internet. With every new development there are changes to the way the business of website hosting is packaged to the customers.

Data centers have traditionally provided facilities and the equipment to allow the rest of us to host our web-sites with them. Continuous availability, high bandwidth, on-demand disk space and reliable equipment traditionally are the reasons why hosting has for most part been associated with data centers, except for a fraction of technically inclined users who put up servers in their basement. In the dial-up world where retail infrastructure was poor, and computers malfunctioned frequently, there seemed no other alternative.

Clearly, a lot has changed since the time data centers were first setup. Retail internet connections have rapidly become faster and uptime is high. Broadband connections routinely deliver several Mbps both ways, and providers often promise uptimes in excess of 99%. Similarly, Personal Computers today are more powerful and reliable than the “Server” grade machines of barely a few years ago. For many applications that are non-mission critical (and this is a loose characterization), it is time to ask if the quality of retail infrastructure makes self-hosting a viable option today.The point is further underscored by Microsoft�s launch of the Windows Home Server Product. Sure, the Home Server is intended to do other things like backups, storage, printer management etc., in addition to making home content available on-line. But the fact that the Windows Home Server Product is built around a barebones version of Windows Server 2003 seems to suggest that eventually, the content residing on retail computers will be web accessible, with Home computers becoming a part of the world-wide web. The market for WHS is quite big: There are over 60 million people worldwide that have broadband access and two or more PCs at home, says Microsoft.

Requirements of Home Hosting

Clearly, any home hosting solution needs to have two fundamental characteristics. It needs to be simple enough for a “mom” or “dad” user. The Product Manager for Microsoft Home Server has been quoted as saying that his product is not about making a geek happy. Most home users don’t know their ISP, let alone their IP address. So you can’t make the product too complicated.” Secondly, a home hosting solution needs to conform to a higher standard of security. People are likely to be more sensitive about information on their home computers than they are about information that they uploaded on to a third party data centre hosting server.

What are the home hosting alternatives?

Static IPs

The most obvious way to self-host is to obtain a static IP address from your ISP, buy a domain name and map the domain name to the static IP. This solution is really for the technical user, since it requires configuration of the Server, ports, installation of security tools and so on. The prices for static IP address range from $10 per month to $15 per month. Many ISPs offer static IPs to their customers.

Dynamic DNS

In situations where your IP address changes every time you reconnect to the internet (known as Dynamic IP), Dynamic DNS solutions provide a mechanism to keep your domain name pointed to your current IP address. This frees you from having to invest in a static IP. A software IP update-agent on your home computer continually updates the DNS map with your Dynamic DNS provider.

Although your Dynamic DNS server may update his mapping potentially every minute, there can be a considerable time lag for propagation of an update across ISPs around the world. During this delay, not all users will be able to see your website. The reason for the delay is as follows. Each DNS entry consists not only of the domain name and its IP address, and a TTL entry which is the amount of seconds a DNS server may hold this particular domain information in its cache before it must refresh the information from a higher-level server. Dynamic DNS providers usually set this expiration time to one minute or so. The DNS servers that ISPs use usually don’t host any domains of their own, they’re basically just giant caches. The first time the reader asks for the domain name the ISP server probably won’t know it so it looks it up. The Dynamic DNS provider tells the ISP’s server to only keep the domain information in its cache for 60 seconds. However, there are DNS servers that ignore TTL entries and the expiration times and decide on their own to cache domain information for a longer duration, even as much as a week. Furthermore, reader computers cache domain information for a fixed duration as well. In such situations, Dynamic DNS mapping takes time to propagate, and your home-hosted website can become intermittently inaccessible.

Although a solution based on Dynamic DNS does not require investment in a fixed IP, it can give intermittent problems, and is also beyond the expertise of most home users.

Reverse Proxy

One way to eliminate the drawbacks of the Dynamic DNS approach is to connect the home computer to a public “Reverse-Proxy”, and have the domain name point to the Reverse-Proxy. The Reverse-Proxy keeps an up-to-date mapping of the home computers with their domain names. It processes the incoming HTTP requests, looks up its mapping and forwards them to the appropriate home computer for fulfillment. This solution does not work if the home computer is behind a NAT unless port forwarding can be set up, and the IP-update agent works from behind NAT as well. The solution also requires significant investment in security tools.

One variation of the Reverse Proxy scheme has been implemented by Purplenova . It works irrespective of the network configuration or NAT devices and provides higher level of security to the home computer. The underlying networking complexity is entirely hidden from the home user even while ensuring that the domain name hosting works all the time.

Summary

It remains to be seen whether the improvements in the retail infrastructure translate into a shift towards “do-it-yourself” hosting. Chances are that users will continue to host their mission critical applications with data centers, while potentially hosting some of the “Web 2.0″ content directly from home computers. Nevertheless, the hosting industry would undoubtedly keep an eye on the market adoption of the Microsoft Windows Home Server and other self-hosting offerings.

To many the idea of moving your web site from one host to another can sometimes seem like a daunting task but the process of moving your site is simple when you know what steps to take and the order to take them in. This article will walk you through the steps required to perform a site move without the downtime.

Firstly there is this one important thing you need to remember, DO NOT TERMINATE YOUR EXISTING HOSTING ACCOUNT until the very last step. You may be very unhappy with your current hosting but it is essential that your current hosting account remains active until you are 100% sure your site is all operational with the new hosting provider.

If you follow the steps below you should be able to transition from one host to another without any downtime to your web site.

Create A New Account

Firstly you need to choose your new hosting provider, once you have chosen that provider sign up for the chosen hosting package and once the new account is setup you can move on to the next step.

Backup All Your Files From Your Old Account

This is a relatively simple process, but can be time consuming depending on the size of your web site. Go to your old hosting account and download all the files via FTP, and backup any databases in use. Remember that you cannot cancel this account yet even though you have backed up all your files.

Upload All Your Files To Your New Account

Once you have backed up your files on your old hosting account, it is time to go to your new hosting account and upload the backups via the new hosts FTP.

Create Your Mail Accounts

To avoid losing any of your email when you later change your domain name server addresses, it is imperative that you now create all the same email accounts that you had with your old hosting provider in your new hosting account. Once this has been done, all email addresses on the new account should match the email address on your old account.

Checking of Your Files and Links

Now it is time to check all the pages of your web sites and verify that all links are working correctly on your new host. To do this you will need to create a temporary URL to the web site. A quick and easy way to do this is to create a sub domain of another URL and point it to your new web site by the way of mirroring. Any good web hosting provider should provide you with the ability to create temporary a URL so you can test your new site.

Changing Your DNS (Domain Name Server)

If you are now certain that your files have all been uploaded correctly and the links within your site are working correctly, you can change your DNS (domain name servers). Your new host should have provided you with their DNS settings. If they have not, contact them and ask what addresses should be used for your domain name. Usually the addresses will look like this, ns1.domainname.com, ns2.domainname.com.

The place to change the DNS addresses is whoever your domain name is registered with. If you registered the domain name through a registrar, you will need to login to their control panel and change the DNS servers there. If it was registered with your old host, you will need to login to their control panel and change the DNS entries there.

Wait For DNS Changes To Propogate

After you have changed your DNS (domain name servers) you will need to wait between 24-48 hours for your domain to propogate across the internet. During this waiting period your site will still be served from your old hosting account, as the DNS propogates your site will be served from your new host. Once the propogation has completed all requests to your domain will be served from you new host.

Cancel Your Old Account

Make sure you wait at least 48 hours for the domain name to propogate, and make sure that your domain name is resolving to your new hosting account before cancelling your old account.

Final Words

By following these steps you should now have successfully transferred your web site from your old host to your new host without any downtime.

David J. Smith writes about a new hosting company called Hostmonster and other prominent web hosting providers at http://www.webhost-advisor.com.

Web Hosting is going through a revolution. The ever lower cost of video streaming is morphing websites into less images, less text, more video. A recent look at Yahoo! â„¢ shows a home page with video links front and center. One of the emerging technologies allowing low cost streaming is Flash FLV. It is a format that is designed for web playback, offering high rates of compression. Flash Player, the embedded plugin that is in 98% of all internet browsers, allows playback of Flash FLV using SWF files. It is a preferred method because there is no need for a 3rd party download. FLV is a “Flash Live Video” file.

Not many people know it, but Macromedia (Adobe) has developed a sophisticated media delivery platform, that is emerging as a sleeping giant. Flash is the world’s most pervasive software platform, used by over 1 million programming professionals and reaching 98% of Internet-enabled desktops worldwide as well as a wide range of devices.. You might be shocked to hear that using Flash for your Video Media Delivery can save you a bundle of cash!

The Flash Player browser plugin can play an FLV, but that FLV, must be either embedded in or linked to a SWF. That is, you can’t just put the actual FLV on an HTML page. You can however reference the FLV file using action script and SWF (the player controls), which now opens up the door to brand your player, add colors and logos, skins, and links to further information. Customization is now only limited to your imagination and Flash Skills. 4 hour movies can be streamed instantly with no buffer wait or download lag time.

Highlights of the Flash Communications Server include the ability to provide your end users with the best possible experience via a seamlessly integrated client that lets you brand your broadcast the way you want to, with any devices containing the Flash Player being capable of delivering movies when connected to the MX Communications server.

A Fantastic File Format
The file format used in this process is Flash FLV or Flash Live Video, and it plays in a Flash Player. While traditional methods of media delivery include some kind of download to the user’s computer, either in a pre-loader or through temporary Internet files, Flash MX Communications server and a Flash FLV Player connect in a completely different manner. Simply put, it’s a new connection to the file each time the user uses the controls in the player. This means that in the background it’s a “start here” – “stop here” – “start again here” style of play, with no downloads or caching.

Here’s The Top Ten Reasons to Stream Video Using Flash

1. FLV format file sizes after conversion are up to 60% smaller, saving server storage costs.
2. FLV’s start - stop connection style saves on bandwidth perhaps as much as 60% less per month.
3. FLV format has no local player in operating systems, so file sharing is nullified.
4. FLV format plays directly in more browsers than Windows Media, Real Player or QuickTime.
5. FLV server can authenticate clients, and control users as you wish.
6. FLV players can be completely customized for logos, branding and embedded links.
7. FLV players can play files from a programmable database, and simple administration area.
8. FLV players can be programmed to integrate with databases for free previews, time, users.
9. FLV encoding can include user information for content tracking, misuse, or DRM.
10. Flash Communications servers are easier to maintain than others, and less prone to security hacks.

Who is using Flash Communication Servers? Google, MTV, Yahoo, IBM, Sony, Universal Studios, the list is growing. Flash is suitable for various applications, including live, on-demand, audio and video streaming, 24 x 7 live radio broadcasting, pay-per-view, with digital rights management, delivery to mobile devices, including phones, product demonstrations, commercials and movie trailers, employee and partner training, corporate communications – the list goes on and on…

Interested publishers can see demonstrations of Flash Communication Server and get more information by visiting FLVhosting.com. Our proprietary video delivery solutions work on 98% of all Internet enabled devices, and can save you big on your bandwidth bill – with prices starting at only $19.95

Mike McGuinness is VP of Operations at www.flvhosting.com Call 1-888-409-3500 sales@flvhosting.com

Mike McGuinness is a Flasher and Tech support guru for Video Spark and FLV Hosting.com

If you are about to purchase web hosting, it is very likely that you will be using cPanel to manage your hosting. To get the most from your web hosting, you need to learn the workings of cPanel.

What Can Be Done with cPanel?

If your web hosting doesn’t offer shell access, cPanel will be the only way to manage your web hosting, cPanel is a web based server control software that allows you to do the following operations and a whole lot more. Common operations such as adding FTP users, creating databases, creating mail accounts and a multitude of other hosting operations can all be performed with cPanel.

Creating Mail Addresses

If you have the domain xyz.com and you would like to create a mail address called info@xyz.com, you can perform the following. Firstly click on the Mail tab from the front page. There you will see options to create, modify or delete mail accounts. If you to forward mail to an existing account here you can set an addres to forward to the account of your choosing. To read emails access the Webmail tab from the front page

Managing your domains

You may want more than a single address directed towards one web site, for example if you owned xyz.com and xyz.net, this can be achieved by using the Parked Domains tab, here you can type any address that you own to point to one of your web sites. If you hosting provider allows you to have more than one web site on your account, you can add domains via the Addon Domains tab. If you hosting provider supports the creation of sub domains you can create these via the Sub Domain tab.

FTP Options

You can create additional FTP users, set their access levels and other FTP related tasks using the FTP tab.

Database Tasks

To create a new database, or modify existing databases use the Database tab. Here you can perform all allowed database tasks, to perform more advanced database operations you will need to use phpMyAdmin, this can also be accessed from the Database tab.

Analyze The Logs

When running a web site you need to know what your visitors like, where they are coming from, which search engines are bringing the most visitors and all other data about them. Normally you will have access to the raw log files, but these are hard to analyze, to see data that is formatted about your visitors in an easy to read way go to Web/FTP Stats, here you will have the option to review your sites statistics using a variety of software such as Webalizer or AWStats.

Fantastico

Most if not all cPanel installations these days come with Fantastico which is an auto installer for many php based scripts. Fantastico can be used to install popular php scripts such as Wordpress, Mambo, phpbb and many other php products. Using Fantastico is the easiest way to setup these php based scripts and will save you having to manually upload the scripts, and more often than not Fantastico will do all the configuration of the script for you which is a real time saver.

Final Words

cPanel is a very advanced application for configuring your hosting and learning all the tricks can take some time, but hopefully with this guide you will have the basics down and you can progress from here as your experience with web hosting increases.

David J. Smith has recently written a Bluehost Review, Bluehost use cPanel for hosting management to allow new webmasters and veterans alike to easily configure their hosting.

It means hosting that is provided on Linux/Unix operating systems platforms. There isn’t much difference between these two types of operating systems because Linux/Unix is an improved version of Linux/Unix operating system. When just applying for web hosting companies for web hosting that is based on Linux operating system it doesn’t matter which one you are using on your computer as it is commensurable with any operating system.

Usability

Some years ago Linux operating system used to be available only for professionals and if you were not an experienced user you had no future with this OS. In the last couple of years the situation has changed. Providers have done their best to make users’ web sites administrating more comfortable and easier. In case you’re just a beginner you’ll find friendly control panels that include Web- interface. And if you are an experienced user you can control your site by means of shell.

Reliability

Experts claim that Unix-based platform is one of the most reliable ones but it will mainly depend on maintenance stuff professionalism. Thus quality and stability of Linux-based web hosting won’t depend on some sudden system bugs and the operating system consistency itself secures your web site operating dependability.

Functionality

In this area Linux differs the most from other popular platforms. It can handle a lot of processes that happen at the same time. This gives you a possibility to get more from the server.

What Scripting Languages Are Available For Unix?

Unix supports a wide variety of application languages, more than any other operating system. The most common applications of such kind include C, C++, Shell, Perl, Tcl, Python, Java and PHP.

What Databases Does Unix Support?

Databases available for Unix are mSQL and mySQL. The one you choose would depend on your own needs and your Host Provider’s offers. This is important for you to review when choosing a hosting company.

Cost

Linux operating system was developed by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to other operating systems and is being improved by many specialists all around the world. Most of its versions are free of charge. This circumstance makes Linux-based hosting much cheaper than any other. As for Linux versions they are sometimes called Linux Distributions. The most popular Distributions are RedHat and Mandrake. Which are easy to install have a lot of different utilities and suitable for any web hosting type.

Why choose Linux/Unix-based hosting?

So, as it was mentioned before using this platform is cheaper and more convenient than others. All existent scripts, like PHP, function best when using the Linux-based web hosting. Linux/Unix based web hosting upgrading possibilities increase when using Shell and Telnet access. The Linux/Unix-based platform is probably the most stable and reliable.

More hosting articles you can also find here http://www.cheap-web-hosting-directory.com, http://www.web-site-hosting-reviews.com%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%C2%9D”> http://www.web-site-hosting-reviews.com and http://www.web-hosting-review.net.

When you are going to hire a hosting service to build your website for your small business then you need to know the basic things of web hosting. You are the best person to judge that what required features are and what about your budget.

Commonly, this choice to host your website depends upon the scripting language that is used in your website. If languages like PHP, MySQL, or Perl are used in your website, Linux server hosting is preferable. But if you are thinking for ASP Dot Net scripting language then your finest choice would the window hosting.

If you need some interactive facilities like chat or searchable database, Linux may not be the best choice. Also, a Linux-based web server is not fully acquiescent with Windows technologies. If you are using any Windows-centric technologies like Visual Basic, then Windows-based servers would be the required choice for you.

Advantages of Linux server hosting

1. Linux is an open source software product and thus it does not need the high licensing fees that other operating systems do; you can freely download and use it at no cost.

2. A Linux website can easily be converted to a Windows website without much hassle. Also, the website can easily be changed as the requirement of the user grows.

3. Linux web hosting is very economical as Linux is a free operating system. Usually, only the cost of distribution is borne by the host or owner.

4. When the scripting language like PHP, MySQL, or Perl etc. are required for your website then Linux server hosting is the most reliable and cost effective solution for you. Unless heavy load of scripting language, this will not be traceable.

5. There are many kinds of databases that run on Linux hosting, but the most widespread most likely among web host providers are mSQL, MySQL and PostgreSQL. These databases are relational by nature, and permit vastly optimized communication with your website for rapid reclamation of data.

6. By lots of circles Linux hosting is supposed to be much securing than Windows hosting, and for that reason only Linux server hosting is also the more popular choice for web designers and programmers.

Advantages of windows server hosting

1. .NET technologies like ASP dot net VB dot net are available on this platform. If you have a website built with Microsoft .NET technologies then you will have to choose a Windows server hosting plan.

2. If you need an enterprise class database there are some different features that run on a Linux platform but if you need Microsoft’s MSSQL database, a Windows hosting plan will be your best choice.

3. Access Databases are only obtainable with a Windows server hosting plan. Access can only run on a Microsoft Windows platform and thus it is unavailable on a Linux hosting. If your site needs particularly this feature then you will have to accept windows server hosting.

4. If you are using some of the Microsoft’s Sharepoint services a Windows Hosting plan is only reliable choice for you.

5. Windows plans typically much costly because of the license costs compulsory by Microsoft.

Normally, Linux server hosting plans are at least 20% economical than windows server hosting plans. If you need not to have any unique features for your website, like cart, searchable database etc, Linux server hosting is a finest alternative for your needs.

When you are required for specific Microsoft technologies, Windows hosting plans generally will be your favorable think. But for all small business owner needs Linux hosting plans will generally perform quite well for its cost effective features.

CPanel is an easy user-interface site that lets you control your host account environment. The main peculiarity of this operating system is that it so simple to use that your below average computer user can�t mess it up. It�s got great features embedded into its panel and some of the features are listed below.

Site Tools

There are such tools available for your use, which are Web Protect (.htaccess editor), Custom error pages, Redirects, Ability to edit MIME types, Ability to edit Apache handlers, Install/Uninstall FrontPage Extensions, Search engine tool submitting and File Manager.

Email

The email program provides you with the possibility to add, remove, and change passwords while managing email accounts. CPanel is also provided by Webmail for the accounts, Auto responders, Forwarders, Mailing Lists, Spam filtering and some more.

Backup

Backup allows you to create copies of account files and databases. The backup menu also allows you to download any automatic backups that were downloaded by your CPanel administrator.

Stats

Here are different tools to survey your site popularity and efficiency. Those are Webalizer web stats, Webalizer FTP stats, Analog stats, AWStats, View latest visitors, View bandwidth usage and View error log modules.

FTP

There is a module that controls FTP accounts (add, remove, change password for its access), Anonymous FTP controls; Ability to change FTP login message and Ability to kill FTP sessions.

Advanced Stuff

You have an ability to add or remove subdomains, Subdomain Redirects and its Stats.

Advanced Tools

You are provided with tools of SSH access tools, Manage GPG keys and Cron jobs.

There are also Pre-Installed CGI Scripts. Those are Interchange Cart, Agora Cart, Bulletin Board, Java Chat, HTML Chat, phpMyChat, CGI Wrapper (for non-suexec installs), Random HTML generator, Advanced Guestbook, Counter Generator, Java Clock Generator, Java Countdown Generator, Secure FormMail clone, CGIEmail, Entropy Search, Entropy Banner. Network Tools are DNS Lookup and Traceroute. Database Management tools includes Managing MySQL databases and phpMyAdmin access.

For beginners, CPanel has a lot of options that are easy to use. CPanel works with most of browsers, such as IE, Opera, Firefox and others.

Ashok Arora is CEO of http://www.ewebguru.com/ leading reseller web hosting company of India and providing windows hosting services.