When you purchase hosting services, you gain the ability to manage them from a client panel. It’s through this panel that we can carry out the necessary operations ourselves, and thanks to intuitive software, doing so is easy and pleasant. Today we can choose a management panel to fit our own requirements, as well as the server our website runs on.
What is an administration panel?
An administration panel is a tool used to control and manage a server through a graphical environment. Most importantly, it’s a huge convenience for anyone without advanced knowledge of the command-line environment. Having one makes certain tasks easier, though it doesn’t mean zero activity in a text-based environment. With an administration panel we can carry out tasks such as:
- adding and removing an FTP account
- connecting a domain
- adding or removing a subdomain
- logging into email
- creating a database.
Fortunately, the client panels available on the market today are built so that not only specialists can use them. A beginner will certainly be able to handle them too, and thanks to the easy-to-use interface will quickly gain experience.
Client panel features
A client panel primarily consists of a menu, and in its sections we can find a variety of features that help us manage not only our account, but also the site’s domain, or more advanced options like a database. Actions we can carry out through the panel include:
- editing personal data — the option to change or update your data at any time. For example, changing your address or contact number
- server — here you’ll find a list of all servers, both those you already own and those that have been ordered or are awaiting payment. You also get detailed information about individual servers, such as: the server owner’s details, the main domains assigned to it, and expiration dates
- domain — the option to check the list of domains you own and have reserved. You also get information such as domain expiration dates, the option to configure them, or the domain holder’s legal details
- email — the panel lets you create an email account or new mailboxes. Existing mailboxes can also always be deleted
- redirects — the option to redirect URLs to domains that aren’t hosted with the provider
Information in the VPS management section
Before choosing an administration panel, you need to have a server. A VPS server is ideal here, since its specifications provide all the features needed to manage and control the graphical environment. To take a closer look at your chosen server, go to VPS management, which will display all the necessary information. The screen should show the following data:
- hostname — the address under which our server is reachable on the network
- IP address — the unique IP address assigned to our VPS server
- status — showing the server’s current activity status
- operating system template — access to the name and version number of the operating system installed on the VPS server
- last operation — information about the most recently performed operation
- change hostname — the option to change the server’s hostname
- operating system update — the option to update individual software packages
- stop — a button used to stop the server. To start it again, click the start button, which should appear in the same place.
DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin is one of the graphical control panels whose main purpose is to manage hosting services, including VPS servers. It’s an online service that provides hosting control through a web browser environment.
DirectAdmin greatly simplifies VPS server management thanks to website administration features that have been streamlined through an intuitive interface. This panel is considered easy to use, thanks to its lower resource requirements compared to other popular panels.
Anyone choosing DirectAdmin should invest in a simple hosting service and have at least some familiarity with server management.
The basic features of the DirectAdmin panel include the ability to:
- manage DNS settings
- configure domains and subdomains
- create and manage accounts and email addresses
- create and manage panel users
- install an SSL certificate or manage Cron
- access and use the file manager
- access and use SQL databases
A DirectAdmin account can be managed from three different levels:
- administrator — access to all levels of managing both the account and the services
- reseller — providing access at the reseller and user level
- user — access is limited to the user level, intended for the technical operation of the server
Plesk
Another available client panel is Plesk, which can be installed on both Linux and Windows servers. Like the previous panel, Plesk is an intuitive tool that’s simple to use, so managing a server shouldn’t pose a major problem for anyone.
Plesk makes it possible to set up databases and email accounts, and on a dedicated server, to create VPS servers as well. Its menu allows you to quickly install applications, including ones like WordPress.
Plesk can be used for more advanced hosting services thanks to its greater functionality.
Plesk panel features let you:
- install additional applications very easily
- log into the system from four different levels
- log in via two mobile apps to a single panel
- change the language to Polish
- easily launch further services and keep them under control or observation
- manage data backups
cPanel
cPanel is software also used to manage a virtual server, meaning a website and email. It’s suitable both for people experienced in server administration and for those dealing with this kind of service for the first time. An additional feature is the ability to use a web-application auto-installer, which reduces installing an application on any domain to just a few clicks.
cPanel panel features include:
- monitoring available disk space
- managing FTP accounts
- connections to the FTP server
- creating, editing, and deleting databases
- connecting to a database from an external location
- renaming domains
- creating a backup on the server
The panels above are the most popular and work best for VPS servers. Having such a tool can significantly simplify your work and help you manage hosting services properly. There you’ll find not only options for editing or controlling your resources, but also information about the server itself or the domain. Today’s panels focus above all on fitting the customer’s needs, which is why they offer an increasingly simple interface — one that both an experienced user and someone just starting out with an administration panel can handle.