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Native Russian question, or “server for myself”



Or a comparison of hosting control panels, Introduction


This article aims to present the results of objective testing and analysis of the capabilities of the new version of the hosting control panel ISPmanager 5 Lite, which was announced on November 19, 2013 and compare its capabilities and convenience with two competitors (cPanel 11.44 and Plesk 12). The analysis of the panels is made from the point of view of the hosting user and the convenience of managing a separate web hosting account. I do not consider the official release of ISPmanager 5 Business a response to my pressing needs and decided to put the known facts together. I have been working with hosting companies (not exactly as a user) since 2008 and I have something to compare with.


How and with what we compare


ISPmanager 5 Lite - demo access
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Competitors




Comparison criteria


Installation process and initial setup.


Panel functionality:



Control Panel Design:

Installation and initial setup process


In terms of installation , the only panel that loves its user is ISPmanager. In this panel, the entire installation process is reduced to downloading the autoinstaller script from the ispsystem.com website and running it, followed by the selection of the desired product. Everything else will be done automatically.


Figure 1. Wizard of the first launch of the installed ISPmanager panel

To install the cPanel and Plesk panels, you will need numerous preparatory actions related to skills that not every user has, as well as much more time for running installer scripts. Given that the scripts are always run as root, it is not clear why the creators of cPanel and Plesk did not bother to include preparatory actions in their installers, but require the user to run commands manually on the console.

Panel functionality


Although the “cost of living” of the required hosting management functions is provided by all panels, the largest variety of tools is presented in cPanel. And ISPmanager is different for the limited capabilities of a regular user who does not have admin rights.

ISPmanager Lite is not available for user:


Domain and Subdomain Management


Among the three panels, ISPmanager and Plesk provide the greatest opportunities for managing domains and their DNS records. But in ISPmanager, a user can be confused with the breakdown into www-domains, postal and just domains. Plesk represents the best combination of a variety of settings, clarity and consistency of the management interface grouped around each domain. CPanel has fewer available options, especially cPanel has very limited DNS editor features.

FTP user management


In terms of FTP user rights management and connection control, cPanel stands out among competitors thanks to tools such as setting disk quotas, monitoring FTP sessions and providing ready-made configuration files for FTP client programs. The disadvantages of ISPmanager and Plesk are: the lack of additional assistance in connecting users via FTP, the inability to restrict disk usage by FTP users, and the lack of control over FTP connection sessions.

Email Management


The main features of mail user management are provided by all three panels: creating and deleting users, forwarding, answering machine (ISPmanager — with less capabilities than those of competitors), automatic sorting of incoming mail. But in ISPmanager in the Lite version, some important functions are inaccessible to the average user. In this panel, a simple user has no spam protection management.

The biggest opportunity for managing email users is cPanel. The advantage of the panel is the wide possibilities of setting up protection against incoming and outgoing spam, three variants of the webmail program, as well as the presence of an already established mailing list program. An important advantage of cPanel is the easy access to download ready-made configuration files for 10 email client programs for any email user.


Figure 2. E-mail configuration and management tools in cPanel

In Plesk, everything is optimal - there are all functions for managing mail users, as well as antispam. To check the mail, you can use antivirus. Unlike cPanel (ISPmanager offers this in the Pro version), in this panel it is possible to limit the intensity of sending emails by users.

Work with files on hosting


All panels contain the standard functions of managing files and folders online: creating, deleting, setting rights, copying / transferring, downloading and uploading a file to a hosting service, creating or unpacking archives, editing text files, scripts and HTML pages.

But each panel has its own nuances:


Database management


Among the three panels, cPanel provides the most comprehensive database management capabilities. This panel only provides automatic error correction functions in the database, and in cPanel all functions are divided into sections, which makes life easier for the inexperienced user.

ISPmanager has a conveniently organized interface and has an advantage in the database export / import functions accessible from the panel, and any specific actions are available in php MyAdmin.

In the Plesk panel, in the database management section, the disadvantage is the inability to give one user access to several databases.

Backup


All three panels provide the ability to manage backups manually, create a full or partial copy, download it to your disk or to a remote FTP server, upload a copy to the hosting.

But cPanel, although it provides a clear interface, has two important flaws:
  1. only partial copies can be restored;
  2. No backup scheduler.

The Plesk panel provides a convenient interface and all the necessary backup functions. The advantage of this panel is the ability to set a password for backups that are saved to another server or a user's local disk.

The ISPmanager panel provides the greatest possibilities both in managing backups and in scheduling their execution automatically. But there is a big disadvantage - powerful backup tools are available only to administrators.

Web server statistics


Although all three panels provide access to web server logs and error logs, cPanel provides the most convenience and variety of tools. The cPanel user can get various statistics, or use any of the three programs: Webalizer, Awstats, Analog.

In ISPmanager, awstats are available to the standard user (if installed and active). The advantage of ISPmanager is the possibility of automatic rotation and archiving of journals.

In the Plesk 12 panel, the user in the general section displays information on the use of server resources, as well as three sections with statistics, including statistics analysis of the web interface of the well-known Webalizer program.

Convenience of migration between hosters (servers) within one panel


All three panels support the ability to transfer a user from a server to a server running the same panel using the mechanism for creating and restoring a full backup. But the transfer of the user, his sites and databases to a server under another panel turns into a complex procedure, requiring fairly high qualifications.

Additional features for installing web applications or CMS


Here cPanel looks pathetic compared to competitors. To automatically install web applications on the user's site, ISPmanager and Plesk use the library of scripts in a special APS format. In ISPmanager, the library of scripts contains 241 web applications, in Plesk - 339 including commercial applications.

In cPanel, the own installer has ... as many as 7 applications, incl. WordPress.

Panel design comparison


The quality of the control panel interface is determined by how quickly it gives the hosting user access to what he needs. And the user needs first of all three things: to understand in which section of the panel he is, to clearly understand what actions are available and inaccessible to him, what services are turned on and off, and how to quickly switch to another section of the panel that he needs.

Convenience of the interface


From the point of view of convenience, clarity and speed of information perception, the ISPmanager interface is the best, Plesk is harmoniously designed, and in cPanel many screens are overloaded, full of heterogeneous elements.

In ISPmanager, the opening sections are located on tabs that can be left open and it is convenient to switch between them. Some tooltips duplicate the signature of the icon and therefore are uninformative.


Fig 3. ISPmanager 5 Lite control panel interface

Using the mouse and the Shift key, you can select objects for group operations. The object's activity is indicated by a small light bulb (if turned on, the light bulb is yellow) in the object row and in the parameters column.

In cPanel, each section and subsection occupies the entire workspace at the top left, the name of the item where the user is currently located is displayed. Further, everything is arranged sequentially: the first thing that the user sees is the video guide button and the form for creating a new object and just below is a list of existing objects, their properties and text links to possible actions with the object. Selection of objects for group operations is not provided.

In the Plesk 12 control panel, the interface sections are designed as a series of tabs and the color of the active tab’s “label” clearly shows the user where he is. The functions of the panel are buttons containing an icon and an inscription. When you hover the cursor over a button, a pop-up detailed hint is displayed, which is an important advantage of the Plesk interface.


Figure 4. Plesk 12 Hosting Control Panel Interface

Convenience of navigating the panel


From navigation through the panel, you need speed, the ability to get into the necessary section with minimal effort and in this ISPmanager is beyond competition. To navigate through the ISPmanager sections, use the menu permanently placed in the left frame and giving instant one-click access to any section or subsection of the panel. For the user, this is the most convenient and fastest option.

With cPanel navigation, traditionally everything is bad. Moving from section to section exclusively by returning to the main screen and clicking on the desired icon.

In the Plesk 12 control panel, moving between partitions takes place using the horizontal menu at the top, which looks like tabs, and in the section below there is a similar menu of subsections.

Switch between tasks


In cPanel and Plesk, individual sections of the panel can be opened in parallel in other windows or in a browser tab. ISPmanager has a built-in mechanism for bookmarks in the panel itself, the user can conveniently switch between different tasks.


Figure 5. Button for opening the ISPmanager menu item in the additional tab


findings


So, among the three considered panels, cPanel and Plesk provide more options for regular users, and ISPmanager Lite without administrator rights is very limited in functionality. Despite the intricate navigation and a motley set of tools, cPanel is convenient for the inexperienced user. Naturally, in the case when the administrator has configured everything and provided the user with a ready account.

Accordingly, taking into account the combination of the cost of licenses on the panel and their technical capabilities, it is logical to install cPanel or Plesk to provide shared hosting services.

And ISPmanager Lite, being very simple to install, is not resource-demanding and provides the administrator with sufficient functionality, ideal for your own virtual and dedicated servers. This is the best choice in the “server for yourself” mode when you need to quickly and conveniently launch your own web server. Our estimates of the three panels are shown in Table 1.


Tab 1. Estimates of (subjective) three panels by comparison (5 is the best, 1 is the worst)


Figure 6. The final score of the three hosting control panels

Additionally, we give a comparison of the cost of panels with different subscription options.


Table 2. The cost of licenses on the hosting control panel. For comparison, the Plesk “Web Host Edition” option was chosen, since cheaper panel options are limited in the number of domains.

To improve the usability of ISPmanager Lite, we recommend:
  1. add automatic generation of configuration files for FTP and e-mail client programs for each account;
  2. install and enable a webmail program immediately, by default.

Thus, having considered the three leaders among the hosting control panels during September 2014, and comparing them according to 13 parameters, we came to the conclusion that ISPmanager Lite is out of competition in the “server for yourself” category. As for the version of Pro and its advanced features for virtual hosting, we will tell you in March 2015. If, of course, you have read to the end. See you soon!

PS A full analysis, from which the Habrovskaya article is a squeeze, isn’t yet posted, because when I give a link to an external resource on a habr, it turns out to be some kind of incident. If it is interesting, and so that it does not turn out that I speak too well, for example, about Splash, for each statement there are statistical calculations .

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/249571/

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