Cpanel or plesk
Most of the Web hosting companies provide control panel like cPanel and Plesk with Web hosting packages. You may have option to select control panel with Dedicated or VPS server which might confuse you while choosing the server configuration. So, let’s see few pros and cons of Control Panel which will help you decide your hosting platform.
Advantages:
No FTP required: You do need to worry about FTP clients for uploading the data for your website. Internal file manager option is available in control panel which can be browsed through URL from any part of the world. From file manager, you can easily upload, download and modify files on the server.
Easy management: You can create and manage domains and emails with few clicks easily through control panel. This is the main reason of having a control panel so that even naive users can manage their domains and emails easily through the user-friendly graphical interface of control panel.
DNS management: DNS plays an important role in domain and email function. Control panel offers option through which you can easily edit and add DNS record for the concerned domain name. You can even delete a DNS file through Control panel without any hassle.
Easy Installations: Control panel like Plesk provides internal web application installer. Even with cPanel, script libraries like Softaculous, Fantastico or Intallatron can be integrated. If you wish to get a shopping cart, forum, blog or any cms, it can be easily installed and managed through control panel within few clicks. Also, you do not have to go through any sort of hassle to uninstall the software or applications as it can be done easily through control panel.
Availability of Stats and logs: In control panel you can get the reports about resource usage and visitors on your websites. Using statistic tools, you can always stay updated about the visitors on your website. You can check the load on your server and manage with ease through control panel.
Disadvantages:
Difficulty in big tasks: It is very difficult to accomplish a big task like 6000 unique files from a directory as you will have to select the files and movie it slowly. However, this can be accomplished by running a single command on the server.
Fixing permission issues: It becomes difficult to check and manage permissions of files which has changed suddenly through control panel as it is messy and confusing. But this can be fixed easily through commands in server and would save hours of your time. It is very easy to modify and check password protections through shell access.
Server Security: As control panels seem very easy through graphical interface, it has a loop hole of less security. The control panel is based on the server and relies on the software and hardware which you deal with. Infamous cPanel makes easy target for hackers and can face DDOS attacks easily. The shell terminal however has password security and secured ports which can be changed time to time increasing the security of the server.
The selection of control panel depends on your technical knowledge and how much of ease you are looking forward for to manage your hosting account. For managing server without control panel you need to sound good technically and be ready with commands to fix the issues without consuming time as on other hand, control panel allows issues to be fixed with clicks. For easy way to manage your hosting account, nothing beats control panel.