All websites are hosted by web servers that must be maintained to allow optimal functionality for the hosted web site. The manual maintenance of these servers would be an extremely time consuming and complex task without the help of a simplification module.
Each day, your website’s server handles hundreds, if not thousands of tasks. Each task is executed based on the administrative preferences and settings given to the server by the administrator. Without a user-friendly control panel interface, it would be very difficult to adjust and maintain the efficacy of your website’s server manually. Even tasks as simple as creating new email accounts would become time consuming, and the complexity of tasks such as database administration or FTP account creation would be too much to handle for most novice users. The control panel is indeed the most important application associated with your web hosting account. Let us discuss three obvious reasons why having a good control panel is imperative.
1. Database Administration
Most novice users know very little about the fundamentals of database administration, yet databases are the backbones of every website. A database is to a website what a vault is to bank. All of your website’s information is stored in databases that need to be maintained and administered to obtain maximum speed and functionality for your website. Most web hosting services use database servers such as MySQL, that allow the user to utilize multiple databases for various reasons. Control panels allow users to manage these databases with very little foreknown knowledge. Since well-maintained databases are so critical to your website’s performance, having a good control panel that simplifies the process of database administration is crucial.
2. FTP Administration
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a common;y used web-based protocol that simplifies the process of uploading files to your web server. Control panels enhance the simplicity and functionality of FTP even further, by letting webmasters create individual FTP accounts for their website’s users. These individual FTP accounts include usernames/passwords, user directories, allocated disk space and more. Using a control panel to manage your FTP functions will remove all manual work, letting you upload files directly from your control panel’s user-friendly interface.
3. Email Account Administration
Having the ability to create multiple email accounts is a standard feature with any web hosting package. Control panels automate the creation and administration of multiple email accounts, letting you set up useful tools such as autoresponders and message forwarders. Autoresponders are applications that allow the user to automatically respond to emails with a set of preconceived messages. Message forwarders automatically send received emails to specified email addresses based on your preferred criteria. These kind of email automation tools are essential in the productivity of online businesses. Having the ability to use these tools, and easily manage multiple email accounts is another reason why control panels are so important to novice and expert webmasters alike.
Server administration would be a daunting task for many webmasters without the help of a good control panel. Thanks to the development of software such as cPanel and Plesk, even the most novice users can now enjoy the full benefits of a properly maintained and personally adjusted web server.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:38 am
This was a very good read, please keep updating!