Questions... Need experienced ppl to answer

[cowboybebop]

Ok I'm quite a noob to hosting, 6 months ago, I found out what the Cpanel was... Lol :) Anyways I've gotten totally used to the Cpanel, I've been hosted with Yurx, great ppl :) , now my site has grown a LOT [anime site] . we are at 4000 members and we're going to start direct dl of unlicensed anime, so obviously I guess I'm going to need a damn Dedicated server and I thought, well seeing as I've been using Cpanel all the time, I might as well get it... and then I realised hosters want +$25~40 so I was wondering If I don't get CPanel, how exactly do I control my server ?! Lol this is a noobish type question.. .I know :D and are there any programs like Cpanel that are free ?

[Sam2000]

Not really.

Upon setting up a dedicated server you usually have to buy a Cpanel license.
But there a many other control panels like Plesk and its another one..


( There a many ways to host that type of site without going dedicated. ;) )

[DavidsAwesome]

you have many options... dedicated isnt your only choice.

You can get a high end VPS, or a better hosting account if you're using your bandwidth.

Either way, cPanel isnt your only option... its one of the more expensive control panels. Theres directadmin, plesk, webmin, several others.

Also, if you search sourceforge.net you might be able to find a nice open source one, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[James]

There are a lot of control panels out there. If you are hosting just one site, you might do with something like webmin - free.

[heymrdj]

There are a lot of control panels out there. If you are hosting just one site, you might do with something like webmin - free.

I find webmin is too complicated for site hosting, but excellent for server configuration and management.

I use ISPConfig control panel (its free) + Webmin for server administration (free) + Bastille firewall for security (again free). That trio makes me a very nice home server anyways. If you're not too bright on installations, www.howtoforge.com has many excellent guides on setting up oyur server for ISPConfig. They cover all the *nix OS's for it.

[.Joe.]

If you're looking for a free control panel I suggest "webmin"

Also, another good control panel I recommend is DirectAdmin (which sometimes can have a lower fee then cPanel) or Plesk. Both great control panels. If you're going with a windows OS I suggest H-Sphere or plesk aswell.

[Koh]

I would probably suggest directadmin, but for a free solution, webmin may be a better idea

[radnam]

Hey if you are new to hosting and are only familiar with cpanel then would suggest you one thing that if you pay for it its gonna be worth as free based panel have many bugs which can get your server down so it better to shell out some more money as it will be worth it.

More over many hosting company wont provide you complete support with these free based panels.

If you need reliable dedicated servers come to micfo will help you out.

[TSO]

Galaxy-solutions is offering a free install of ServerCP right now. My server should be setup today - PM me and I will let you know how I like it. I can even setup a demo account for you if you'd like.

[sng]

If you dont have much $$$ to spend on a control panel, i would suggest Direct Admin! You can rent those for around $10-$14 dollars a month or even purchase a lifetime license for $299.00.