Starting an online project is fairly straightforward. All you need is a good idea, a catchy domain name and a reliable, efficient and robust server provided by a web hosting company. In order to manage all of this, a well rounded control panel platform is needed.
The hosting control panel market has been dominated by cPanel with its wide range of functionality. Even though cPanel has been crowned the king of hosting platforms, one has to pay the price for it. As steep price increases loomed in consistently, web hosting providers had to look out for alternatives due to the drastic price increases coming from cPanel. Direct Admin can be labelled as one of the best alternatives that closely matches cPanel’s functionality. One of the of the most highly identifiable comparisons to make between cPanel and Direct Admin is the price difference. The article will cover in depth why Direct Admin is one of the best alternatives when it comes to a web hosting control platform.
What is Direct Admin?
Direct Admin has been around since 2003, developed by JBMC Software. It is a graphical web-based web hosting control panel that allows one to closely monitor and administrate their website using the control panel. The software can accommodate shared, standalone and reseller web hosting packages. The control panel authorizes server upgrades and management of server tasks such as Apache HTTP server, PHP & MySQL. Similarly to what cPanel supports, Direct Admin runs smoothly under Linux and its major distributions – Cloud Linux, Centos, Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat and much more. However, the control panel doesn’t support Windows-based operating systems.
The benefits of using Direct Admin
1. Affordable subscription plans:
Direct Admin is the most affordable control panel provider amongst the top five competitors. Even though its considerably less than its competitors, Direct Admin does not tone down when it comes to its functionality, reliability or security. Due to Direct Admin’s reasonable prices at a rate of $29pm with bulk discounts included, while compared to cPanel’s $48.50pm with a separate fee of $0.30 per account, it goes without a doubt that Direct Admin claims the title in terms of affordability. Apart from cPanel’s far fetched price range accommodated with frequent price increases, users will be able to save more in terms of hosting with Direct Admin.
2. Easy to use interface:
If simplicity and navigability is a focus of yours when it comes to using an interface – Direct Admin is the one for you. The icons and layout are neatly spaced with colorful splashes that doesn’t bore the eye. The segments are broken up into three branches – Account manager, Email manager and Additional features. The features are highly visible and easy to read that doesn’t take much explanation in order to figure out. If you are accustomed to cPanel’s interface, one can make use of skins.
3. Direct ticketing support system:
If anything were to happen to the control panel itself – which is highly unlikely, one can make contact with Direct Admin’s technicians. Reliability is a key factor when it comes to web hosting. This creates a speedier process in terms of solvency of issues. One can get straight to the source of certain issues if any does arise.
4. Automatic crash recovery:
Direct Admin has a crash recovery process in place. Stability of uptime and service delivery is of crucial importance when using Direct Admin. If anything were to happen after a technical difficulty, the automatic recovery will be of benefit in order to prevent any downtime. Direct Admin doesn’t need much maintenance. It’s easy to expand and maintain.
Direct Admin’s features:
A large focus of Direct Admin is placed on simplicity for the end user. The platform offers most of the essentials to webmasters, resellers and developers to easily manage tasks.
Here’s a few features that are of importance to anyone using Direct Admin:
- Account management:
Account management is important when it comes to your hosting functionalities. You can manage FTP accounts, My SQL databases, and SSL certificates form this section.
- Email manager:
Anything that’s related to your business’ ways of communication, email manager has the relevant functions needed. Apart from providing the relevant functions, Email manager has extended settings that can filter out any spam along the partnership of SpamAssassin.
- Additional features:
Two factor authentication is a widely used security and defence layer that can block malicious attempts or threats. Cron Jobs is accompanied with Direct Admin in order to automate some of your hosting tasks. The account backup is available as well.
All in all, Direct Admin serves as a superior alternative when it comes to finding a reliable well priced and stable control platform that provides true value for your money’s worth.