VPS hosting is great for people who want to run their site privately with more storage or even have multiple websites.
A control panel is a no-brainer when it comes to hosting, especially if it’s a larger website or if there are many of them. Control panels make it easier to keep track of and manage sites. Without one, the user would have to have the technical skills and the time to handle their server or servers.
cPanel is a popular control panel. WHM, or WebHost Manager, is a control panel specifically used to manage multiple hosting accounts.
You’re wondering, well, do I really need both?
Continue reading to find out!
cPanel’s popularity clearly shows it’s reliable and has quality. Released in 1996 by Linux OS, it’s a program with experience, and it’s worked on by experts. Support is there for users 24/7 from these experts and a large number of fellow users.
The management system has many features and advantages.
Users can manage account files, back up account information, add domains and sub-domains, set up email services and a spam filter, install applications, monitor traffic, and other statistics, create and manage databases, and change DNS records for the site’s domain, set up directories, access restrictions, and configure CDNs.
The system is easy to install and has an easy-to-use interface that ranges from simple to complex actions, such as system backups.
cPanel leaves room for other additions to your site – it only takes up 20GB and uses 512MB of RAM to run on Linux OS.
It’s also secure, with an antivirus program built in to protect all of the managing features. You can install a program like ModSecurity to increase the security of your website.
Anyone with a hosting server can get cPanel and it works on all web browsers (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.), making it universal. Users can transfer their site to another server without any issues.
Although cPanel has many advantages, these will always come with some disadvantages.
A rather time-consuming con is that users have to get permission to access all of cPanel’s files. To scoot around this, you can change the settings and set-up a password in order to gain access.
The system has security, but it’s still pretty easy for hackers to get in. The control panel is directly connected with Linux OS, so hackers can sneak in through a third party.
It can be pricey for someone just starting their website, or small businesses. It’s definitely more affordable for larger businesses and individuals with growing sites.
The first major difference between these two management systems is that WHM is only available for dedicated servers and VPS.
The next is that WHM is great for reseller services because it allows a client to have separate cPanel accounts, and you, who would be the root user, would have the power to oversee every account from WHM.
With WHM VPS, the root user can set up the server like a dedicated server. The user has the ability to make a hostname, make a mail server to regularly send out emails to resellers, and give out IP addresses and nameservers.
They can also configure hosting packages like a web host running a shared hosting server. They create client accounts and set a limit to each one’s resources so everyone can have a part of the server to work with.
Other features of WHM include: managing restrictions of cPanels, adding server domains, changing DNS records, system and control panel maintenance, and having access to clients’ account without needing the login information.
You can suspend, delete, or change ownership of an account if need be.
On VPS, users apply WHM to easily configure Apache and handle HTTP requests, change PHP handler setup and version, enable or disable suEXEC, administer the SSL/TLS cipher list for Web Disk, a cPanel feature, and add or take down SSL certificates.
The root user has ease of management over multiple server accounts, and any problems with the server are dealt with by the hosting provider so you can give all of your attention to managing and growing your site.
Selling hosting packages using WHM ensures privacy and security for you and the clients.
Clients can only see their assigned cPanel because each one is a completely different account. If a client gets hacked, it will only affect that one account, not the entire system.
Other security features: a spam filter, virus detector, cleaning malware, and security inspections. WHM also allows you to backup your site content.
The price of WHM is worth it because not only is it easier to run a website, but any problems that would have caused you to hire experts are handled by the hosting provider at no extra cost.
The root user has main access to WHM. However, they still don’t have complete control over the management system. This is mostly to prevent a user from deciding to reconfigure something and messing it up, which would create unwanted issues that hinder important site or account management.
Support is always there for a user. They can call or email any time or day to get the help they need.
Both cPanel and WHM have features that make managing sites easy. Putting them together makes running multiple sites easy, whether you have more than one of your own website or if you have clients on the same server.
It’s much more simple to manage everything – and actually safer – to use WHM to create multiple cPanel accounts for each client or site.
Check out our site or contact us for more information on VPS hosting plans.