# Poll: Importance of Control Panels



## LimestoneNetworks (Apr 17, 2015)

Good morning from Dallas vpsBoard community. I invite you to take part in my poll concerning control panels. Have a great weekend!


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## Mayers (Apr 17, 2015)

The control panel needs to be user friendly. I've given providers with custom panels a chance and 99% of the time I've found them hard to use, it's to the point that I'll leave them.

Example: Dreamhost's control panel, IMO sucks. I never personally had an account with them but I've gotten a number of customers from them and when trying to use the control panel I've found it to be a headache.

User friendly is the key with a control panel for me. So yes it can moderately effect if I buy from that company.


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## drmike (Apr 17, 2015)

I hate Solus at this point.

It's barebones, functional, yes.  But it's dated, missing features.  Biggest annoyance would be the console portion when something does break and the whole Java dependency.  So it's just broken for me who refuses to load said malware vectors.

Important to have features, modern ones, support for remote control via browser functions vs. plugins.  

So, yes, I like custom panels, all of them.


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## MannDude (Apr 17, 2015)

Most of the providers I use have a custom control panel. BuyVM, SecureDragon, AnyNode, and DigitalOcean. At this point, I go out of my way to try something new.


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## DomainBop (Apr 17, 2015)

LimestoneNetworks said:


> Good morning from Dallas vpsBoard community. I invite you to take part in my poll concerning control panels. Have a great weekend!


Clarification on importance of control panels for what: dedicated, VPS, shared?

Dedicated: my needs are simple but if they're not met it increases the likelihood I'll choose a competitor: remote reboot is a must, automated rDNS and remote OS installs, vKVM/some type of console,  aren't 100% requirements but are definitely preferred (and I can't think of the last time I used a provider who didn't offer them),

VPS:  points deducted for SolusVM and its limited feature  set at this point.  My needs, and preferences lately are better met by OpenStack, CloudStack,  even OnApp or DO/Vultr type panels and the features they typically offer


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## LimestoneNetworks (Apr 17, 2015)

> Clarification on importance of control panels for what: dedicated, VPS, shared?


Thanks for your question. Cloud and dedicated to be more precise.


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## drmike (Apr 17, 2015)

LimestoneNetworks said:


> Thanks for your question. Cloud and dedicated to be more precise.


Not 'cloud'.....  Hype hype in my pipe, smoking, dope... clouds.  For that, yes, need something for software.

Dedicated side there is a decent panel / provisioning software .... https://www.noc-ps.com/


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## RLT (Apr 17, 2015)

Considering how seldom I use the control panel. I really don't much care. As long as it works im happy


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## souen (Apr 17, 2015)

Not much, as long as it loads quickly and has basic features covered (reinstall, network/disk/cpu stats, ipv6 assignment, rDNS). No particular preference for stock or custom panel, though I like CPs with an organised/uncluttered layout and few hierarchies (no need to click 3+ links to get to a particular setting/info display).


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## icy (Apr 18, 2015)

I would consider control panels to be very important for both the customer and server administrator. Having remote control of your virtual server is essential, as we can make mistakes to the network or software configurations in the OS. They are also a point of monitoring, to track abuse, bandwidth and space usage, IP assignments and anything else.

If there was no ideal control panel, everything would need to be done manually and will be too much of a hassle for the administrator and customer.

As long as the basic functions are there, the control panel would be suitable for most hosting start-ups. Having an excellent interface and innovative features is a bonus!


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## raindog308 (Apr 21, 2015)

DomainBop said:


> Clarification on importance of control panels for what: dedicated, VPS, shared?


My favorite shared hosting panel is non-standard: Dreamhost's.  It's in-house developed.  Easiest i've used.

Least favorite: cPanel.  Ugly.  Poorly designed with the way it works.  But I know it well and at the end of the day who spends much time in the panel anyway.


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