A Big Misconception: Hosting Control Panel vs Managed Platform

January 3, 2011

We hear this a lot: "I've been told that Cpanel is the best, so we're probably going with that - it's only $5 per month and we get lots of bandwidth." At that point we sit back, chuckle, sigh and do the "eye roll". Yes it may be a great tool, and it is, if one is a developer and one needs a control panel that can configure every aspect of a hosting environment.

Hosting

For most people though, it or any other type of hosting control panel is not what they think it is and unless they know what they are doing, they should stay far away from it. It isn't a CMS or a managed platform, it's simply a control panel for a hosting environment. Take this analogy: think of hosting as a big empty room, a hosting control panel, such as Cpanel, is like a control panel for that room, it allows you to turn the lights on and off, turn the power outlets on and off, control the heating, set the alarm etc.