H-Sphere
Encyclopedia
H-Sphere is a web hosting Automation Control Panel for shared web hosting service
s that was developed by Positive Software and acquired by Parallels, Inc.
in September 2007. It is available for Linux
, Unix
and Windows
environments and works with MySQL
, PostgreSQL
and Microsoft SQL Server
databases. H-Sphere has been written in Java
and works with any SQL-compliant database.
Shared web hosting service
A shared web hosting service or virtual hosting service or derive host refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site "sits" on its own partition, or section/place on the server, to keep it separate from other sites...
s that was developed by Positive Software and acquired by Parallels, Inc.
Parallels, Inc.
Parallels, Inc. is a privately held virtualization technology company with offices in the USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan, China, Russia and Ukraine. Parallels' US offices are in Renton, WA.The company has more than 700 employees as of 2010....
in September 2007. It is available for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
environments and works with MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
, PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X. It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software...
and Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
databases. H-Sphere has been written in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
and works with any SQL-compliant database.
Features
- Built-in billBill (payment)A bill or invoice is a document requesting payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of credit card companies, utilities, and other service providers...
ing system with variety of payment methods - various hosting solutions (*nix and Windows, database, load balancingLoad balancing (computing)Load balancing is a computer networking methodology to distribute workload across multiple computers or a computer cluster, network links, central processing units, disk drives, or other resources, to achieve optimal resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid...
, RealMediaRealMediaRealMedia is a proprietary multimedia container format created by RealNetworks. Its extension is ".rm". It is typically used in conjunction with RealVideo and RealAudio and is used for streaming content over the Internet....
, MS ExchangeMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
, SharePoint, FreeVPS, etc.) - electronic mail system with antivirus and antispam filtering and integrated WebMail
- around 30 Payment gatewayPayment gatewayA payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks, or traditional brick and mortar. It is the equivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retail outlets...
s and 6 E-Payment Providers supported - integrated support center
- multiple user tools
- integrated PHP/MySQL applications, both built-in and by means of add-ons
Advantages
- Scalable multiserver cluster: different physical and logical servers (web, mail, DNS etc.) are managed from one control panel. More servers can be added on the fly.
- Multilingual support includes English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil), and several other languages integrated by means of add-ons.
- H-Sphere is recognized for end-user features availability, such as mail system, site building tools, SSL, etc. "Beginning webmasters may find H-Sphere too complicated for their needs. More advanced users, however, appreciate the features and control that H-Sphere offers the end user."
- H-Sphere may give place to other panels as regards its ease of use, but not its online documentation.
- H-Sphere has enlisted a community of online supporters who name it among their favorite control panels.
Disadvantages
- Licenses for H-Sphere accounts are more expensive than those of its competitors. Though, it is noted that H-Sphere licenses are reusable and sold for a cluster, not for a server, as with Ensim Pro.
- Some customers state H-Sphere has too many advanced features and thus is a too complicated solution for small hosting companies, especially as a single server installation. While others note that H-Sphere advantages are more demonstrable on multi-server clusters.
- On a single server mode H-Sphere consumes more server resources than other major single server control panels.
- H-Sphere control panel interface extensively uses JavaScript. Some reviewers regard it as a disadvantage.
- H-Sphere control panel by default works on non-standard 8080 and 8443 ports that may be blocked by client-side firewalls; but this can easily be changed in the configuration.
- H-Sphere does not provide a comprehensive tool for its backup.
- H-Sphere (like cPanel, but unlike Plesk) provides online file source editing, however with H-Sphere only allows editing of .txt or .html files and without line numbers in edit mode, thus limiting PHP and other script editing possibilities.
other webhosting control panel software
- BaifoxBaifoxBaifox is a GPL lightweight control panel used by UNIX server administrators to configure and manage web servers. Whilst primarily tested with Debian, it also works with many other Linux distributions. Baifox is programmed in PHP and is accessible using a HTML and Javascript interface. It stores...
- cPanelCPanelcPanel is a Linux based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site...
- DirectAdminDirectAdminDirectAdmin is a graphical web-based web hosting control panel designed to make administration of websites easier.- System requirements :DirectAdmin is compatible with several versions of Red Hat, Fedora Core, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, FreeBSD, Ubuntu and Debian.The following specifications...
- Hosting ControllerHosting ControllerHosting Controller or Hosting Controller Automation Solution is a commercial automation hosting program created by Advanced Communications of Los Angeles, California USA...
- ispCPIspCPispCP is an open source project founded to build a Multi Server Control and Administration Panel. This Control Panel is usable by any Internet Service Provider ....
- ISPConfigISPConfigISPConfig is an open source hosting control panel for Linux. ISPConfig is licensed under BSD license. ISPConfig simplifies the complicated details of setting up DNS, multiple unique domain name websites on one physical server box, and e-mail accounts for multiple users on those websites.Setting up...
- KloxoKloxoKloxo is a free, opensource web hosting control panel for the Red Hat and CentOS Linux distributions.Kloxo allows the host administrators to run a combination of lighttpd or Apache with djbdns or bind, and provides a graphical interface to switch between these programs without losing data...
- PleskPleskThe Parallels Plesk Panel software package is a commercial web hosting automation program. Originally released under the U.S. company Plesk Inc. and designed in Novosibirsk, Russia, Plesk was acquired by SWSoft in July 2003...
- SysCPSysCPSysCP is a software for administration of webservers based on and written in PHP and MySQL. It offers a web-based front end for customers of internet service providers, enabling them to manage their email addresses, domains and databases.The project was started in autumn 2003 by Florian Lippert...
- WebminWebminWebmin is a web-based system configuration tool for Unix-like systems, although recent versions can also be installed and run on Windows. With it, it is possible to configure operating system internals, such as users, disk quotas, services or configuration files, as well as modify and control open...
See also
- Parallels, the maintainers of H-Sphere
- Web hosting control panel
- Comparison of web hosting control panelsComparison of web hosting control panelsThe following tables compare general and technical information for a variety of web hosting control panel software packages.- Licence and Operating system support:- Remote access :...