Thinking of setting up my windows 2003 server with either cpanel or plesk. I would like to get your feedback on which one is better for windows 2003, or get your feedback if you've tried both? Also, can majordomo get installed on a windows server or is this only for linux?

Well, Cpanel don't work on Windows so that just leaves you with 'Plesk' based on your choices But seriously, you could consider 'Helm' which is a pure Windows based Control Panel. Plesk is like a Linux based Control Panel and they try so hard trying to replicate it for Windows but it is really still very Linux in design.

Majordomo is a mailing list system. Well, if you install Mail Enable, you do have something in it which pretty much does what it do.

I agree with Eddy there . I found Helm to be the best control panel for Windows.

Got my own licence and still waiting new DC's deals to test it !...

I beleiev the new dc is open soon (?) so you should be able to start getting to work with Helm. I've even coming over to TP next week for a quick visit and tour of the new DC so maybe I'll see your new server sitting there on the rack.

What I should do is get lots of Helm stickers made up to go on the server running Helm so I can tell which servers are which ;-)

Nice idea ! . . .

I currently have ensim 4.0 running on fedora core. I wanted to get something for windows; because I still get people asking me for windows hosting.

I wish they had ensim; because I'm just familar with it, but at the same time, I've had my share of issues with upgrades. I noticed with Plesk w/power pack, it appears to have a lot of cool features. I heard about the upgrade issues it has. I haven't seen any issues with Plesk on a clean install.

I checked out Helm, but it seems to have very few features. Maybe I'm wrong, but just navigating around, I noticed it has a lot less features.

I take it, the people that like Helm have tried other control panels and had bad experiences and with Helm, it's been less of a headache? I noticed it's much cheaper per month to get Helm compared to the other control panels, but again, it doesn't have the same features. With ensim, the thing I liked about it, is that people can install phpbb forums and other stuff much easier. Before getting powertools with ensim, it was a nightmare trying to tell people to take their time and view the readme with these picture galleries, forums, and other 3rd party products.

Being about to integrate things like phpBB, photo gallerys, etc. is something we're working on try get added to Helm as soon as we can. Allthough, it's no excuse, things are a little harder with Helm because of it's true multi-server foundation.

As for the price, Helm isn't cheaper because of a lack of feature. In fact until just a few weeks ago it was the most expensive option. Since then however, I've been working with SM to get the price of Helm down to give a better option of a windows control panel.

I actually bought Ensim for one of my Windows server but in the end decided to do everything by end. But yeah, you could get your own license if you want. Cheaper that way really.

[ot]
Congratulations on creating thread 666 in this forum.
[/ot]

I must say, I'm really disappointed with plesk. As mentioned before, I have always used Ensim and Linux. I wanted to get a good control panel for windows; because I'm always getting asked about windows hosting.

I created a ticket so tech support can reload Windows 2003 and install Plesk. it's been one nightmare after another. As soon as the installation was done, I tried to log on, and noticed the panel was slow as hell. I was also getting a bunch of error messages when I clicked on different links. After all the issues I had, I was told by one of the Rep's that Plesk 7.5.1 had a speed issue and would not be corrected until 7.5.2. Well, after 7.5.2 came out, plesk was upgraded and even though the speed issue was gone, I was still getting a much of error messages when clicking on 30% of links on the admin control panel.

I was thinking of trying out Helm, but after doing more navigation on their site I realized they don't have email setup like Plesk, cpanel, and Ensim? I usually see different webmail options, as well as adding additional users. Maybe I overlooked something, but you have to purchase 3rd party software for this?

What other control panels are there for windows and you don't have to purchase additional 3rd party software to get the same features as Ensim and Plesk?

What do you mean by "email setup?" If you're referring to the inclusion of a mail server, then no, Helm does not install any of the software it interfaces with. That's your job. There's too many different setups allowed by the software Helm supports, so it's easier to provide an installer for the control panel, alone, and leave the rest of the software installation up to the admin. If you get a leased license from ThePlanet, there are several admins on this forum that can configure the server for you. If you purchase it from WHA, they will provide you with free installation.

If you were talking about setting up email addresses, Helm does do that.

If you are used to Ensim, you could always purchase a license for it externally and have it installed on your server. That's what I did several years ago. Although it does not come with a mail server for Windows but it can easily integrate with Mail Enable or Mail Enable Pro. There is an integator which you need to run but it is very easy as with any windows server. It is really simple.

I have spent the entire day with tech support and must say I'm just totally drained. I will admit, they have tried hard to get some of these pesk issues resolved, but the more I use this software, the more upset I get.

I created a domain on plesk and use a shared ip address. I tried to connect via ws_ftp and it doesn't connect. I guess with plesk, even though you create a domain and it says FTP/Frontpage username, I'm thinking that means you can use any ftp program like ws_ftp or frontpage. I guess not; because now I have to create a web user. I still create this web user and still unsuccessful on connecting via ws_ftp.

I know it's a shared ip, but I shouldn't have to wait for the domain to propagate if I'm using the IP address as the HOST. With Ensim, as soon as I create a domain, the username, email and everything is created in one shot. With Plesk it's not. With Ensim, I just use the email address as the username for the name based accounts and with ip based, just the username.

This is my first time with windows os for web hosting. I have linux boxes with ensim, so it's very simple to create domains and upload files. Not sure if there is something different I have to do with plesk and windows if I'm using ws_ftp. The other thing, PLESK is so...... freaking slow to navigate. lol. sorry, it's late and haven't gotten nowhere. I'm at the point of just saying the hell with windows and have TP reload redhat.

Don't let this put you off hosting on Windows. I think it's just a case of choosing software that's actually designed for windows hosting rather than a product that's been developed by a company that specalise in linux and is basically a linux point running on windows.