DiscountASP.NET beta launches a control panel ASP.NET web service API enabling customers to develop their own applications.

DiscountASP.NET, a provider of ASP and SQL database hosting, today announced the open control panel initiative.

To support this initiative, DiscountASP.NET beta launches a control panel ASP.NET web service API that enables customers to develop their own applications that interact with their hosting account management.

According to the company, the goal of the open control panel initiative is to offer an open hosting system framework, which provides customers with maximum control over their hosting presence management. To support this initiative, DiscountASP.NET introduces the control panel API, a standards-based ASP.NET web service API library which customers can use to develop their own web, desktop or mobile applications that interface directly with their web hosting account.

In this Phase I API beta launch, DiscountASP.NET offers methods to display news and resource usage, view and modify email settings. It also allows to manage some aspects of Internet Information Services, such as recycling the application pool. DiscountASP.NET customers activate access to the API through their control panel and are assigned a unique Authentication Key. A Sandbox Key is also provided so that customers can test their applications without the risk of making changes to their hosting account.

"We believe the Open Control Panel Initiative and our control panel API represent a major step toward a next-generation hosting experience, our customers can move beyond accepting hosting management using a host-defined web-based control panel. Customers now have a choice to use the control panel as a hosted application product or manage their hosting presence through web services and customized user-driven solutions," said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing, DiscountASP.NET.