How does cpanel-based web hosting function?
For your info, it's useful to know that the majority of the cPanel web space hosting offers on today's site hosting market are generated by a quite insignificant business niche (as far as annual cash flow is concerned) named hosting reseller. Reseller web page hosting is a kind of a small business segment, which provides a big amount of different web hosting brand names, yet providing absolutely the same services: mainly cPanel web hosting services. This is bad news for everybody. Why? Owing to the fact that at least 98% of the web page hosting offerings on the whole webspace hosting market furnish one and the very same thing: cPanel. There's no difference at all. Even the cPanel-based hosting prices are similar. Very much alike. Giving those in need of a top web hosting service virtually no other web site hosting platform/web site hosting Control Panel alternative. Thus, there is just one single fact: out of more than two hundred thousand web page hosting brands in the world, the non-cPanel based ones are less than 2 percent! Less than two percent, mind that one...
200k "website hosting distributors", all cPanel-based, yet differently named
The web page hosting "variety" and the web site hosting "offerings" Google presents to us boil down to just one and the same solution: cPanel. Under 100's of 1000's of different web hosting trademarked names. Suppose you are merely an average bloke who's not well aware of (as most of us) with the web page development processes and the web space hosting platforms, which actually power the individual domains and websites . Are you ready to make your web hosting pick? Is there any web site hosting option you can choose? Sure there is, these days there are more than two hundred thousand site hosting firms out there. Formally. Then where is the difficulty? Here's where: more than 98% of these 200,000+ different hosting brands around the world will offer you the same cPanel web page hosting CP and platform, dubbed differently, with literally the same price tags! WOW! That's how immense the diversity on today's web hosting marketplace is... Full stop.
The site hosting LOTTO we are all paricipating in
Simple math demonstrates that to stumble upon a non-cPanel based web hosting supplier is an immense stroke of luck. There is a less than 1 in fifty chance that an event like that will take place! Less than 1 in fifty...
The positive and negative sides of the cPanel-based web space hosting solution
Let's not be unfair with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was modern and possibly fulfilled all website hosting market prerequisites. In short, cPanel can achieve the desired result if you have only a single domain name to host. But, if you have more domains...
Downside No.1: A dumb domain folder structure
If you have 2 or more domains, however, be extra careful not to erase completely the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will refer to each new hosted domain name, which is not the default one: an add-on domain name). The files of the add-on domains are very easy to delete on the web server, since they all are created into the root folder of the default domain name, which is the quite popular public_html folder. Each add-on domain is a folder placed inside the folder of the default domain name. Like a sub-folder. Next time try not to erase the files of the add-on domains, please. Discover for yourself how fabulous cPanel's domain name folder system is:
public_html (here my-default-domain.com is located)public_html/my-family (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-second-domain.com (an add-on domain)
public_html/my-second-wife (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-second-wife.net (an add-on domain)
public_html/my-third-domain.com (an add-on domain name)
public_html/my-third-wife (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-third-wife.net (an add-on domain)
public_html/rebeka (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/rebeka.my-third-wife.net (a sub-domain of an add-on domain)
Are you becoming baffled? We undeniably are!
Problem No.2: The very same electronic mail folder system
The e-mail folder arrangement on the web hosting server is literally the same as that of the domains... Repeating the very same error twice?!? The admin chums strongly enhance their belief in God when dealing with the mail folders on the e-mail server, praying not to fuck things up too gravely.
Weakness Number Three: An absolute shortage of domain manipulation menus
Do we have to refer to the utter absence of a contemporary domain manipulation platform - a location where you can: register/move/renew/park or manage domains, change domains' Whois info, shield the Whois information, modify/create nameservers (DNS) and Domain Name System records? cPanel does not provide such a "contemporary" user interface at all. That's a big drawback. An unforgivable one, we want to point out...
Negative Point Number 4: Numerous login locations (min 2, max 3)
How about the need for an additional login to make use of the invoicing, domain name and technical support administration system? That's beside the cPanel login credentials you've been already given by the cPanel-based website hosting distributor. At times, depending on the invoicing system (especially devised for cPanel solely) the cPanel web hosting provider is using, the devoted clients can wind up with 2 extra login locations (1: the billing/domain management software solution; 2: the ticket support software platform), winding up with an aggregate of three user login places (counting cPanel).
Shortcoming No.5: More than one hundred and twenty site hosting CP departments to pick up... rapidly
cPanel offers to your attention more than 120 menus inside the web site hosting CP. It's a superb idea to get acquainted with each of them. And you'd better become familiar with them fast... That's very arrogant on cPanel's side.
With all due veneration, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel web page hosting corporations:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Remark that one too...