How does cpanel-based website hosting function?
For your info, it's good to know that most of the cPanel-based site hosting offers on the current hosting market are generated by a very insignificant business niche (as far as annual cash flow is concerned) known as reseller hosting. Reseller webspace hosting is a kind of a small-sized business segment, which generates an immense number of different web hosting brands, yet furnishing strictly the same solutions: chiefly cPanel web hosting solutions. This is bad news for everybody. Why? Owing to the fact that at least ninety eight percent of the web page hosting offers on the whole web site hosting marketplace offer one and the same thing: cPanel. There's no difference at all. Even the cPanel-based web space hosting price tags are alike. Very much alike. Giving those who need a top web hosting service virtually no other site hosting platform/hosting Control Panel alternative. So, there is simply one fact: out of more than 200k webspace hosting brand names around the world, the non-cPanel based ones are less than 2, mark that one...
200k "site hosting companies", all cPanel-based, yet distinctly dubbed
The hosting "variety" and the site hosting "offers" Google shows to all of us come down to just one solution: cPanel. Under 100's of 1000's of different webspace hosting trademarked names. Imagine you are merely a regular fellow who's not very well aware of (as most of us) with the site creation processes and the web space hosting platforms, which in fact power the individual domains and websites . Are you ready to make your hosting decision? Is there any web hosting alternative you can select? Sure there is, at present there are more than 200k webspace hosting companies out there. Officially. Then where is the difficulty? Here's where: more than 98 percent of these 200k+ different site hosting brands in the world will offer you literally the same cPanel CP and platform, named in a different way, with absolutely the same price tags! WOW! That's how great the assortment on the current site hosting marketplace is... Period.
The web site hosting LOTTO we are all paricipating in
Simple mathematics demonstrates that to come across a non-cPanel based web hosting firm is a gigantic stroke of luck. There is a less than 1 in fifty chance that a thing like that will take place! Less than 1 in fifty...
The positive and negative sides of the cPanel web site hosting solution
Let's not be relentless with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was trendy and presumably answered most website hosting market requirements. In short, cPanel can do the job for you if you have only one domain to host. But, if you have more domains...
Problem Number One: An imbecilic domain name folder structure
If you have two or more domains, however, be ultra cautious not to delete 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). The files of the add-on domain names are quite easy to remove on the web hosting server, since they all are located into the root folder of the default domain, which is the very well known public_html folder. Each add-on domain name is a folder placed inside the folder of the default domain. Like a sub-folder. Next time attempt not to delete the files of the add-on domains, please. Verify for yourself how excellent cPanel's domain folder arrangement is:
public_html (here my-default-domain.com is situated)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 name)
public_html/my-third-domain.com (an add-on domain)
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 growing disorientated? We undoubtedly are!
Weak Side No.2: The same mail folder structure
The e-mail folder structure on the web hosting server is exactly the same as that of the domain names... Making the very same mistake twice?!? The admin boys firmly strengthen their belief in God when coping with the electronic mail folders on the email server, hoping not to muck things up too fatally.
Negative Aspect Number Three: A complete shortage of domain name management GUIs
Do we have to cite the absolute deficiency of a modern domain name administration interface - a location where you can: register/transfer/renew/park or manage domains, change domains' Whois details, protect the Whois info, modify/set up nameservers (DNS) and Domain Name System records? cPanel does not offer such a "modern" menu at all. That's a vast shortcoming. An unforgivable one, we wish to point out...
Drawback No.4: Many login locations (min 2, max three)
How about the demand for an extra login to avail of the invoice transaction, domain name and technical support administration software? That's apart from the cPanel account login credentials you've been already supplied by the cPanel web space hosting provider. Sometimes, depending on the invoicing transaction platform (especially built for cPanel exclusively) the cPanel web hosting company is availing of, the ardent users can end up with 2 additional login places (1: the billing transaction/domain name administration GUI; 2: the trouble ticket support section), winding up with a total of three login locations (counting cPanel).
Weak Point Number 5: 120+ web site hosting Control Panel departments to become familiar with... quickly
cPanel offers for your consideration more than 120 menus inside the website hosting Control Panel. It's a great idea to learn each and every one of them. And you'd better become familiar with them briskly... That's very impudent on cPanel's side.
With all due appreciation, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel web site hosting suppliers:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Note that one as well...