How does cpanel-based web hosting function?
For your information, it's good to be aware that the majority of the cPanel-based web space hosting offerings on the contemporary webspace hosting market are supplied by a very insignificant business niche (as far as annual cash flow is concerned) known as reseller hosting. Reseller site hosting is a type of a small-scale business niche, which furnishes a vast quantity of different web hosting brands, yet providing absolutely the same solutions: mostly cPanel web hosting solutions. This is bad news for everybody. Why? Because at least 98% of the web site hosting offers on the entire hosting market provide literally the same thing: cPanel. There's no diversity at all. Even the cPanel-based web hosting prices are alike. Very similar. Giving those who need a top web hosting service practically no other site hosting platform/web space hosting Control Panel choice. So, there is only one fact: out of more than 200,000 web space hosting brands worldwide, the non-cPanel based ones are less than two percent! Less than 2%, mind that one...
200,000 "webspace hosting companies", all cPanel-based, yet uniquely dubbed
The site hosting "diversity" and the hosting "offers" Google presents to us boil down to merely one thing: cPanel. Under 100's of thousands of different webspace hosting brand names. Assume you are just an ordinary person who's not very familiar with (as the majority of us) with the website making procedures and the site hosting platforms, which actually power the different domains and web pages . Are you prepared to make your web hosting decision? Is there any web hosting variant you can opt for? Of course there is, nowadays there are more than 200,000 website hosting distributors in existence. Officially. Then where is the problem? Here's where: more than 98% of these 200,000+ different webspace hosting brands worldwide will offer you the very same cPanel website hosting CP and platform, labeled differently, with the same price tags! WOW! That's how vast the diversity on today's web site hosting marketplace is... Full stop.
The website hosting LOTTERY we are all part of
Simple mathematics demonstrates that to run into a non-cPanel based web hosting service provider is a colossal strike of luck. There is a less than 1 in fifty chance that a phenomenon like that will occur! Less than one in 50...
The advantages and disadvantages of the cPanel site hosting solution
Let's not be harsh with cPanel. After all, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was trendy and presumably fulfilled all site hosting market preconditions. In short, cPanel can do the trick if you have just a single domain to host. But, if you have more domain names...
Disadvantage No.1: A moronic domain name folder setup
If you have 2 or more domains, however, be very attentive not to erase completely the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will dub each next hosted domain name, which is not the default one: an add-on domain). The files of the add-on domain names are quite simple to delete on the hosting server, because they all are set up into the root folder of the default domain name, which is the very popular public_html folder. Each add-on domain is a folder located inside the folder of the default domain. Like a sub-folder. Next time try not to remove the files of the add-on domain names, please. See for yourself how wonderful cPanel's domain folder configuration 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 name)
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 name)
Are you becoming baffled? We surely are!
Weak Side No.2: The same e-mail folder setup
The email folder configuration on the web server is absolutely the same as that of the domains... Repeating the same error twice?!? The sysadmin boys strongly increase their faith in God when handling the electronic mail folders on the electronic mail server, praying not to botch things up too harshly.
Negative Point Number 3: An absolute deficiency of domain name administration user interfaces
Do we have to cite the total lack of a modern domain manipulation interface - a location where you can: register/migrate/renew/park or administer domains, change domain names' Whois details, shield the Whois details, change/set up nameservers (DNS) and DNS resource records? cPanel does not involve such a "modern" section at all. That's a big downside. An unforgivable one, we want to point out...
Disadvantage Number Four: Numerous login locations (minimum 2, max three)
How about the need for another login to access the billing, domain and tech support management user interface? That's beside the cPanel login credentials you've been already provided by the cPanel-based website hosting service provider. Occasionally, based on the billing platform (especially devised for cPanel only) the cPanel web hosting corporation is availing of, the enthusiastic users can wind up with 2 extra logins (1: the invoicing transaction/domain name administration interface; 2: the ticket support interface), ending up with an aggregate of 3 user login locations (including cPanel).
Downside Number 5: More than a hundred and twenty webspace hosting CP departments to get acquainted with... briskly
cPanel offers to your attention 120+ menus inside the site hosting Control Panel. It's a fine idea to become acquainted with each one of them. And you'd better pick them up swiftly... That's excessively impudent on cPanel's side.
With all due respect, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel web page hosting suppliers:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Mind that one too...