How does cpanel-based web hosting function?
For your information, it's good to know that the majority of the cPanel web hosting offers on today's hosting market are generated by a very unsubstantial business segment (as far as yearly money flow is concerned) named reseller hosting. Reseller web hosting is a kind of a small-size marketing niche, which supplies an immense quantity of different web hosting trademarks, yet furnishing the very same solutions: mostly cPanel web hosting services. This is bad news for everyone. Why? Because of the fact that at least ninety eight percent of the hosting offers on the whole hosting marketplace provide one and the same thing: cPanel. There's no difference at all. Even the cPanel website hosting prices are alike. Very much alike. Leaving for those who need a top web hosting service practically no other web page hosting platform/hosting Control Panel option. So, there is just a single fact: out of more than 200,000 web hosting brand names all over the world, the non-cPanel based ones are less than 2%! Less than 2 percent, note that one...
200,000 "website hosting distributors", all cPanel-based, yet diversely branded
The web space hosting "variety" and the webspace hosting "offerings" Google reveals to us boil down to just one and the same thing: cPanel. Under 100's of thousands of different website hosting trademarked names. Suppose you are only a regular guy who's not very well acquainted with (as most of us) with the web page making procedures and the hosting platforms, which in fact power the various domain names and web sites . Are you prepared to make your web hosting pick? Is there any webspace hosting variant you can opt for? Of course there is, these days there are more than 200k web hosting service providers out there. Officially. Then where is the problem? Here's where: more than 98 percent of these 200k+ unique webspace hosting brand names in the world will give you exactly the same cPanel hosting CP and platform, named differently, with literally the same price tags! WOW! That's how immense the variety on the present-day hosting marketplace is... Full stop.
The hosting LOTTERY we are all part of
Simple mathematics demonstrates that to run into a non-cPanel based web hosting corporation is a big strike of luck. There is a less than one in 50 chance that an event like that will happen! Less than 1 in fifty...
The positive and negative sides of the cPanel web space hosting solution
Let's not be relentless with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was trendy and perhaps answered all web site hosting market demands. In brief, cPanel can do the trick if you have just one single domain name to host. But, if you have more domain names...
Weak Point Number 1: An imbecilic domain name folder arrangement
If you have two or more domains, however, be extra careful not to delete completely the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will call each new hosted domain name, which is not the default one: an add-on domain name). The files of the add-on domain names are very simple to erase on the server, because they all are situated into the root folder of the default domain name, which is the quite famous 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 try not to delete the files of the add-on domains, please. Decide for yourself how fantastic cPanel's domain 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 name)
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 nonplussed? We positively are!
Weakness Number Two: The very same electronic mail folder structure
The email folder structure on the hosting server is absolutely the same as that of the domains... Repeating the same mistake twice?!? The admin chums firmly reinforce their belief in God when handling the e-mail folders on the e-mail server, praying not to botch things up too seriously.
Disadvantage Number Three: A total shortage of domain name manipulation user interfaces
Do we need to refer to the entire lack of a modern domain management interface - a place where you can: register/migrate/renew/park or manage domains, alter domains' Whois info, shield the Whois information, change/set up name servers (DNS) and Domain Name System records? cPanel does not involve such a "contemporary" interface at all. That's a huge shortcoming. An unforgettable one, we would like to point out...
Negative Aspect Number 4: Multiple login places (min two, max 3)
How about the demand for another login to use the invoicing transaction, domain and technical support management user interface? That's beside the cPanel account login credentials you've been already provided by the cPanel web hosting distributor. Now and then, depending on the invoicing platform (especially devised for cPanel exclusively) the cPanel web hosting company is utilizing, the zealous users can end up with two extra login locations (1: the billing/domain name management menu; 2: the ticket support software), ending up with an aggregate of three login places (counting cPanel).
Negative Point No.5: More than 120 web page hosting Control Panel menus to learn... quickly
cPanel presents for your consideration more than 120 menus inside the website hosting Control Panel. It's a remarkable idea to become familiar with each of them. And you'd better get familiar with them briskly... That's inordinately impudent on cPanel's side.
With all due respect, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel website hosting corporations:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Remark that one as well...