What Exactly is cPanel Web Hosting?

For your info, it's good to know that the majority of the cPanel hosting offers on the present-day web hosting market are supplied by a very insubstantial business segment (as far as annual capital flow is concerned) — hosting resellers. Reseller web hosting is a kind of a small-scale business niche, which generates a vast amount of different web hosting brand names, yet offer exactly the same solutions… mostly cPanel web hosting services. This is bad news for everyone. Why? Due to the fact that at least 98% of the web hosting offerings on the whole website hosting market supply absolutely the same thing: cPanel. There's no diversity and even their price tags are identical. Leaving for those who demand a top web hosting service almost no other web hosting platform/web hosting CP alternative. So, there is just a single fact — out of more than 200,000 hosting trademarks around the world, the non-cPanel based ones represent less than two percent!

Two hundred thousand "hosting vendors", all cPanel-based, yet distinctly labeled

The hosting "variety" and website hosting offerings Google shows to us boil down to just one and the same solution: cPanel, but under 100s of 1000s of different web hosting brand names. Assume you are only an ordinary person who's not very familiar with the web page development processes and the website hosting platforms, which actually power the separate domain names and web portals. Are you prepared to make your hosting decision? Is there any web hosting option you can select? Sure there is, now there are more than two hundred thousand web hosting vendors out there. Then where is the problem? Here's where: more than 98% of these 200k+ unique web hosting brands all over the world will give you exactly the same cPanel website hosting CP and platform, named differently, with precisely the same price tags. That's how immense the diversity on the present hosting market is… full stop!

The hosting LOTTO we are all participating in

Simple arithmetic demonstrates that to pick a non-cPanel based web hosting firm is a gigantic stroke of luck. There is a less than 1 in 50 chance that a thing like that will take place! Less than 1 in 50!

The advantages and disadvantages of the cPanel-based hosting solution

Let's not be unfair with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001–2004 cPanel was trendy and presumably answered all web hosting industry requirements. And despite its shortcomings today, there is a vast pool of experienced users to draw upon for for working around those shortcomings. In short, cPanel can do the job for you if you have only a single domain name to host or you set the bar for performance low.

Weak Point Number 1: A dumb domain name folder configuration

If you have 2 or more domain names, however, be extra careful not to delete fully the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will call each next hosted domain name, which is not the default one: an add-on domain name). The files of the add-on domains are quite simple to remove on the web hosting server, since they all are located into the root folder of the default domain, which is the quite famous public_html folder. Each add-on domain is a folder situated inside the folder of the default domain. Like a sub-folder. Next time try not to delete the files of the add-on domain names, please. Verify for yourself how great cPanel's domain folder setup is:

Are you confused? We certainly are!

Weakness No.2: The same e-mail folder arrangement

The mail folder structure on the hosting server is exactly the same as that of the domains (repeating the same error twice?!).

Negative Point Number 3: A thorough shortage of domain manipulation sections

Do we need to refer to the sheer shortage of a modern domain administration menu — a place where you can: register/transfer/renew/park or manage domains, edit domains' Whois information, secure the Whois information, edit/create nameservers (DNS) and Domain Name System resource records? cPanel does not include any such capability. That could be a considerable downside.

Problem Number 4: Many login locations (minimum two, maximum 3)

What about the need for another login to access the billing, domain, and technical support management interface? That's apart from the cPanel user account login credentials you've been already supplied by the cPanel-based hosting provider. Sometimes, on the basis of the billing tool (specially tailored for cPanel only) the cPanel hosting company is using, the devoted clients can wind up with two additional login places (1: the billing/domain management software platform; 2: the trouble ticket support software), ending up with a total of three login locations (including cPanel).

Predicament No.5: More than 120 web hosting Control Panel areas to get familiar with... fast

cPanel has more than one hundred twenty departments inside the hosting CP. Could it be done better? Draw your own conclusion.