How to use/manage hosting with multiple domains? (Stablehost?)
 

I have some experience developing web pages and having them hosted at a hosting service. I'm about to set up a couple of sites and need some advice on what to read to understand what "Unlimited Domains Allowed" means, and more importantly, how to use/manage them.

I currently have a domain registered at GoDaddy. I used to have a site there, but took it down when I got out of the line of business that that site was for. Right now the site Has a stock GoDaddy "Coming Soon" page.

I'm working on two new sites, one for my current business activities, and one for my wife's. Do I understand correctly that if I switch to a hosting service that allows unlimited domains (I'm looking at StableHost based on your recommendation), that I would sign up with them for one domain and then somehow create one or two more?

What I'm thinking of doing is transferring my current domain from GoDaddy to StableHost, and then creating two new domains, one for my current business and one for my wife's.

Is there somewhere I can go to read up on the processes involved?

Should I consider transferring my domain registration to NameCheap and then pointing that at the new StableHost site? Or, is it better to transfer the domain registration to StableHost, too? Part of the newbie unknown here is understanding how that would work.

As the saying goes, sometimes an image/photo is worth 1,000 words. :)

Attachment 3041

When you sign up with a host, they'll give you some nameservers to plugin in at your host. In this case, it's ns1.stablehost.com and ns2.stablehost.com -- which I know, because I use them.

The internet works like this:

• You type in "www.mysite.com" in a browser...
• The computer asks itself "Where is mysite.com?" and first checks the local hosts file. If no answer...
• It asks the router hosts table. If no answer...
• It asks the ISP DNS. If no answer...
• It asks an upstream DNS, eventually arriving at the registrar, which is then asked for the authoritative DNS...
• Here there are two choices: the DNS data is at the registrar itself, or the DNS is at another server...
• Which then uses the data you entered (example: ns1/ns2.stablehost) to specify DNS at the host.
• At the host (Stablehost), cPanel sets up DNS records for http, email, etc.
• And then your site loads in the browser.

Do note that I've simplified the tech, in order for it to be more English and less jargon.


Generally speaking, it's always best to keep domains directly with an accredited registrar. As much as I'll suggest Stablehost as a top-tier shared (and reseller, semi-dedicated and VPS) host, they're not a registrar. Any domains they register go through a reseller. With something as important as a domain name, which can be lost, it's best to skip any and all middlemen. Go directly to a quality registrar. (Keyword = "quality". Godaddy is a terrible registrar. But Namecheap is excellent!)

Inversely, you'll often do best to avoid hosting with a registrar, as that's not their main product. Go directly to a respected host.

This is generally accepted to mean that you can host any number of domains as you wish. For example, at my Stablehost account, I have the following domains:

• myvanityemail.com
• myportfolio.net
• myresume.com
• mysillyblog.net
• myunfinishedstore.com
• my.testsubdomain.org

Note: Remember that your account is still limited by other physical resources: disk space, bandwidth, CPU, RAM. For example, cramming 25 WordPress (PHP CMS) sites into a single $5 hosting account is not going to work very well. LiteSpeed and CloudLinux will throttle you to the account's resource limits, and make everything run slow. So don't confuse "unlimited domains" with an over-expectation of a bottomless pit.

Furthermore, in order to isolate the domains, you need to alter the path when you create an "addon" domain. Otherwise you'll be able to access one site from underneath another one, which is bad. Changing the path fixes it.

For example:

• mymaindomain.com = good
• myotherdomain.com = good
• mymaindomain.com/myotherdomain.com = bad!

By default, cPanel makes the boneheaded choice of putting a new domain folder under "public_html" instead of another non-public folder. Under the account root, I create a dummy folder like "domains", and then put all addons under it. So when I go to setup the path, I delete the "public_html" and replace it with "domains". This is important to do. I realize this may sounds complicated, but it's not. Explaining it takes longer than doing it. And it's somewhat obvious.

Again, a picture can tell 1,000 words:

Attachment 3042

And then understand cPanel makes one domain the main account domain. So it won't be under a "domains" folder, but all the others will be. This means all files uploaded via FTP, if using the main account FTP login (and not the domain login), you'll need to go into the "domains/mydomain.com/public_html" folder, and not simply the main "public_html" folder on the account. Again, it reads more complex than it really is. Your email account is probably more complicated.

Everything else -- email, databases, etc -- is still controlled from the main cPanel interface. It's not moved anywhere.

And finally, Stablehost is an excellent host. You won't go wrong there. :salute:

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The bulk of your advice I understand and appreciate having. Thanks.

I understand that it is better to register my domain names with namecheap, and host them at StableHost. But, I see a chicken and egg issue. I don't see is how to connect a newly registered domain name on namecheap to a site I haven't got yet on StableHost. Nor do I understand how I could start a site on StableHost without first having a domain name registered for it.

Step 1 - You register the domain at Namecheap.com

Step 2 - Then you get hosting at Stablehost, signing up with your domain.

Step 3 - Stablehost gives you nameserver information. At Namecheap, there's a place where you enter the Stablehost nameservers. That connects it to the internet name system. In a few hours, you can type in "yourdomain.com" into a browser, and it'll pull up whatever is at the host (either placeholder pages or your site).

Done.

While this can be done in reverse (buy hosting first, register domain next), it's easier to just buy the domain first.

Not too hard, really. :)

You're right. Not really hard. I've got my domain registered at Namecheap and my site hosted at StableHost. Thanks.

Now, I need to register another domain and add it to my first one. Once I do that will it be possible to create e-mail accounts on the add-on domain? Or can I only create e-mail addresses on the original domain at StableHost?

You can have multiple email accounts (and forwarders, aliases, lists, etc) from multiple domains. Everything is setup from the cPanel mail options area, and when you go to create a new account, the domain is in a drop-down list of available domains. That list is parsed from whatever domains have been added to the account.

Sample from cPanel > Email Accounts page:

Attachment 3060

Now that I think about it, it makes sense that cPanel won't show me something it can't do.

I registered the additional domain at Namecheap and used the Addon Domains feature in cPanel to add it to my first domain. I also followed your advice (above) and created a separate folder under document root to house the additional domains. Now that that is done I can see in cPanel's Email Accounts feature that I can create email addresses for the new domain as well as for my first domain.

Thanks.

I don't want to scare you, but sometimes that's not true. :confused2:

Most of those quirky things are related to email records (SPF, DKIM), or settings in WHM (cPanel's back-end admin area). If you ever use a reseller hosting account, or a VPS with cPanel, you'll probably come across one eventually. And some of those errors can confound even the most experienced admins. I've even seen cPanel staff scratch their heads a few times!

Stablehost, thankfully, has good mastery of cPanel. (I've even asked them questions from time to time.)

If you need anything else, just start a new thread on that topic. I'll be here. :congrats:

@kpmedia

Thanks for your post, but I still do not fully understand.
I have a domain with namecheap "mydomain.com"
And I host it with Stablehost

So I only have one domain that is set as the "main domain"

Now I bought "newdomain.com" at namecheap and I would like to host it as a independend domain at Stablehost.

When I follow the steps that you provided and remove public_html and put domains instead, I still get a subdomain that is "newdomain.mydomain.com"

Although a new set up blog can be reached by "www.newdomain.com" it also can be reached by "newdomain.mydomain.com" clearly showing a connection between the 2 sites.

Is there any way to really seperate the two? Or do I have to buy a second hosting package for that?
But that would mean that Stablehosts "unlimited domains" would mean "unlimited subdomains" ?

Thanks for your help!

Manually delete the subdomain. That's all you have to do. :)

Login to cPanel, go to the Advanced DNS setup.

Attachment 3618

Select your main domain, then you should see the subdomain (and lots of other junk!) in that list.

Attachment 3619

cPanel likes to add lots of garbage to the DNS, and I can't stand it.


Semi-advanced: (though not really)

I go through and delete anything not being used on purpose -- webmail, cpanel, whm, autodiscovery, etc. All that tends to do is give hackers something else to target on your domain.

Yes, cpanel and whm subdomains are removed! I always access the server via the FQDN (fully qualified domain name). For example, I'm on cp24.stablehost.com, so that's what I like to use to access cPanel (cp24.stablehost.com:2082) and webmail (cp24.stablehost.com:2095).


FYI: Excellent choice on host and registrar. :congrats:

As you can see, unlike fake "top 10" splogs, I actually use this host myself. And it's not excellent because I use it, I use it because it's excellent! Host-wise, you're in good hands. :)

Thanks a lot!
That really was easy! :-D