Category Archives: Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting vs Addon Domains - cPanel

Reseller Web Hosting – Reseller Hosting vs cPanel Addon Domains

When to choose reseller hosting over addon domains

Reseller web hosting and shared web hosting plans often include cPanel for managing your websites & domains. When you have multiple domains, you must decide on whether reseller hosting or a shared web hosting plan is a better fit.

 

Reseller Web Hosting

  • master dashboard to control multiple cPanel accounts
  • ability to create multiple cPanel accounts
  • each cPanel account has a separate login; username & password
  • resources are allocated to each cPanel (memory, cpu, processes etc)

Shared Web Hosting

  • single cPanel login
  • uses “addon domains” (directories) for additional domains
  • no separate login for websites
  • resources are shared among all websites on the account

 

When do we recommend using a reseller web hosting plan?

If you have more than a few domains that you’d like to host, we recommend a reseller hosting plan to keep each domain isolated via their own cPanel account. The two biggest issues with addon domains are the use of resources such as memory, cpu & processes and then security concerns. Addon domains within cPanel are not inherently insecure, but since the directories reside under the same system user, there is no isolation between them. Unfortunately, this means if for example, a WordPress website becomes compromised, it can potentially spread to other addon domains.

While the addon domains & security does pose a risk to other websites residing on the same hosting plan, we do not see a higher ratio of compromised websites simply due to the fact that addon domains are being used. As long as the website(s) being hosted on the addon domains (and parent cPanel account) are properly secured, we see no issues with using addon domains.

 

Are you a web agency or providing website hosting services to customers?

If you’re providing website hosting services to customers or are hosting a large number of websites (from a web agency for example), we most definitely recommend using a reseller hosting account over a shared account with addon domains. There’s a few reasons for this, the main three being security, resources & accessibility. Having each domain on its own cPanel means that there is also a separate login.

You certainly would not want to have addon domains in this case as you would have to provide the same username/password to each customer in order for them to access anything within cPanel (which we HIGHLY do not recommend). Additionally, keeping each customer isolated from one another will ensure that in the event one site becomes compromised, it does not affect another customer site.

Lastly, resources are assigned per cPanel account, so having each website on its own cPanel means the resources are not being shared by any other account/website except for what resides on that cPanel account.

With addon domains (on a single shared web hosting account), if your cPanel account has 1GB of RAM available to it and you have 10 domains/websites via addon domains, all 10 of those websites are going to have to share that 1GB of RAM. With busy websites, this means contention, each website will fight one another for resources.

 

When to use addon domains?

If you have a shared web hosting account and would like to simply add a few personal or hobby type sites, we most definitely recommend addon domains for this. The concept of addon domains from cPanel is good however, when the websites being hosted using addon domains are customer websites or are busy sites, we don’t recommend using addon domains. Addon domains are another option that can be used for staging sites also, but we recommend using subdomains for that.

 

Are your sites income based or monetized sites?

If your websites are generating any type of income, we recommend that you at least host them on separate accounts. This could be a reseller hosting plan OR separate shared hosting plans if you don’t plan to add more sites over time. Shared hosting accounts can always be moved into a reseller account down the road if you add more accounts.

The biggest reasons we recommend multiple shared hosting cPanel accounts or a reseller account when you have multiple sites that are monetized is both performance and security.

If one of your monetized sites becomes compromised (let’s say a WordPress exploit from a bad plugin) and it spreads to your other site (via an addon domain), there’s a possibility that the platform being used for monetizing the site could pull the site from their platform. In instances like this, we feel the risk is simply too high and increases the possibility that the issue could interfere with the income being generated.

shared-semidedicated-reseller-vps

What are the Differences Between Shared, Semi-Dedicated, Reseller and VPS Hosting?

There are many types of web hosting plans offered by hosting providers. When you add in the marketing terminology, it can become very confusing and difficult to compare. In this information blog post, we’ll try to help you better understand the various types of hosting services so you can make an educated decision based on your web hosting needs.

  • Shared
    • Designed for small to medium websites.
    • Can have multiple websites under one account.
    • If one site is compromised the other sites can become compromised.
  • Semi-dedicated
    • Designed for larger websites.
    • Can be more cost and time effective than a Virtual Private Server (VPS). You manage your website and the provider manages the OS (patching, administration, security, etc.).
    • If one site is compromised, the other sites can become compromised.
  • Reseller
    • Designed for multiple websites owned by different people or businesses.
    • Multiple accounts vs. one account with Shared Hosting.
    • If one website under that account is compromised other websites under the other accounts will not be.
  • Virtual Private Server (VPS)
    • Designed for any size website or application where isolation, OS and application customization, or corporate policy dictates.
    • Can scale well beyond the resource limits of other hosting types.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting plans are “single user” plans designed for single website applications. This is the preferred choice for a small business with a single website or an individual looking to host their portfolio site, blog site, forum, or to start learning how to do website development.

Shared hosting plans can also host multiple websites using what’s called “addon domains.” These are simply sub-directories under the main account with DNS maps that point to them. While hosting multiple sites on a single account may sound like a good option, there are security and performance issues that can arise:

  • Security: Let’s say you have a shared hosting account with 10 addon domains and one of them was to get hacked. Now the hacker has access to all the websites residing on this account.
  • Performance: Each account (cPanel account or shared account) is allocated a certain amount of resources (memory, CPU and disk IO). Every additional website added to this single hosting account consumes more of the finite resources that are available. As more websites are added, they start to compete against each other for memory, CPU and disk IO (commonly called contention) which ultimately will slow down all of the websites hosted on the account.

If you plan to host multiple websites, a Reseller account will be the better choice.

Semi-dedicated Hosting

Semi-dedicated hosting is on the same platform as Shared Hosting but includes additional resources tailored for large, high-traffic, or resource-intensive websites and applications. Semi-dedicated plans are a great alternative to a Virtual Private Server (VPS) when:

  • you don’t need isolation, OS and application customization, or have corporate policy mandates.
  • you don’t have the experience or staff to administer, patch and secure your own VPS.

If you’ve outgrown Shared Hosting, consider Semi-dedicated before moving to a VPS.  

Reseller Hosting

A Reseller account is not just for those interested in reselling web hosting. Its primary function is to properly partition or separate multiple hosted websites into their own “containers.” 

Reseller hosting is similar to shared hosting with one major difference: You have a dashboard to manage multiple accounts. This means you can create multiple “shared” style hosting plans and use a single dashboard (WHM) to manage them. As additional websites or customers are added, each can be assigned to its own cPanel account. Each account has its own unique login, username and password, email accounts, and most importantly, its own resources. This ensures each site is more secure and has access to its memory, CPU and disk IO.

In addition to simply using a Reseller plan for hosting multiple websites, many hosting resellers utilize reseller plans from a parent provider such as VeeroTech to sell web hosting to their clients. You can utilize the included billing software (WHMCS) to automatically bill your clients, provide a support desk, and provision hosting accounts from automated ordering.

Reseller hosting accounts are also great for web designers, development firms, and companies that need to host multiple website accounts.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

A Virtual Private Server is similar to a physical server except that it is virtual. We utilize very powerful datacenter-grade physical servers that host multiple virtual servers on high speed RAID 10 SSD disk arrays with many disks for safety and performance. A VPS is a solution for those who require one or more of the following:

  • Custom application or application stacks
  • Custom scripts
  • Specialized server settings
  • Larger amounts of resources
  • Company policies/guidelines that require isolation

VeeroTech offers three types of VPS solutions:

A fully managed VPS is a virtual server that is fully managed by our staff. Our engineers monitor, tune and maintain each VPS and respond to any issues that may arise. We handle all of the server-side tasks, daily backups, as well as customer requests that may need to be completed. The most common operating systems deployed on a VPS are flavors of Linux like CentOS and Ubuntu. A managed VPS is ideal for those who require an isolated solution or larger amounts of dedicated resources but don’t want the hassle of managing a server. Our managed VPS’s also include a licensed version of cPanel & WHM, firewall, Softaculous script installer, R1Soft backups & more.

A self-managed VPS (also known as unmanaged, droplet, root access, or instance) is managed by you. The hosting provider ensures only the virtual server is online, not the OS. It also does not include backups, control panels or any type of maintenance. A self-managed VPS is a good solution for those who have the expertise and resources to manage, secure, and maintain their own servers.

Although this is a cheaper option, it can quickly become compromised or break due to the knowledge required to maintain and secure the server. If you’re running a business, this is an important factor to consider.

A storage or backup VPS is a great alternative to other “cloud storage” options because, not only is it your data, it is on your server. This provides an extra layer of security, privacy, and management. 

Starting with a Shared, Semi-dedicated or Reseller Hosting plan can be a more cost-effective solution to handle most needs, unless yours require a VPS. If you are still unsure which option to choose, feel free to ask us.