More About Web Hosting Differences - 2 of 3
by Mitch Keeler

Yesterday I told you of the exciting world of virtual Web hosting. After all the thankful E-mails and pumpkin pie recipes I received, I do not know if I can top myself. Honestly the world of Web hosting is not that confusing to learn about.

You just have to get some of the basic knowledge down then the world will open up to you with new possibilities and uncharted horizons. After having a virtual Web hosting plan for a while, you might realize you want to expand into a reseller account. What is a Web hosting reseller account?

Well, let's go back to the pumpkin pie reference from yesterday's article. As you remember we found out that the pieces of the pumpkin pie are much like the separate virtual Web hosting accounts on a server. The same could be said for reseller accounts.

One difference is that reseller accounts are much larger than virtual Web hosting accounts. Where the average virtual Web hosting account could be anywhere between 5GB to 50GB; a reseller account is more along the lines of 25GB to 60GB. Why the size difference?

The thing that makes a reseller account a reseller account is the ability to "resell" the space you have purchased in the account to somebody else. Think of it as taking your piece of pie out on the street, selling parts of it to friends, family or strangers. You in effect become your own smaller Web hosting company.

There is no rule saying that you have to resell your account space. You could divide it up and give it to several people you know who need the Web hosting space. You could also use it to host several of your own Web sites. There are many different possibilities for your Web hosting reseller account.

How is this possible though? Well, where you could not divide up your virtual Web hosting account, you can divide your reseller account. After signing up, your Web host will provide you with a large control panel manager. The most popular one of these is known simply as Web Host Manager (or WHOM). Inside this you will be able to perform several administrative tasks such as: edit DNS information, edit packages, create or terminate accounts, and more.

The most useful function you will gain though is the ability to create smaller virtual Web hosting accounts inside your reseller account. Then you can assign each virtual account you create with a control panel. One of the best known control panels out there today is cPanel. Your control panel should look very familiar, because in effect that is what the Web hosting company gives to you when you purchase a virtual Web hosting account.

If any of this interests you, then you are the right kind of person to get a reseller Web hosting account. If you have any specific questions, I would recommend asking your current or future Web hosting provider because they will be able to tell you more about the specific features they do or do not offer.

Tomorrow is the last day, and the day for dedicated Web hosting accounts. I will go in detail about what makes dedicated Web hosting accounts different from virtual and reseller accounts