Understanding Domain Forwarding, Redirection, and Aliasing (host headers) |
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Folks often confuse the terms domain forwarding, domain redirecting, and domain aliasing (host headers) because people in the industry use the terms interchangably and incorrectly sometimes. Although there is some variation in the terminology, the following are 3Essential's definition for these terms, and the pros and cons of both scenarios:
DOMAIN FORWARDING
domain1.com
domain1.net FORWARDS to domain1.com
Notes:
- This is done at the registrar level... check to see if your registrar offers free or low cost domain forwarding. When you register a domain with 3Essentials, we do provide free domain forwarding.
- MAIL: In this scenario, domain2.net cannot receive mail (i.e, no user@domain1.net)
- HOSTING: In your hosting plan, this only counts as 1 domain, as "domain1.com" is the only domain we actually create a hosting space for.
DOMAIN REDIRECTION
domain1.com
domain1.net REDIRECTS to domain1.com
Notes:
- This is done at the hosting level... i.e., in your hosting plan, we actually set up BOTH domains for hosting, and you can configure your default page in domain1.net with an html redirect (or an ASP redirect), that will direct users to domain1.com.
- MAIL: In this scenario, each domain has a separate mail namespace... both domains have unique email accounts: i.e., user1@domain1.com and user1@domain1.net are two separate mail accounts.
HOSTING: In your hosting plan(s), this counts as 2 domains. If you have a multi-domain plan, you'll use 2 domains from your domain limits. If you have a single domain plan, you'll need to have 2 single domain plans (or upgrade to a multi-domain plan) in order to accomodate hosting for both domains.
DOMAIN ALIASING (host headers)
domain1.com (with an alias of domain1.net). This is 1 site, known by 2 names.
Notes:
- This is done at the hosting level... i.e., in your hosting plan, we set up the first domain, then add the second as an ALIAS of the first (in Windows IIS web server, this is done by adding HOST HEADERS for the second domain to the website). Then, you're one website is known by either name.
- A given file on the site can be accessed by either name: www.domain1.com/myfile.htm or www.domain1.net/myfile.htm.
- MAIL: In this scenario, there is only one mail namespace... a given mail user is aliased in both domains as well: i.e., user1@domain1.com and user2@domain1.net point to the same exact mailbox/mail user.
HOSTING: In your hosting plan, this counts as 1 domain, and 1 alias. For most of our plans, we include 1 alias for each 1 domain in your hosting plan. You can purchase additional domain aliases, simply submit a request to the billing team for details).
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