Multi-site

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Multi-site (also multisite ) in information technology means to host several different web pages on a web server in the same root directory .

term

More precisely, the term multi-site in information technology can mean different things or processes.

A distinction is made between multi-site hosting (or multi-site domains and domain mapping ) and the multi-site capability of software such as As a content management system (short CMS , German  content management system ), distinguished.

The former describes the technical details or processes of how requests from the Internet to different domains are routed to the same directory on a web server. The latter describes the functionality of a software or a script to separate the requests to different domains from each other and then to only output the content of the respective website.

With a CMS, however, multi-site capability means not only being able to output different content depending on the domain called, but also being able to manage the various website content in a single software system.

technology

There are various methods of filtering requests from the Internet (e.g. from a web browser ) according to the domain so that the respective website is displayed. In practice, the most common techniques are the appropriate configuration of the web server, provided that you have administration rights over it. This can then the requests z. B. forward it to various scripts within a directory tree .

Another possibility is an entry in a .htaccess file if you do not have administration rights over the web server itself. This is e.g. B. the case if you have your website hosted by a web host. The .htaccess file contains instructions on how the web server should handle certain requests. With this entry the calls of the different domains can also be forwarded to different scripts.

The disadvantage of these two methods is that different scripts are called first and then, as a rule, different further scripts are processed. This means that the data on the website are mostly divided into separate subdirectories and files. Each website exists independently and therefore requires its own care and maintenance.

The most convenient way to host different websites in parallel is therefore a multi-site content management system. In this case, only a single software system takes over the administration of all websites, in that all requests are first directed to the same script which, depending on the domain called, outputs different content after data processing.

Use

The advantages of this technology are that completely different websites on a web server can be managed more easily with a single multi-site-capable content management system than if they had to be managed individually.

The effort to update updates , install plug-ins or make code changes is less. In addition, security risks are reduced because each website no longer has to be checked individually and there are fewer points of attack.

The lower effort can also mean cost savings for companies.


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