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Multisite installation - Shared sever with add on domains

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:33 pm
by KBleivik
1. Before you start

read this: When to multisite
When to multisite

As a general rule on whether to use multisite installs or not you can say:
  • If the sites are similar in functionality (use same modules or use the same drupal distribution) do it.
  • If the functionality is different don't use multisite.
This is because you want your sites to stay as up-to-date as possible regarding drupal module security updates and when you have different functionalities this is more difficult to do because it takes a little more time since you need to test each site independently. If you are doing multisite, then the update needs to be run at the same time for all the sites which is not always possible.

So sites with different functionality usually end up being upgraded at different times because each needs to be tested and backed up. Site updates and backups are also pretty easy to do and can be automated with drush, but drush has little support for multisite install.
2. Multisite installation.

So if you have decided to do a multisite installation you should note the quote from the README.TXT file in the root directory of drupal 7.26.
A single Drupal installation can host several Drupal-powered sites, each with its own individual configuration.

Additional site configurations are created in subdirectories within the 'sites' directory. Each subdirectory must have a 'settings.php' file, which specifies the configuration settings. The easiest way to create additional sites is to copy the 'default' directory and modify the 'settings.php' file as appropriate. The new directory name is constructed from the site's URL. The configuration for http://www.example.com could be in 'sites/example.com/settings.php' (note that 'www.' should be omitted if users can access your site at http://example.com/).

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Each site configuration can have its own site-specific modules and themes in addition to those installed in the standard 'modules' and 'themes' directories. To use site-specific modules or themes, simply create a 'modules' or 'themes' directory within the site configuration directory.
You are recommended to read that text file, especially if you are interested in a sub site instead of a sub directory installation. In addition there is a separate thread about the subject:

https://drupal.org/documentation/install/multi-site

There is also an older thread about this subject on the forum: Multisite or domain access installation with one database

3. Multisite with n databases or domain access installation with one database?

Note that the difference:
  1. When you use a unique database for each site, use the multisite installation.
  2. When all sites share the same data, use the domain access installation with one database.
4. Related information.

http://drush.ws/

Drupal, drush and putty, fast and secure.