RixStix:
All I know is that I have 2 dozen domains with a single registrar. 23 of those domains are 'forwarded, permanent 301' to a single primary domain where my zen-cart installation exists. I use a screen, while logged into my account with my domain registrar, that says "Forward" and that screen is independent of any 'CNAME' screen or link.
May not be the 'proper' terminology but that is the labeling of the fields that I populate within my domain registrar account which is completely different from my hosting account established elsewhere.... thus my calling it @ the registrar level to distinguish the settings from those being made within a cPanel hosting account.
This is one of those times it would be great to be able to split this off to another thread, but since that isn't possible, and I don't wish to contaminate the thread with an irrelevant discussion, I will ask that you simply read (and hopefully accept, follow and understand) what I'm about to say and move on.
Before saying more..... helpoftcm..... please skip this message. It has nothing to do with your problem.
RixStix, You stated you had "just enough knowledge to be dangerous" and I'm hoping to take you to the next steps to avoid the dangers you fear. Not only that, I'm going to give you a tip or two that could provide a noticeable increase in the performance of those 23 sites you mention. Sound good? Read on.
First point of issue. The 'forwarded, permanent 301'is a function of a web server application. It is totally unrelated to anything else on the internet, which includes the registrars, the DNS and even other (non web) applications such as FTP, SSH, Telnet, etc.
Second point if issue. The type of forwarding that you have invoked is probably quite pointless. The only practical purpose for it is if it is impossible to perform any needed redirections on the host server.
What is happening with these 'registrar forwards' isn't any different than what goes on with the localhost redirects, it just adds another WEB server to the mix, and this will have a negative performance on your sites(s).
With your current configuration (using 'registrar redirect') a browser/client connecting to your site will first perform a DNS (name to IP address) lookup, and this will provide the IP address for your** registrars web server**. The browser will then connect to this WEB server, which then sends a message stating 'The site you want no longer exists here, but you can find the new location this URL'
The browser/client then has to perform another DNS lookup for this 'new' location, which will be the IP address of where your sites are hosted, and finally the client can retrieve and display the page.
It makes MUCH more sense to forgo this needless 'registrar forwarding' so that when a client tries to connect to your site, it performs the DNS lookup that returns the IP address of your site, and bob's your uncle, the site/page will be displayed with very little delay, only a fraction of the processing needed to get there, and you won't be at the mercy of the registrars webserver being functional at all times which is essential to keeping your sites 'live' at all times. IOW, it is one less point of failure.
FWIW, many registrars don't/won't even offer this type of forwarding as one of their services. There is (generally) no need for it (in fact once the domain name registration has taken place and the name servers defined, the registrars are effectively out of the picture as far as anything else goes. They only need to supply the domain name and NS records to the TLD's (top level domains) and notify them of any changes. The records are passive rather than dynamic.
Another issue with the 'registrar forwarding' is, as stated, this is a function of a webserver, so what is going to happen if someone tries to connect to your host using an FTP client rather than a Web client? The FTP client will perform the DNS lookup for your site, receive the IP address for your registrars server, and since the FTP requests aren't forwarded like the WWW requests, the FTP client will end up trying to connect to the registrars FTP server rather than your own.
If you haven't noticed this effect it means that you are telling your FTP clients to use the host IP address rather than the domain name, OR, most likely, your DNS records contain a specific entry for 'ftp.yourdomain.com' which maps to your hosts IP rather than the registrars.
Now lets assume you have more than one domain name and that you want them both/all to be hosted on the same server? There are a couple of ways to do this with DNS records. You can give each domain name the same IP address as an 'A' (Address) record, or you can give just one of them an 'A' record, and the others 'CNAME' records. In this case, CNAMES are prefered (less maintenance should you ever need to relocate to a different host. Only one 'A' record to change, and the others will follow). Again. no need for any forwarding or multiple DNS lookups, but the same end result (albeit, a lot more responsive).
Now, if this isn't enough to convince you of the 'error of your ways', perhaps I can pique your interest by mentioning 'Google rankings'. It is a well known fact that given two identical sites, one that is to be found with a single DNS/IP lookup and the other with a redirection in place, the site without the redirections will always get a higher ranking. I try to avoid redirections where possible for this reason alone.
Technically any form of web redirect is a 'bad thing'. Its purpose is/was to provide a means of keeping a site (or pages) online and available if/when a change on a site is made that would normally break existing links. It was never ever designed to be something to be used with an initial server setup (which wouldn't need any redirects in the first place), yet that is exactly what you have done. Essentially you are telling the clients that the site has already been moved even though it was a brand new site.
I hope you find this somewhat informative. As I say, I have no intention of having a full on discussion about it. I'm not telling you anything that can't be easily verified and checked from informed sources.
Oh, I must add, I'm only speculating that you probably don't need the 'registar redirects', there ARE times where this may be the only option though... such times are rare though.
Cheers
Rod.
