Drupal Gardens like website

Question

I actually would like to start a website in which users can register and each registered user will get a subdomain. Each subdomain will be a drupal installation. I can share the files between installations and keep different databases for each of them (or table prefixes). I checked Drupal multisite, but it is mostly for the administrator who is maintaining the website. I need this functionality for the users as it is there in drupal gardens. I also checked Aegir and seems like its also for admin only. Basically I need the kind of functionality that Wordpress multiste plugin has have. Anyone know any drupal module which will allow the creation of multiple sudomain based websites on the fly ?

BTW, I am new to Drupal so my assumptions may not correct. It will be helpful if someone can guide me in right direction.

Answer 1

You can use Domain access module.

The Domain Access project is a suite of modules that provide tools for running a group of affiliated sites from one Drupal installation and a single shared database. The module allows you to share users, content, and configurations across a group of sites such as:

• example.com
• one.example.com
• two.example.com
• my.example.com

Answer 2

Domain Access module allows you to run multiple sites from a shared database... but if you just want multiple sites with their own database you don't need any modules. You just need a wildcard in your dns settings... so if your domain is happycoder.com create an A record of *.happycoder.com and then you can create anything.happycoder.com.

Answer 3

While Aegir might be a tool for admins, it has a signup feature to let normal people create sites. These can then take full advantage of Drupal's multi-site capabilities. Having a better isolation in a separate database per site.