The short answer to "Why are there so many passwords?" is that there are _many_ systems, and each system stores it's own userids and passwords. We have recently improved things so that if you run through the 'my account' area of the baremetal.com website, some passwords are "remembered" for you.

The main systems that you (our client) are likely to encounter are:

1. FTP userid and password - This controls access to update your website. it is also used to control access to the /sec-bin/ control panel where you can configure e-mail, view statistics, etc. This password can be changed by going to http://yourdomain/cgi-bin/wwwpass.
   
   
2. Your domain registration userid and password. (The my-account area will remember these.) For domains we register (except .ca domains), domain management is controlled with a userid and password. This allows you to update the contact information, the DNS servers, and the userid/password associated with a domain.
   
   
3. Your billing ID and an invoice # or billing password will allow you to access the "My Account" area on the BareMetal.com website. From there you can see and pay your invoices, you can see how your account is configured, and see what domain registrations you have paid for and when they expire.
   
   You can chose to set a password on your billing ID for increased security and privacy. Initially the system will mail out a random password to the billing contact, but once you login with that password, you can change it to whatever you like. If you forget it, you can have the system mail you a new random password.
   
   For added security, if you have a billing password, you must use it.
   
   
4. Domain-dns.com userid and passwords control acess to your domain-dns.com profile, which may control DNS information, web and/or e-mail forwarding for your domain name. Passwords can be changed via the "I want to change my password" button on the login screen. To change userids, contact BareMetal support. (Note: the My-Account area will also remember these passwords.)
   
   

There are other systems, but those four are the most frequently used ones.