Archive for August, 2008

Hosting with Cold Fusion

What is Cold Fusion?

Cold Fusion is a web programming language of the server-side nature. It supports a variety of popular databases such as dBase, FoxPro, MS Access and Paradox. This technology gives a developer the ability to create dynamic content. Cold Fusion is essentially a simple tag-based language. When integrated into a web hosting server, it enables the creation of well designed personal sites, e-commerce sites, publishing systems and more.

CFML (Cold Fusion Markup Language) is quite similar to the commonly employed HTML language in numerous ways. The most notable difference between the two languages is that each Cold Fusion tag starts with the prefix “CF”. This is essentially what distinguishes it from a static HTML code. Code Fusion can be processed by a number of servers and is said to be much easier to learn than popular scripts like ASP, Perl or PHP.

Features of Cold Fusion

Cold Fusion employs web hosting technology that aids in the process of creating and using web-based applications. Numerous individuals and companies throughout the world utilize Cold Fusion for the creation and deployment of vibrant, interactive websites. It’s many benefits has gained this script a strong following and community support is becoming increasingly available.

Cold Fusion adds ease to the process of web development as it requires much less coding than other languages. It offers a higher level of server side utilization for the benefit of feature-rich applications. Cold Fusion supports a number of server-specific applications and is highly extensible. It can also be integrated with various applications, making it a perfect solution for e-commerce. The technology also includes additional features such as structured reports, text searching, high performance database drivers and more.

The Cold Fusion hosting environment comes with many more features than alternative scripts. It’s most recent versions have the ability to enhance the overall performance of a website and also includes server monitoring and strong encryption features. Cold Fusion comes with complete security and offers load balancing and extensible deployment to ensure the easy management of the most complex website. This technology is a powerful tool and is capable of bringing out the best in any business. The Cold Fusion language is easy to use at any level of experience and has the power to create data-driven applications in an instant.

While Cold Fusion isn’t as widely used as other languages, it is still provided by a number of different web hosting companies. These providers offer varying packages and payment options. Just as with any plan, you should carefully examine all the other features that come along with Cold Fusion hosting. You will naturally require a decent amount of disk storage, bandwidth and databases to effectively manage your site. Uptime reliability and security are also important factors that need to be considered. Support is something that can make a break a web hosting package, so it critical to have a reliable team on deck to help with any issues that may arise. With everything in place, Cold Fusion provides an environment where you can build the ultimate website.


Securing Multiple Domains

Domain names are a hot commodity these days.  For some, selecting a domain name is a thorough process that takes a bit of research and time to complete.  While it’s extremely important to select one that fits your business best, you can take things a step further by securing variations of your primary domain in advance.  Many individuals do this to secure company names and trademarks.

Registering multiple domains is another great way to enhance your presence online.  Each of these domains act as individual websites and can be used to generate high-volumes of traffic.  They give you the advantage of cross-branding your products and exploring many different avenues.  Purchasing multiple domains is also a sound strategy to keep the competition from nabbing up your ideas.

Different people have their own reasons for hosting multiple domains.  Each are unique and carry there own set of benefits.  Here are a few examples:

Type-in Traffic

Some website owners purchase multiple domain names for the sole purpose of generating type-in traffic.  This refers to a web surfer who uses the address bar of their browser and types in keyword-based URLs instead of conducting a search in a search engine.  Securing domains that are likely to generate a high-volume of type-in traffic is a good way to increase the number of visitors coming to your site.  For instance, if you are hosting cosmetic products, the primary domain for our site may be something like mymakeup.com.  In order to capture potential type-in traffic, you may want to secure names like teenmakeup.com, makeupsource.com, makeupoutlet.com and so forth.

Misspellings

Others will secure multiple domain names to prevent the potential loss of visitors that misspell their URL.  Misspelling is a common part of human error that could keep visitors away from your site.  To prevent this from occurring, you might want to secure what may be the most common misspellings of your domain.  If your primary domain is demolitiondogs.com, it may easily be misspelled as demoilition.dogs.com, demolitiondog.com or demelotion.com.

Redirects

When deciding to purchase multiple domains, it’s crucial that each one is set up properly.  Improper structure is something that could lead to content duplication penalties with a search engine and hinder the ability to rank well.   If you plan to use multiple domains to practice search engine optimization, setting up a 301 permanent redirect is the best way to go.  This instructs a search engine that the domain it is attempting to access has been permanently moved to a different location, in this case, your primary domain.  The good thing about this is that visitors are automatically transferred to your main site when typing in the redirecting URL.

In order to properly configure a redirect, it is best to confer with your current provider.  Different web servers generally require different forms of implementation.

It’s important to use every available resource in your marketing venture.  Even if you only receive one new visitor from a type-in per month, that’s positive traffic that could lead to a sale.  If any of the above mentioned schemes may possibly generate more traffic for you, give them a shot.  Multiple domains translates to multiple benefits for your business.


Defining Managed Hosting

When basic shared hosting is no longer enough, many companies make the move to a managed service provider.  Managed hosting involves outsourcing critical functions to a company that tends to those needs.  As this solution has become viable for more business, a number of companies have emerged to provide service.  They cover important aspects such as remote data backup, 24/7 monitoring and technical support. There are also a few providers that will help to manage a customer’s web hosting account and maintain their sites.

On a broad scale, managed service is the most common form of web hosting today.  In all almost every instance, a provider bills you a fixed amount every month for the service and features of your account.  These companies offer services that are typically provided in a heavily staffed in-house facility.  They save you time and money by performing frequent backups of data and implementing reliable security to ensure that your site is safe and can be quickly recovered in the wake of an unexpected disaster.

Quality, Service and Value

In order to be labeled as a reliable host, a company must provide their clients with adequate protection.  Manage providers also ensure this with constant monitoring of their servers to protect against technical difficulties and physical intrusion.  They typically provide some form around the clock support be it telephone, email or live chat to address any web hosting issues that may arise.

Managed service providers offer their clients a wide variety of services to simplify the task of running a business.  This is a great option for organizations who want to travel outside of the company for quality service while increasing their value at the same time.  Managed hosts also perform additional tasks including the management of remote access, network monitoring and management, vulnerability scanning, firewall implementation and management, incident tracking, server management and much more.  When hiring a managed hosting provider, you are essentially lifting a huge burden from the shoulders of your business.

What are the Benefits?

Managed hosting offers a number of different packages, many of which are far more affordable than investing in the resources and manpower required to maintain a thriving business.  These companies have highly trained staff members of their own, professional support members and technicians that will not be distracted as their purpose is to assure the continuous functionality of your site.  This allows you to save money in several areas.  When company resources are limited, managed hosting is the perfect solution.

With managed hosting, you can relieve yourself of complex server administration and focus on what’s truly important - the operation of your business.  The services they provide allow you to tend to critical aspects such as marketing and assuring that your clients are provided with quality support.  As far as the managed host, their primary focus is to ensure that your business stays up and running.

The overall benefits of managed hosting boil down to these factors: cost and convenience.  This type of service is designed to provide you with a powerful web presence and enable it for the long run.  A reliable company is one equipped to make your business far more profitable in future.


Understanding Ruby on Rails

Perhaps you are familiar with the term “Ruby on Rails”" and maybe you’re not.  The fact is that more web hosting providers are offering support for this dynamic feature.  It is also highly probable that you have come in contact with web-based applications built with this technology. Those with no experience in web development are likely to be completely in the dark regarding this subject.  While it has become increasingly popular, you will find that comprehensive descriptions of this technology are rather scarce on the web.  For those of you are not familiar, this article will shed light on both Ruby and Rails and explain their relationship in the web hosting environment.

Ruby itself is a merely a programming language similar to that of CGI or PHP.  It was introduced in 1995 by Yukihiro Matsumoto.  According to many of it’s supporters, Ruby’s popularity is contributed to the focus of making web programming faster, easier and more efficient for developers.

What is Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails, more commonly referred to as Rails, is a framework for web applications scripted in the Ruby programming language.  In this sense, the framework is simply a collection of building blocks that compose a type of support structure for a web-based application.  Many applications employ basic pieces of code that can be repeatedly used throughout the base application.  They enable functions such as querying an SQL database and returning data that can be used by the remainder of the application.

According to David Heinemeir Hansson, the creator of Rails, the framework was actually designed from the creation of generic parts.  He made the prescripted libraries as Rails, creating a website and making the framework available for download at www.rubyonrails.org Many developers have stated that Ruby on Rails is highly extensible and suitable for creating any type of application while offering the benefits of simplicity and convenience.

Ruby on Rails includes a number of useful features.  There are functions designed for the validating of form data, program templates, distributing and receiving email, formatting the date and time, managing cookies and sessions and much more.  It also include supports support for AJAX which enables the creation and implementation of interactive features.  AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) describes the combined use of Javascript, the Document Object Model and XML to assemble web content via web browsers directly from a remote server.

All in all, Ruby on Rails offers a simple and effective platform for web development.  It employs some of the latest and best technology that aid tremendously in the creation of dynamic content.  For this reason, Ruby on Rails has quickly become a popular choice for developers of many different experience levels.  It is highly likely that this technology will remain prevalent in the area of application building far into the future.

Web Host Support for Ruby on Rails

Due to an significant increase in usage, several web hosting providers have introduced support for Ruby on Rails.  As more companies catch on and learn the benefits of this amazing technology, it may be safe to assume that Ruby on Rails will eventually become standardized as a key element of efficient web development.


Payment Options For Your E-Commerce Site

The increasing popularity of e-commerce has resulted in a variety of different ways in which companies and consumers conduct business online.  Goods and services are typically purchased online via three common methods: online check solutions, third-party processors and merchant accounts.  One of these three options should suffice depending on the nature of your business.  A larger business may even consider using a combination to cover as many potential opportunities as possible.

Online Check Solutions

Online check solutions are quite popular as they allow consumers to submit payments directly from their checking account.  Consumers are required to provide their bank account and routing number to the online processor in order to make payments.  Online check solutions may be linked with existing business checking accounts, eliminating the need to open additional accounts.  This option is able to reach a broad ranch of potential customers and offers a quick system that’s easy to use.  There is one negative however.  The rising publicity of fraud and internet scams has many consumers concerned about conducting business online.  Some will choose other options that appear more secure such as using credit cards that offer rewards on their purchases.

Third-party Processors

Many consumers have turned to third-party processors to make purchases.  This option allows online businesses to accept credit card payments without having to apply for merchant accounts.  As the name indicates, third-party processors handle credit card transactions through merchant accounts of their own.  They charge a certain percentage of the transaction and possibly other fees which are paid to the merchant.  These fees are typically higher than those charged by a merchant, but the convenience is what has made third-party processing an extremely popular option.  The most recognizable entity providing this service is PayPal.  Other alternatives include ClickBank and CCBill.

Merchant Accounts

Merchant accounts allow business owners to directly charge the customer’s credit card, eliminating the need for more costly third-party processors.  This is one option that may indicate a more secure e-commerce environment in the mind of potential clients.  Unlike the third-party processing industry which is much smaller, merchant account providers make up a much larger selection.  There are a number of different fees associated with a merchant account and applicants are required to meet certain qualifications to be approved.   Because of this, it is safe to assume that merchant accounts are not made for every business.  This option is more suitable for high-volume e-commerce sites that have the credentials and resources to meet qualifications and can afford the initial fee.  Providers like PayQuake, offer a number of services that are suitable for both low and high-volume businesses.

Conclusion

There are a number of options to consider for your e-commerce site.  Although online check systems are the least preferred of the three, they remain common and allow you to cover consumers in that area of preference.  Third-party processors are growing in popularity and make it much easier for you to open up an online store.  Merchant accounts offer the most respected means of accepting payment though they are much more difficult to obtain.  Regardless of what solution you choose, be sure to conduct the necessary research to find out which one best suites the needs of your business.


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