What are FrontPage Extensions?

FrontPage offers an easy way to author, edit and manage your web pages.  This program is truly amazing, even when creating web pages offline.  However, to enjoy the true benefits, you will need a server that has FrontPage server extensions installed.

FrontPages extensions are comprised of CGI programming, providing the server-side implementation required to use the features of Microsoft FrontPage.  They essentially instruct the server software on how to react to commands of the FrontPage client and users that visit the site it constructed.

How FrontPage Extensions Work

FrontPage extensions rely on three web-based technologies: CGI (Common Gateway Interface), ISAPI (Internet Server Application Program Interface) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).  Both CGI and ISAPI serve the same purpose which is enabling dynamic interaction between website visitors and the web server while HTTP simply makes the request.  With the aid of these technologies, FrontPage extensions provide two important services:

- Allow the Microsoft FrontPage client to interact with the server, enabling direct uploads and downloads of content without the use of FTP.

- Allow the server to provide specific features from the FrontPage client to the visitor’s browser without any additional programming on the part of the webmaster.

Many web designers use the FrontPage client to edit files and view data on the site.  The server extensions let you download information about the site including details on its configuration, files, folders, hyperlinks and more.  The viewable reports available in FrontPage present you with server information without actually downloading any files to your hard drive.  In other words, FrontPage extensions support the feature that has made FrontPage a dynamic program to begin with - the ability to directly access the web server.

What You Can Do With Them

The major benefit of FrontPage is that it allows you to create dynamic content with little to no programming experience.  With FrontPage extensions you can create a number of interactive features such as web forms, hit counters, drop-down menus, photo galleries and more.  In order to create such functions with a script like PHP, Python or ASP, you need to have some familiarity with the language.  Whereas mistakes with these languages could negatively impact the design of your web page, FrontPage reduces errors significantly as the raw code is hidden for your protection.  This factor alone makes FrontPage one of the most comprehensive and effective web designing tools available.

Throughout the years, interactive functions, such as web forms, have been fairly easy to create.  However, making them actually do something useful has always required a bit of skill.  FrontPage extensions allow you to create such items with ease, specifying exactly where the text is to be entered in the form.  This could be something as simple as providing two lines for the visitor to enter their username and password - simple, yet effective.   Although FrontPage extensions perform best on Microsoft Windows servers, recent upgrades have enabled it to support other platforms as well.

FrontPage extensions are absolute jewels to the amateur webmaster.  This feature isn’t hard to find as many web hosting companies now offer it with their plans.  If you’re intimated at the thought of designing a website, FrontPage will give you the confidence and skill to overcome it.  .

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Nov 05, 2008 : FrontPage Hosting No responses yet

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.

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Aug 26, 2008 : General No responses yet

Shared Hosting And Security Vulnerability

As web developers, many come to learn programming code via shared hosting.  Perhaps it is a service provided by an ISP or a separate entity.  While handling scripts in this type of environment is fairly easy, there are also a number of security issues that may arise.  Making yourself familiar with these challenges will help you to implement better security for your site and actually understand how a shared web server functions.

Basis of a Shared Server

Shared servers offer some of the most affordable hosting available.  This is primarily due to the fact that several clients are hosting sites on a single server, thus sharing the cost of it as well.  Usually, each website owner on the machine has a user account which gives them access to the server.  They have the ability to log in and upload text files, images and other content required to build their website.  While server space and resources are being shared, this type of hosting normally provides a reliable service with quality features.

The Problem with Apache

The average shared server has at least one Apache web server running on it.  It also contains the PHP programming language or executable CGI scripts.  That copy of Apache maintains all incoming HTTP requests for each site functioning on the server.  In order to serve your website to the world, Apache must be able to interpret your HTML and CSS files, PHP scripts, images and so forth.  Web-based applications such as blogging software and content management systems also require write access to the directories of your website.

Read and write access is typically granted by configuring group permissions on a specific file or directory.  Each user account and the Apache server are essentially members of the same group.  An FTP daemon is often set up by default to ensure the group’s ability to read access to all files uploaded to the server, enabling Apache to the serve the websites.

The copy of Apache runs as a single user regardless of what site is being served.  As a single user, it has the ability to read access to each site on the shared server.  More than likely, it will also have write access to most, if not all of these sites as well.  Because of this vulnerable structure, an intruder only has to break into a single site on the server, which will in turn give it access to every other site hosted on the machine.

Here is the most intriguing part of all.  The intruder doesn’t necessarily have to break into the server.  All they have to do is sign up as a web hosting client, purchase a legitimate account and upload scripts that give them access to other sites on the server.  One with enough smarts can easily steal any data they want while going undetected.  How is this possible?  The answer is simple - the uploaded content is executed by Apache which has access to all files for every site host on the server.  This includes all PHP scripts that contain usernames and passwords for sensitive MySQL databases.

Final Thoughts

The purpose of this article is not to deter you away from shared hosting, only to inform.  There are a number of companies providing shared hosting who have gone great lengths to provide reliable service.  Nevertheless, the vulnerabilities are real and continue to exist.  For this reason, it is imperative that you inquire within a particular host about what measures they have taken towards the preventing exploitation of PHP and Apache.

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Aug 13, 2008 : Security Issues No responses yet

Web Hosting With PHP Scripts

Getting your own website as never been easier. These days, web hosting providers are abundant, offering the ability to instantly create dynamic content at an incredibly low price. You have the option to host a large gallery of photos, products and services for your online business, implement a blog to add popularity to your site and much more. With all of these amazing features, one tends to forget about the resources used as the basis for the actual web pages. In this article we will take an overview look at one of the oldest and most commonly used web-based scripting languages, PHP.

What is PHP?

PHP is the acronym for Personal Home Pages, though it was originally derived from Hypertext Preprocessor. Throughout your search for a web host, you find that many advertise PHP in their packages, as it remains the basic building block for many developers. Its syntax is quite similar to that of the Perl language, one that is both very easy to learn and apply. One reason why PHP is so widely used is because it supports the most common databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle. Aside from creating traditional web pages, it is also frequently incorporated into external libraries to create PDF applications.

The Necessitates of PHP Hosting

If you are looking to make a small investment with your first website, choosing a web host that uses PHP scripts is a good option. This type of hosting is inexpensive yet very useful. PHP is perfect for a site built to host a blog as it requires much less bandwidth than more dynamic scripts like ASP. PHP typically is not the only programming language a hosting company offers. They are often used in conjunction with CGI, Perl and Python scripts to increase the functionality of an Apache server. Some web hosting providers even combine PHP with Microsoft technologies such as the MSSQL database and Microsoft FrontPage, making it much easier to build and manage a website.

Issues with PHP

The continuous widespread use of PHP has also resulted in a number of vulnerabilities. This script has led to instances such as DoS attacks, buffer overflows and other exploits made possible when bypassing its built-in security measures. Malicious individuals have also exploited the script by injecting harmful code into headers distributed via the email system.

Because of this, the PHP script has received many updates to address these vulnerabilities. In November of 2007, PHP version 5.25 was released and it’s now recommended by security experts.

Choosing a PHP Host

PHP scripts are suitable whether you simply intend to host a personal blog or create a thriving e-commerce site. Its familiarity and ease of use usually results in less downtime and greater performance. Finding a host using PHP scripts should not be much of a challenge, as nearly everyone utilizes it. Like with any type of hosting, customer support, storage, bandwidth and stability are the most important factors. You will find that most companies offering PHP are both affordable and reliable.

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Jul 01, 2008 : Scripting No responses yet