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Database app web-hosting

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aharrisreid

Programmer
Nov 17, 2000
312
GB
I am investigating various ways of accessing and maintaining data (Visual FoxPro) via dynamic web pages. My preferred solution would be to use FoxWeb (an ISAPI web server) and scripting files - similar to ASP, but mixing HTML with FoxPro code instead of VB or JavaScript)

My problem is finding a company that will host such a site for a reasonable fee. It appears no site will entertain the idea unless I hire a dedicated server, for which the going rate here in the UK is around 250GBP (360USD) per month! That's pretty steep for a small UK business venturing out on its first web-site!

Another solution (which I would prefer) is to host the server myself and get a static IP address which the ISP could use to direct web-page requests to my server. The problem here is the communications line. Here in the UK we only have ASDL (broadband), but that is not yet available in my area (British Telecom says it's coming soon, but cannot say when). We have ISDN (128k), but this is very expensive to keep permanently connected. Is ISDN or ASDL suitable for hosting a small site?

A more econimical solution (though not my favoured one) may be to use shared hosting using ASP pages with COM objects. The companies I have contacted so far all support ASP, but only accessing FoxPro tables via ODBC, which means I can't use the power of Foxpro itself. It seems they are only interested in Access or mySQL. The response so far has been "if you want to use shared hosting you cannot supply any executables or .dll files which have to be registered, as this may impact on other sites running on the same machine." AFAIK the COM objects have to be registered. Is there any way around this problem, or are we back to dedicated or self-hosting?

So what's the best way to go about this? I would especially like to hear of UK users experiences and/or recommendations. I am not averse to hosting via a non-UK site (and I am willing to be persuaded that I needn't worry), it's just that I feel more comfortable not having to phone 'across the pond' if I need support.

Any help would be appreciated.

Alan Harris-Reid
 
Hi Alan,

My company (US based) provides a wide range of hosting solutions and can accomodate special requests. If you want to use FoxPro though, ODBC is going to be your best solution as your information is correct, using executables such as com objects or special dlls poses a security and stability problem on a shared server. Any good ISP will refuse a request to put those on a shared server as they have no way of knowing whether it has memory leaks, security holes, etc.. and they have a responsibility to the other customers on the shared box to provide reliable hosting.

I know what it's like to have an investment in something and not want to change but I would really consider migrating over to something like Access with ASP/CF/Php3 code. Unfortunately you are using a product that has very limited use in the Internet area and I think you'll find that your options will always be limited with it.

If you need to stay with FoxPro however, we could provide two solutions.
1. Host on our shared server and access your database via ODBC with ASP or Cold Fusion scripts. This is an excellent approach and we have a lot of experience in this.
2. Host your server in our facility where you can use FoxWeb and anything you need. We can help with on-going maintenance and troubleshooting as long as you understand that we can't make any guarantees about products we don't officially support.

For normal bandwidth sites, option 1 is $34.95/mo and option 2 is $99.95/mo USD. If you can get adsl or isdn, they will provide you with a viable alternative but at least over here, these services are treated as "residential grade" connections which means they don't consider it a big deal if you're having problems. I wouldn't recommend this if your Internet connection is critical to your business. If you can afford to be off-line from time to time, this would be an acceptable solution if you can get at least 512K or better connection.

Good luck,
GJ
 
GunJack, thanks for the reply.

>I know what it's like to have an investment in something and not want to change but I would really consider migrating over to something like Access with ASP/CF/Php3 code.<

Access!!! The dreaded 'A' word! Seriously though, I know there are a lot of solutions out there using Access, but once you are used to the power, speed and flexibility of VFP it is extremely heart-breaking to take a huge step backwards and go with Access. For desktops and networking solutions this idea would be a non-starter, but it is a different matter for web apps.

>If you need to stay with FoxPro however, we could provide two solutions...<
I like the idea of option 2, but I am in the UK, and I wouldn't feel comfortable shipping my box over that distance. Do you do dedicated servers? If so, point me to your URL and I'll check-out the details.

Regards,
Alan
 
Hey Alan,

I'm not sure what you mean by &quot;dedicated server&quot;. Do you mean a server we own and just rent to you? If so, we can do those. The price will just depend on the hardware you'll need. Most of what we do is traditional co-los where the client owns their box and we provide the rack space.

We can provide references either way as we've been doing Internet consulting for about 6 years now.

GJ
 
GunJack...

>I'm not sure what you mean by &quot;dedicated server&quot;. Do you mean a server we own and just rent to you? If so, we can do those. The price will just depend on the hardware you'll need.<

Yes, that's what I would be interested in.

Regards,
Alan
 
Hey Alan,

I just need to get a few details from you to formalize a quote. We don't stock any equipment for this as most of our business comes locally and people usually prefer to supply their own instead of renting it. If you can let me know what you'll need, I'll get you a price. If you want to check out our company info, go to although I'll warn you the site is several years old and a little dated. We've stayed fairly busy the past year and re-doing our own stuff is a low priority :)

Here's the info I need:
1. What are your hardware requirements?
a. cpu speed
b. hd & ram size
c. raid/tape backup?
d. any other specific hardware components
2. What OS?
a. NT 4.0 or 2000
b. Linux
3. Willl you supply the OS and any applications or will we purchase any necessary software and or licenses
4. Do you need us to provide maintenance or will you be responsible for maintenance? We provide miscellaneous support for regular co-los at no charge but this is for help in emergency situations where you need someone to reboot, check the screen for errors, etc.. and not for recurring tasks such as backups or software installs, upgrades, etc..

I basically need to determine our cost to provide the equipment and software and the level of maintenance (or lack of) required. Once I know these, I can give you a price.

Take care,
GJ
 
GunJack, thanks for the reply.

In keeping with the spirit of this forum, and seeing as this thread is drifting towards sales and promotion of your services, I will contact you privately for further details.

Regards,
Alan
 
I have a question that seems to go along with this thread. I have an Oracle database that I need to provide dynamic web pages from. For example, I need to give the user the abilitiy to look up employees by name and retrieve certain information. The database contains several hundred thousand records. I have an IIS server in house and provide the info on our Intranet now. What kind of service provider will give me a connection, preferably one where the provider handles the router, firewall etc. I dont need a server, I dont want to ftp data or web pages from my server to theirs, I just need a connection, router and a firewall that I can plug my server in to. Nobody seems to provide this. Every company we talk to seems to be oriented toward giving customers a few meg of disk space and permitting some scripting on their servers. Where do I look for what I need to get this database on the internet?

any suggestions?

thanks
 
Hey Bookouri,

What you're basically wanting is a dedicated Internet connection. You could probably get by with a 128K isdn connection which will run you around $400/month from most providers plus the cost of your ISDN line. A step up from that is a frame relay or T1 connection which usually costs around $400-$900/month for the line plus the cost of your bandwidth which can range from $200/month on up to $1000/month depending on the provider and whether you want a partial or full T1.

If your budget doesn't allow for this expense, another option is hosting the bulk of your site on an external server and connecting your network to the Internet via a regular 56k modem on a dedicated line. You could setup all links to graphics and regular content to point to the external site and any links to dynamic scripts would be sent down the 56k pipe to your IIS server. It would only send back script results which might be small enough to go quickly across a 56k line.

Where are you located? This will dictate a lot of your options as the T1, and frame relay options are mileage dependent and ISDN is limited to local calling areas.

Good luck,
GJ



 
I guess what I was wondering about was something like the last option you mention. If I have a provider that gives me web space, I envisioned something like a dsl line or cable connection back to my server so I could link off of the ISP and bounce users back to mine. Is DSL only for non commercial use or is there some reason why DSL or cable cant be used in cases like this?

 
There's no reason you can't use DSL for a business connection. It's just that the residential grade service that runs around $50/month is not considered a mission critical service. If you're paying $400/month or more for a connection, the people on the other end will jump to get you back online if there's a problem. For $50/month, don't expect anyone to be too concerned about connectivity problems or outages. It's not that the DSL providers don't care, it's that residential service has always been considered less of a priority than business customers. If you're having problems with your DSL router or are experiencing other problems, it could potentially be a day or more before a technician comes out. If you're paying for a dedicated circuit, waiting more than 15 minutes to talk with an engineer is un-reasonable IMO.

You can of course get the business grade of DSL which is called SDSL if I remember correctly. In this case, you're paying close to the cost of a frame relay or T1 connection so I don't see any real advantage to it. I always tell people considering DSL that it's a business decision you have to make. If your business depends on this connection and it's imperative that it be reliable, DSL would be a poor choice. If however, you could live with an outage or not having someone on-call to help with immediate problems isn't serious, then it's probably the best solution.

Good luck,
GJ
 
Hi, As far as support is concerned in the UK I use eMail rather than phone so perhaps it would not make much difference UK or USA? I am having trouble with Access and the provider has been poor in helping me out. So give it a go. regards, Gary
 
Hey Gary,

I wasn't sure about what you meant. Are you looking for help with your hosting or just commenting about how support overseas isn't that bad?

Regards,
GJ
 
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