Monthly Archives: June 2008

Misguided AdSense ads from Companies-Is it right

General

Misguiding advertisements on AdSense? How bad is it (if at all)!!!

I have couple of blog posts on my journey to find a reasonably priced (read, under my budget) windows server 2008 host with decent SQL Server 2005 data storage space. Like you find in most blogs, i have AdSense all over my blog:( So, i was going through the blog the other day and found a new advertisement for SQL Server hosting.

Having done substantial research on the existing hosting providers, i was surprised with this new provider. For a second, i thought may be i didn’t really search right!!! With Google’s AdSense TOC in mind (i believe i should not click on the AdSense links on my own site :) ), i patiently opened a new window and typed in the site’s name. Well, I got a web site that has nothing to do with either SQL Server or Hosting. I guess they choose to bid on SQL Server hosting related keywords (May be they are cheaper compared to the right keywords in the market sector they are in).

Continue reading Misguided AdSense ads from Companies-Is it right →

Google finds something wrong with this search

General,

Today, I was trying to find some good resources on Forms Authentication for ASP.NET MVC framework. So, i typed in “asp.net mvc forms authentication”. Google surprised me with the search results.

For some reason, the search phrase “asp.net mvc forms authentication” looks like an auto-generated search! Umm, i am sure i have searched before along those lines with out any problem. Any one ever had this issue!!

Check the below screen shot..

Continue reading Google finds something wrong with this search →

Search for new windows server 2008 host continues

General

As i mentioned in my previous post, i have signed up with Godaddy.com Basic VPS plan (running Windows server 2003). Even though i was able to run the application with pretty url (using ISAPI ReWrite Lite), i had few issues with the approach.

My biggest concern is the testing! I develop on Vista running IIS7 and to deploy it on Windows Server 2003 running on IIS6 seems to be a big risk. I don’t have any Windows server 2003 machines to set up a stage environment! So, to minimize the potential risk, i am again in the hunt for a hosting provider with Windows Server 2008. I have upped my budget to $70-80 per month.

Continue reading Search for new windows server 2008 host continues →

Linq to SQL Database Connection String Issue

.NET, LINQ,

As i am moving in to hosting my application on an external server, i am finding some interesting and annoying (time consuming for research) things. i will try to address them as they come along…

One of the main thing was the way i handle my Data Layer. My Data Layer is a class library project and I have separate Business, Entity, and UI layers. My Data Layer is done using LINQ to SQL with stored procedures (All my interaction with Database are using Stored Procedures). When i dragged and dropped required tables and stored procedures in to the designer, behind the scenes, the DBML file, (specifically, the DataContext class) hasa default constructor that stores the connection string. To Re-iterate, we have this connection string defined in Web.Config, and app.Config (gets created for class library projects), and this hard coded value in “.dbml” File.

Continue reading Linq to SQL Database Connection String Issue →

Moving from Shared Hosting to VPS

General, ,

After spending good amount of time on trying to find a hosting provider to host my asp.net MVC application, i have decided to move up to a VPS (Virtual Private Server). It is still running IIS6 on Windows Server 2003 but at least gives me the option of installing a ISAPI rewrite module.

I could not find a decent host with the following requirements for (under)  $50.00

I was looking for

  • Windows Server 2008 (for IIS7)
  • Decent amount of storage (about 5-10 GB)
  • Reasonable Bandwidth (Not sure, but may be around 100-200 GB)
  • SQL Server Space min 1 GB (The most important thing)

Continue reading Moving from Shared Hosting to VPS →

Hosting ASP.NET MVC applications

.NET,

Ok, i have had FUN working with ASP.NET MVC (the official site, more info on Scott Gu’s Blog) Preview 3. I was doing some fun stuff.  Wanting to  play with different technologies of late, i found (really found) ways to use LINQ (to SQL, to XML, and on Entities). To complement all this i have used JQUERY with very good plugins like “Listen” and “SuperFlyDom”.

This whole thing is very cool and works great on my local machine with Vista Ultimate running IIS7. I was excited and wanted to put it on my hosting account only to realize, my hosting account only supports IIS6 (some cheap Shared Hosting, right!). Now, all my pretty looking URL are going to look bad with that “.MVC” extension, right?. After a quick a google search, i found an interesting idea on doing a ReWrites with ISAPI modules. Having done this a lot in my previous jobs, i assumed the job.

My Host, does not support main ISAPI_ReWrite modules, and kind of suggested me to get “LinkFreeze” from the same company. In my excitement to get my website online, i bought that license (about $50.00) and asked my hosting provider to install and let me know how to set up the configuration i needed to do.

Apparently, this is quite different from the main module and is very limited in what it does. I finally figured (or not) that this is not the right software for what i wanted to do.

Now, i am in the HUNT for Web Host.

Either a decent Windows Serer 2008 Shared Host with reasonable SQL Serever Space or a Virtual Dedicated Windows Server 2003 (then i can install SQL Serer Express).

I would appreciate any feed back with your hosting providers. I have had some bad experiences with couple over this last weekend.

(One Provider went on to say that i can install ISAPI_Rewrite module and assured me that all the things i am asking for are already in the package, only for the Tech REP to tell me, after sign-up, that they don’t support it.) Now, i am canceling that account and asking for a refund. Please share your experience.

The solution i am mentioning about hosing ASP.NET MVC apps with pretty URLs on IIS6 are This ONE and This ONE.

Good Luck Hosting with hosting ASP.NET MVC apps. Microsoft, Could you Please provide us some DEV HOSTING PACKAGES for some decent price to play with new technologies. Thanks!!!

I should get back to writing

Uncategorized

Its amazing how time files…Almost an year since my last entry. Even though i have couple of good excuses for not writing frequently, almost one year is not something i could explain.

From now on, i would like to try to write some short entries and hopefully keep this blog active.

Happy Blogging…