.Net and Some (may be MORE) Random Thoughts » Hosting

Moved to Windows Server 2008 Hosting

budigelli — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:02:38 +0000

The move to windows server 2008 is mostly done. I have the sites hosted on server 2008 and i still need to update my mail servers. It took a while to get them running but i am happy that its done.

I had some trouble with web.config file migration in the beginning (need to migrate web.config file to work on server 2008’s integrated mode).

All the projects i am working on going through a face-lift at this time. I will update the progress as i make them available.

Thanks for your time..

Search for new windows server 2008 host continues

budigelli — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:48:11 +0000

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.

Mean while, I have tried/tested HostExcellence.com and FullControl.net. I would try to elaborate more on that some time.

I finally found that my current host (where the application is current running), WebHost4life.com is providing Windows Server 2008 (from today!!!). I have asked them to upgrade my account to the Server 2008 platform. They are usually pretty good to respond, lets see what happens this time.

Note : This domain (budigelli.com) is hosted on Media Temple. So far, i am happy with them for the price and features.

Thanks,

Moving from Shared Hosting to VPS

budigelli — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:20:58 +0000

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)

Those were my requirements! Am i asking for too much? Not sure, but could not find a host offering the above hosting package under $50.00. If any hosting provider(s) reading this post, there is a sector not covered!!!

The biggest problem i see with most hosting package is the SQL Server Space. Some of them offer as much as 50MB (Not a TYPO). 50MB? and let me install up to 6 Databases each with that size. I am not really what i could do with 50MB, esp – my app regularly pools data from different data sources.

With all said and done, i have signed up with a Basic VPS package on GoDaddy.com. I was not sure what to expect when moving from a shared hosting to VPS, but i was in for a big surprise.

On shared hosting, all i needed to do was upload the files and make sure my connection string are properly mapped! On VPS, i have this server (clean slate) that need to configure as per my needs. I am installing .NET 3.5, SQL Express, ASP.NET Preview 3, Configuring my emails (POP3 and SMTP). Big Change!!! i am not even at half way through my set up and would write more on how it goes…

If you are moving from a shared hosting to either VPS/VDS or Dedicated Server, plan on setting aside some time for deployment. Good Luck

Hosting ASP.NET MVC applications

budigelli — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:39:46 +0000

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!!!