Often databases are erroneously perceived as obsolete tools used only to organize and store important information used to generate scheduled reports or extract data to illustrate on graphs.  With the e-commerce industry, however, raking in billions of dollars in annual profits, entrepreneurs with online ventures recognize the vast opportunities of utilizing web host databases.   Implementing web host databases allows online business owners to enhance website visibility, conveniently alter changes to dynamic website content, assist in personalizing interactive experiences, and maintain current customer information.

Selecting an Effective Database Package

Depending upon the web hosting provider and package you opt to purchase usually determines the available database server(s) that you will be granted access to in order to maintain your website.   For those opting to purchase a Linux web hosting package, usually MySQL is the primary database server;  although hinging on the web hosting service, PostgreSQL databases may also be available to use.

Windows web hosting is another option that also allows users to utilize MySQL databases in combination with web scripts as well as specific Microsoft database applications such as Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access.  It’s important to note that both of these applications are recommended for ASP and ASP.NET websites.  Depending on your database web hosting experience and desired expectations from your database should be the determining factors when deciding on the best database if you are managing a PHP or ASP supported website.

Microsoft Access is an affordable and easy to use desktop database application if you don’t anticipate your website to generate heavy traffic; however, for expanding websites with potential of heavy traffic flow, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL Server may prove to be the best option.  It’s important to understand the size of your database is considered as resources being utilized.  So if your database is eating up disk space then a dedicated server may prove to be beneficial for your database hosting needs.

Advantages of Web Host Databases

There are numerous advantages of using a database to effectively and efficiently manage your website.  Perhaps the most obvious is the fact a database allows you to setup a central location where information is stored and then allows you to write your own scripts, if so desired.  Another “behind the scenes” advantage of databases is the fact it enhances visitor interaction by allowing you to develop forms to be added to your website, once visitors complete the information and submit the form then the information is processed and conveniently added to the database.  Other benefits include: the ability to setup password protected areas of your website, quickly add more personalized features, and offer visitors more current and exciting dynamic content.

Successful entrepreneurs doing business in the global e-commerce marketplace also realize the benefits of using databases to assist in their online ventures.  Databases are an essential tool that allows online business merchants to quickly access product information stored in a database to adjust prices on one or more items without the need to create a static webpage for each individual product.  Additionally, databases store customer information including contact information, purchase history, and preferred payment methods.  Last but certainly not least, databases are also vital in maintaining mailing lists as well as newsletter subscriptions.

The collective advantages make web hosting databases a vital tool necessary to be taken as a serious competitor in today’s fierce competition.   Keep in mind though that some database web hosting servers may exceed your budget, so before making a final decision shop around before committing to any contract!

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Original: Web Hosting Databases: Breaking the Data Storage Mold Imagine

There are many different developer certifications available. To add to the long list is a .NET web content management system certificate offered by Kentico. This will certify its graduates as CMS technology experts.

While there are many vendors that offer CMS certifications, Kentico is the most recent. The basics of the course include:

• Upon completion, the result is a Kentico Certified Developer
• One year of Kentico CMS development experience is required or completion of Kentico CMS 5 Certified Developer Training
• Demonstration of the understanding of ASP.NET, the .NET framework, web interfaces, CSS and website deployment are scrutinized

The exam for the certification is 50 questions an available anytime online for $199. The long debate over whether certifications immediately make someone an expert continues. There are plenty of good developers that didn’t pass certification exams. They are still experts; they just don’t have a certification document proving this fact.

Many believe that time and money is better spent on Microsoft certifications as their courses tend to cover more information and different types of vendors. Unfortunately most experts believe that a non-committed or poor developer that obtains a certification will weaken the whole system.

Kentico is adding to the certification list to provide a quick and easy method to recognize highly-skilled developers. They claim the return on investment is maximized and time to market is reduced through their certification course.

The Kentico CMS certification course is a partner of Microsoft. This proves their conformance with Microsoft testing protocols such as Microsoft Platform Test for Windows Server 2003, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Test and Microsoft Managed Code Test.

There are two types of courses offered by Kentico: the Certified Content Administrator Training and the Certified Developer Training. The administrative training instructs students on how to use Kentico CMS 5 to create and publish content. It also teaches users how to perform their daily tasks utilizing this software. The developer training focuses on speedy website deployments, best programming and design practices, as well as showcasing the capabilities of the Kentico CMS.

Kentico is providing another addition to the list of vendor certifications by offering an administrative and developer training. These courses teach all aspects of the Kentico Content Management System to the users. This is helpful with daily tasks as well as following good design and practices. Any additional courses do add credibility to your workplace experience and this is no exception.

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Original: A Look at The New Developer Certification for .NET Content Management System Experts

Though best known for its extensive suite of proprietary commercial products, as of late, Microsoft has been dabbling a lot more in the field of open-source development.  Many suspect that this is due to rising competition from major open-source players such as Red Hat, Adobe and Google.  It has just been revealed that Microsoft is working on a new content management software application along with a set of reusable compatible components.  Going by the codename of Orchard, the software details will be shared at the TechEd Europe event.  Perhaps the most surprising part about all of this is that Orchard is said to be a free open-source web CMS set to rival with popular systems such as Joomla, Mambo and Drupal.

While Microsoft is being tight-lipped and secretive about the project, we were able to gather some details on what is currently known about the Orchard CMS.

Orchard Overview

Orchard is Microsoft’s latest effort to distribute free open-source software with reusable components and a fully featured application capable of creating a wide variety of types of websites.  The company’s core team of expert ASP.NET developers is actively seeking contributions and guidance from the community of .NET programmers to help get the project off on the right in the early goings.  According to a representative from Microsoft, Bradley Millington, who has been anointed as Engineering Lead for the Orchid project, will be spearheading interactive discussions to invite the community to get actively involved on the ground floor.  Millington will be accepting input to get better understanding of what developers would like to see in the project, the components they envision for their own applications, and how to encourage the community to contribute to make the project a success.  Microsoft remarked that is open to discussing strategy, logistics, functionality and whatever else developers bring to the table.

Apparently, Orchard is not Microsoft’s first attempt in the open-source content management space.  A while back, it was reported that the company was working on a CMS project called Oxite.  In December of 2008, Microsoft made an alpha version of the Oxite source code available under the MS-P1 (Microsoft Public License).  Mary Joe Foley of ZDNet hinted that Orchard could be right on time and become one of the first projects announced for the CodePlex Foundation.  Created to allow for the exchange of code and collaboration among software vendors and the open-source developer community, the Foundation recently released the first working draft of its Project Acceptance and Operation Guidelines.  When Foley asked if Orchard was simply a revamped version Oxite under a different name, Microsoft did not respond.

We all know that Microsoft is very skilled at keeping secrets and rolling out big surprises.  Therefore, we just might have to wait until the TechEd Europe Session takes place on November 11 to get more comprehensive details on the Orchard project.  As soon we get something more concrete, we will surely try to pass along the news.

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Original: Microsoft Launching an Open-Source CMS?

Microsoft is making its presence felt in the ongoing development of the web.  Its proprietary technologies are being increasingly used to create everything from blogs and e-commerce sites to dynamic business applications and large corporate portals.  One development tool that has Microsoft written all over is a little software package known as Graffiti.

What is Graffiti?

Graffiti is a simply built CMS used to create and manage various types of websites.  In this instance, the CMS abbreviation stands for content made simple.  Some refer to Graffiti as a blogging platform, even though it offers features and functionality that you commonly find in more robust content management systems.  To put it simple, Graffiti offers the power to create a blog or perform basic web content management.  It’s all about what you need the software to do.

Core Technologies

Graffiti is built on the ASP.NET 2.0 framework.  The package is very Microsoft friendly as it supports databases that include MS SQL, MS Access and VistaDB.  A major advantage of its database configuration is that it allows you to easily switch to any of the supported databases without making adjustments to the code itself.  Being scripted in ASP.NET makes Graffiti incredibly easy to install.  Simply copy the code into the IIS virtual directory, tweak a few system settings and you’re done.

Content Management

Graffiti is a simple CMS.  Therefore, it does have some administrative features, but they are not as extensive as what you would find in other systems.  Nevertheless, there are a number of useful features that allow you to easily manage your site and content items.

Site Settings - This lets you set site wide default settings for your website title, tagline, metadata, header and Feedburner links among other elements.

Comments - This lets you set site wide settings for your comments based on criteria such as the Askiment ID, the time period an entry can be commented on and who is allowed to comment on what post.  Even if comments are allowed on a site wide basis, they can still be disabled for specific content entries.

Plugins - Allows you to view, enable and disable the extensions currently incorporated into your site.

Packages – In the world of Graffitti, packages are a collection of components such as plugins, themes, widgets and alert filters.  This setting allows you to manage these elements from a centralized area.

Utilities – This represents a toolkit that allows you to manage your site in various ways.  You can rebuild pages, view log files and access a web-based file browser.

License – Allows you to view and manage the licenses for your relative software.

Keep An Eye on Graffiti

According to Telligent, the software’s developer, Graffiti will undergo major improvements in the very near future.  The company plans to leverage cloud storage as well as a more advanced spam filtering solution.  Look for this CMS to become more extendable as it is made to support a wider variety of themes, widgets and plugins from the developer community.  If you want an easy to use platform that favors the Microsoft .NET stack, Graffiti could be the solution.

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Original: Graffiti: The .NET-Friendly CMS

The web hosting business is driven by powerful systems and technologies, most of which are enabled by software tools.  Software is also a major draw of hosting packages as web hosts tend to offer a myriad of free programs.  Let’s go over some of the software you are bound to encounter when on the hunt for a web hosting service.

Control Panels

One type of software you will have frequent and direct access to is the control panel.   This application will provide the interface that allows you to set up email accounts, manage your webmail, add on domains and various other administrative tasks.  Some web hosting providers offer third-party control panels such as Plesk and cPanel while others develop their own custom programs.  Although the features and functionality may vary, all control panels strive to meet one goal – provide you with authority over your web hosting account.

Site Builders

In the web hosting world, site builders are exactly what they sound like: tools that allow you to create your website.  Almost every hosting provider offers some type of site builder or at least support for others.  This could be integrated utilities such as RV Builder or compatible applications like Microsoft FrontPage or Dreamweaver.  Regardless of the vendor, most site builders cater to the users by enabling you to build a site from scratch with pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop functionality.

Content Management Systems

A content management system or CMS, can be viewed as a more robust and capable alternative to the traditional site builder.  These programs offer features that surpass the norm, allowing you to effectively manage the content on websites of various sizes.  Some of today’s most well known content management systems are totally free to use.  These variations include open-source applications like Mambo, PHP-Nuke, Drupal and the award-winning Joomla CMS.  The CMS has become so popular that many customers flock to hosting solutions based solely on the content management tools offered.

Server-Side Scripts

Although server-side scripting refers to programming technologies, these languages and frameworks are actually enabled through software packages.  For example, a web host that offers PHP, Perl or ASP.NET is able to do so because they have these software applications installed on their web servers.  This allows you to enhance your HTML pages with dynamic, interactive features.  Server-side programming languages get more advanced with each release so there is virtually no limit to the functionality your site can enjoy.

Mail Servers

The mail server is one of the most important elements of a hosting package.  This type of program acts a transport agent that processes email from within the same domain.  Some of the most common examples of mail servers include Sendmail, qmail, Exim and Microsoft Exchange.  These applications typically work in conjunction with mail clients such as Outlook and Eudora, which forward messages to the server.

What’s Your Software?

There is definitely no shortage of software tools in the web hosting business.  Whether you are a novice or pro, your needs modest or complex, the features you get the most out of will surely be enabled by one form of software or another.

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Original: Common Web Hosting Software Programs