You probably know that CF Webtools hosts a fair number of sites in our own burgeoning data center. We are not a commodity host (i.e. Godaddy or HostMySite). Instead, we host a large group of Farcry sites, several dedicated servers, and a large group of very complicated Coldfusion sites with special requirements (data feeds, point to point encryption, data aggregation and third party secure services etc.). Our hosting has grown substantially in the last year and has become an excellent revenue center for us.
One of the type of projects we find ourselves doing with some regularity is a "site re-host". Usually a company has an application that clearly requires more help and attention than can be gained using a commodity host and self service control panels. Furthermore, such sites have often "evolved" from widgety little intranet type sites with B2B tools, special custom ecommerce applications or homegrown CMS capabilities into monsters of maintenance with hundreds of pages (many of them titled stuff like "order_bak.cfm" or "index.old"). Incidently never leave a file like "index.old" on your web site. If the web server is in default config mode it can serve that file up to your user without running it through the Coldfusion engine. That exposes your code and makes you easier to attack.
In any case, re-hosting a site seems like a simple enterprise. If your site consists of a database and codebase then it can be simple - but the devil is in the details (and in the cat as my Dad use to say). Here is a rundown that you might find useful.
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In this post, part 2 "b" in our search engine series, we will discuss how the content and structure of your page might influence how your site is viewed by search engines. In part 1 we talked about having useful and valuable content. That lesson is the foundation on which all other legitimate techniques must be based. If your content is not useful you are part of the problem we are trying to solve. In Part 2 "a" we talked about stuff that goes into the header. Now it's time to talk about things that go into the actual page.
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In this post, part 2 in our search engine series, we will discuss important aspects of coding and designing that will facilitate easier indexing by search engines and create a higher likelihood of a rising page rank. In Part 1 of this series we discussed the concept that your web site needs valuable and fresh content to really be useful to search engines. Without useful content your web site will not be a destination that anyone wants to visit, and therefore it will not be something that search engines (who are customer focused) want to index. Keep part 1 in mind as we discuss what you can do with your code and with your pages. Unless you have solved the puzzle of maintaining fresh and valuable content on your web site, you will be spinning your wheels.
Of course, you can use certain techniques to get yourself ranked high - at least temporarily. But my guess is that you will spend just as much time changing your code in a running battle to keep yourself on top of Google as you would if you learned to write and maintain good information on your site. By the way, those "black-hat techniques" are not discussed in this post. This post is about preparing your valuable content to be consumed by a search engine that wants and needs it - not about tricking a search engine into indexing less than worthy content. With that in mind....
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Practically every day a customer of ours will ask us about search engine optimization (SEO). It usually starts with something like, "What can I do to get ranked higher on search engines?" or "Why doesn't my site show up on Google?" or maybe "How do I use this new fangled contraption called a mouse?" I usually begin by patiently explaining that SEO is kind of an art - a dance between developer coding techniques, business strategies, content and the search engine. It's a boxing match where everyone has a part to play and the ground is always shifting. I go on from dancing and boxing to several other metaphors involving movement and competition (and one involving cheese). Then I recommend a few changes. At this point the customer usually says something like, "...and that will get me on the first page of search engines, right?" To answer I usually tell the Joke about MTV asking Bob Dole the same question they asked Clinton, "Do you wear boxers or briefs". Seventy year old Dole responded, "Depends".
(Series: click here for Part 2 - The Header )
So you want an SSL certificate and your customer insists on using Verisign eh? Here's something to watch out for - the "domain registrant". In case you needed another indicator that the whole SSL "authority" game is a protection racket, let me fill you in on my tail of woe. I have a customer who insisted on using Verisign for his SSL certificate. I dutifully went to Verisign and purchased the overpriced product and waited for my new cert to arrive. Shortly after the purchase I got a note from Verisign support. My customer in his wisdom had made the domain private. Because a "WHOIS" query identified the domain as private, Verisign couldn't verify that they "owned" the domain. Our first step was to make the information public. That turned out to be only the beginning of our trouble.
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I was referred by this CF-Talk thread to an interesting article on domain kiting by Bob Parsons, the founder of goDaddy.com. The basic premise is the same as that of kiting a check - with the exception that domain kiters don't ever cover the cost. You probably are already aware of the term domain kiting, but in case you are not aware, here's a rundown.
This is why the internet reminds me of Star Wars. It's like an all powerful force with a dark side and a light side - with me as a part of a small rebel force....
One of the things I often recommend when upgrading or troubleshooting is a "clean install". What I mean is that all traces of the previous product should be removed and a fresh "from scratch" installation attempted. If possible, this should start with the Operating system. Here's my tip list for a clean install of Windows 2000(3) server with Coldfusion.
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Let me set the scene. A client's server was set up with about 20 sites. One site in particular was quite busy. After what has been described as a "spontaneous reboot" the server began have problems. It would stay up with all the sites enabled except for the one busy site. As soon as that site was enabled, running requests would climb slowly till they reached the simultaneous request threshold, then queued request would climb until the server was unresponsive.
NOTE: There is a follow up to this post.