ColdFusion
| ColdFusion: With ColdFusion, you can build and deploy powerful web applications and services with far less training time and fewer lines of code than ASP, PHP, and JSP. Version 7.0 introduces powerful new application services including rich Flash forms generation, structured reports, and dynamic generation of printable documents. Coupled with version 6.1’s simplified installation and migration, updated key features, and increased in runtime performance, these features open up a new world of applications beyond the browser. | |
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CALL US Toll-Free at 800-745-3043 or Chat Live More info | | |   | Your source for web success. Broaden your reach and increase sales with Yahoo's comprehensive set of web-based solutions. More info | | | - What is ColdFusion?
ColdFusion is a program based on the CFMX programming language that builds and deploys powerful web applications and services. With proven tag-based methodology, ColdFusion’s features allow web developers to easily harness the power of the Java Platform to deliver powerful Internet applications to millions of people worldwide. ColdFusion is a server side language, which is executed by a ColdFusion application server. It works by executing CFM templates (which is a mixture of HTML and ColdFusion instructions) to return normal HTML to the requesting browser. The ColdFusion MX Enterprise software suite provides all the necessary software to create large-scale websites, applications, and hosting environments, and is available for either a stand-alone installation for web developers or for industry-level deployment on J2EE application servers.
- The true power of ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML)
The core functionality of ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) is centered on the use of tags. These server scripting tags give ColdFusion its speedy development applications for the web. CFML is quite simple to learn, but is powerful enough to handle even the most complex and demanding web applications. Processed entirely on the server, CFML uses syntax closely resembling that of HTML and XML. CFML consists of two primary language elements: tags and functions. Tags let you perform operations such as accessing a database. Functions can return data and do other operations like retrieving the system date. Tags, functions and operators make up expressions. Building expressions in ColdFusion is easy and can include simple as well as complex elements. The ways in which these expressions and elements are used determine how ColdFusion processes your program.
- Is ColdFusion easy to learn?
Out of the many different methods used to develop and build web applications, pages, and services, ColdFusion is by far the easiest to learn and use. For ColdFusion 7.0, Macromedia has created a helpful ‘Getting Started Experience’ interface that gives the new user access to tutorials, whitepapers, topic index, and even two sample applications to play with. There is no other language or product as well suited to web developers as ColdFusion. Easy-to-use visual tools and an intuitive server scripting environment allow new users to easily pick up the CFML language.
- Windows, UNIX, or Linux…which Should I Use To Run My Website?
Macromedia ColdFusion MX supports most operating systems including Windows, Unix, Linux, IBM AIX and HP-UX. Below is a list of operating system versions and system requirements for the latest ColdFusion version:
Windows OS
Intel Pentium processor or higher
256 MB RAM but 512 MB is highly recommended
400 MB of hard disk space available
Works on MS Windows 98 / ME / NT 4 / SP6A / 2000 /SP3 / XP/ 2003
Linux OS
Intel Pentium processor or higher
256 MB RAM but 512 MB is highly recommended
400 MB of hard disk space available
Red Hat Linux 7.2 / 7.3 / 8.0 / 9 / AS & ES 2.1 / AS & ES 3.0
SuSE Linux 7.2 / 7.3 / or 8X
Turbo Linux 8 Server ( Japanese Only)
Unix
SPARC, PA-RISC 1.1 / 2.0 / Power 3 processor
Sun Solaris 7 / 8 / 9
256 MB RAM but 512 MB is highly recommended
400 MB of hard disk space available
HP-UX 11i
IBM AIX 5L 4.3 / 3 / 5.1 / 5.2
Apple Mac OS X
- What Databases and Web Servers are supported with ColdFusion?
ColdFusion MX supports most major databases including Microsoft SQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2, Sybase and IBM Informix. In addition, CFMX can run on most major web servers including IIS, Apache and Sun One.
- What are the differences between the ColdFusion 7.0 editions?
Standard Edition: This edition is for single web application or small workgroup environments. It builds accessible, high-quality rich forms, transforms existing HTML content into PDF or FlashPaper 2 formats, creates structured business reports for workgroup applications, delivers charts and graphs, and increases text searching capabilities. Enterprise Edition: This edition is ideal for the quickly growing business. It includes all the features of the Standard Edition as well as scalability, performance, and enterprise management capabilities for larger web and business applications. The Enterprise Edition has multi-instance deployment and management, clustering, high-speed enterprise database drivers, server security J2EE packaging and deployment, and high-performance e-mail delivery. Yet the most anticipated feature of this edition is the event gateway, which enables ColdFusion applications to connect to mobile phones and instant messaging.
- How does ColdFusion run on application servers?
The ColdFusion MX runtime environment is actually a Java application that takes advantage of the many powerful services in the J2EE platform. What this J2EE platform does is connects the various databases, manages its own security, as well as processes the requests sent in by the application itself. When ColdFusion MX is installed in the J2EE configuration, the compiled infrastructure will be on top of the application server in order to execute the language’s applications. This configuration will allow developers to cultivate and set out pages, as well as manage the MX server settings using the ColdFusion Administrator.
- What are the advantages & disadvantages of using custom tags in ColdFusion?
Using custom tags within ColdFusion has its advantages and disadvantages. Custom tags written in CFML primarily try to achieve a simple balance between three aspects; taking argument statements, having body tags begin and end with the appropriate tag, and ensuring proper processing when a beginning tag is encountered by the ColdFusion program. If designed properly, these custom tags will also be able to be called recursively (meaning that it will have the functionality to call itself within the body tag). Although a custom tag in ColdFusion will call a page included the CFinclude tag, the disadvantage is that the code must be recursive, have developed complex functionality, and must be convenient for others (although often times code is not convenient). If creating either a User Defined Function (UDF) or a custom CFML tag, weigh the options carefully, since invoking a UDF requires less system overhead than using a custom tag.
- What are the new features for ColdFusion 7.0?
ColdFusion 7.0 brings a whole new level of features to developers. With better web application creation, new server management and deployment options, and a new class of applications, users are able to quickly create powerful Internet applications without spending a lot of time or money. Macromedia developed the new features to help web developers be more efficient in performing routine tasks such as structured business reporting, Flash-rich forms, and PDF and FlashPaper 2 document generation. ColdFusion Report Builder, a tool that helps users develop detailed business reports, will create sub reports, charts and graphs, automatically generate subtotals, and much more. ColdFusion 7.0 simplifies the form building process with the new Rich Flash and XML Forms capabilities. The new CFDOCUMENT feature eliminates chopping page printing with a single tag that transforms web pages into PDF or FlashPaper 2 formats.
- How do I purchase my own copy of ColdFusion?
The ColdFusion MX suite is available directly from Macromedia, local computer software resellers, licensing programs and some web hosts. | | |
| Virtual Private Servers Frequently Asked Questions ›› What is a Virtual Private Server?
›› What is a Virtual Dedicated Server?
›› How do I know if a Virtual Private Server is right for me?
›› Is a Virtual Private Server really more secure than a shared server?
›› How comes a Virtual Private Server is so much less than a dedicated server?
›› What are some questions I should ask a host about their Virtual Private Server?
›› Why would I want a Virtual Private Server instead of using shared hosting?
›› Do I need a control panel to administer the server?
›› My host says my site will go down if someone else's site does. What should I do?
›› Glossary of terms.
What is a Virtual Private Server?
A Virtual Private Server is a mix between a dedicated server and a shared hosting account. With a Virtual Private Server you still share system resources like the CPU and memory with other users but the file system is setup in such a way that you cannot tell the system has anyone else on it; it acts like a dedicated server. The CPU, Memory, and other resources are usually setup in such a way that each person is only allowed to use a certain percent of them so your resources are always available to you. This means that there is not one person, like can happen on a shared system, using all the resources all the time. Since the resources are setup in such a way that each person can only use so much of them, your site will be more consistent because it will always have the same amount of access to the CPU, memory, and most of the time bandwidth. ˆ back to top What is a Virtual Dedicated Server?
Some web hosting companies call a Virtual Private Server a Virtual Dedicated Server or the other way around. In both cases they do refer to the same thing. Companies have called the product Virtual Private Server for years now but since Virtual Dedicated Server is easier to understand for a normal user hosting some hosting companies have started to call it that instead. ˆ back to top How do I know if a Virtual Private Server is right for me?
If you are looking at a dedicated server or feel that a shared host might not be right for you then you should certainly look at a virtual private server. The price is right between a shared setup and a dedicated setup. You will have a more consistent site with a virtual private server than a shared server because a certain % of each resource is allocated to you meaning you do not have to fight the other hosts on the server to get access to those resources. A virtual private server is more secure than a shared system where one can actually figure whose site is hosted on the server. With a virtual private server no one can tell you are on the system and you cannot tell anyone else is on the system. ˆ back to top Is a Virtual Private Server really more secure than a shared server?
Yes a Virtual Private Server is more secure than a shared server due to how the file system is setup. Even though you are sharing CPU, memory, and network connectivity you do not share the same file system. This means if someone else’s virtual server gets broken into there is no way they can go from that virtual file system onto your virtual file system. In a shared system there is only one file system and users can go anywhere they want on it to see who else is on there so if someone were to break into a site on a shared system they would have access to all the sites on the server. ˆ back to top How comes a Virtual Private Server is so much less than a dedicated server
Depending on the Virtual Private Server you are looking at and the dedicated server you are looking at there can be a considerable price difference. The reason for the price difference is that there are usually 10 or more customers sharing the resources and therefore the expense of the hardware where with a dedicated server it is only one person paying for it. A Virtual Private Server is a great way to get the security and privacy of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost. ˆ back to top What are some questions I should ask a host about their Virtual Private Server?
Does your setup have a maximum amount of memory, CPU %, and/or bandwidth a site can use?
Is there a control panel for administering the server?
How many clients are there on the system?
If someone else’s web server/site crashes will it affect mine?
How often do you back up the system? ˆ back to top Why would I want a virtual private server instead of using shared hosting?
There are limitations to having shared hosting services and the biggest one is you cannot usually compile or install your own software. More specifically say you want your web server to be able to use a certainly technology like PHP but the host does not have it setup for you. As a regular user you cannot install the software needed to use PHP but in the Virtual Private Server system you can install any software you want because you have full control. This means that you would be able to install PHP and any other software you want. ˆ back to top Do I need a control panel to administer the server?
There are a lot of things you can do with a virtual private server as you do have root access on your own file system. This means if you do not know what you are doing then typing the wrong command into the command line could easily mess up your system very easily; it will not mess up anyone else’s system on the same server though. This means you might be interested in having a control panel so that you can just click some buttons and what you want to be done is done. There is no way you can make a mistake this way so it is safer. If you want to spend more of your time doing marketing or other parts of the business instead of administering the web server then you will probably want a control panel on your system. ˆ back to top My host says my site will go down if someone else's site does. What should I do?
Some hosts set up the Virtual Private System different than other hosts. The whole purpose of having a Virtual Private System is that you are more secure than a shared host and you have more control. If everyone on the server has his or her sites served using the same web server then it is not a real Virtual Private System and it is not secure. It is possible to have your file system be virtual so no one else can get at it but if you are sharing the same web server then that all of a sudden makes it so it is not as secure and you should go with a different hosting company because they are only giving you about one quarter of what you really should be getting. ˆ back to top
Glossary of terms:
File System
A system of storing files on the hard drive and in this case the files are stored in such a way that only your account(s) have access to them. This is more secure than shared hosting where everyone is on the same file system and could go look in other areas where they should not be. Root
This is the super user, or the user with control over everything, on a computer system. This user can do anything they want on the computer system from installing software to deleting everything on a system. Control Panel
A web based interface, which allows users to administer their server by clicking on different icons instead of having to memorize commands. The commands would be run on the command line and if typed in incorrect they could seriously harm a system and stop it from running forcing the hosting company to have to restore the system from a backup. Command Line
This resembles DOS in that it is just a blank screen with a prompt where the administrator/user would type in commands for the system to run. Most users would rather use a web base interface or a graphical interface to administer their system because there is less chance of error.
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Coldfusion 
