Cold Fusion HostingThe 5 “S”s for Success

July 29, 2000

Presentation by Christine PascarellaVirtualscape

S#1 Starting out

Who hosts CF?How do you find a CF Host?What to look for?

Getting your site live! Server ManagementTechnical Support

Identifying a CF Hosting Company

(What to ask your host & yourself)Questions to ask

yourself….

• What is the role Cold Fusion on your site?

• Do you require special Cold Fusion tags, features, etc.

• What type of assistance do you need? (programming, design, management)

• Is your site mission critical?

Questions to ask your provider

• What type of technical support do they offer?

• What is their experience with Cold Fusion?

• What version of CF are they running?

• What databases do they support?

• Do they perform keyword monitoring?

S#2 - Statistics

– What are they?• Web server logs, Cold Fusion logs

– What tools are available?• Webtrends, Live Stats

– How logs tie into scalability.

How to use Statistics

Dedicated Environment

• CF log analysis.• Performance Monitoring.• # of Concurrent

Connections.• The importance of

testing remotely.• Keyword monitoring.

In a Shared Environment

• The importance of raw log files.

• Looking at log reports.• Knowing your traffic flow.

S #3 - Scalability

How Scaleable is your application?– Database issues– Session Management– Sending Email (CFMail)– Load Balancing & Failover

Database Scalability

• When is the right time to make a change?

• Moving from one database to another.

• Is the database slowing you down or is it your code?

• Optimizing your database queries to increase performance.

050,000100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000

MS AccessSQL ServerOracle

MSAccess

150,000

SQLServer

250,000

Oracle 350,000

Avg. # Page Views (assuming a shared

environment)

Session Management

NT Servers - Where to store your variables?

1) Registry2) ODBC connection to

SQL Server3) Session

management independent of Cold Fusion.

CFMail

• How much mail are you sending out?

• Sharing vs. dedicated mail servers.• Benefits of queuing.• The SPAM test (formatting

properly).

Server Clusters - Web Farms

Advanced Server Hosting– Multi-server environment – Insurance that site will always be

available– Load balancing and redundancy– Failover options– Higher cost of entry and maintenance

S #4 - Security

How Secure is your application?– SSL, PGP– Identifying Security Holes, security

scans– Firewalls, VPNs and Point-to-Point

SSL & PGP

• SSL - just for e-commerce?• PGP - how to implement it.• Using CF to encrypt your pages.

Finding Security Holes

• BugTraq (popular mailing lists)• Security Scans• Realtime security monitoring• Security Officers (staff)

Firewalls

Firewall functions:• Packet filtering• Port lockdowns• Screening policies• Secure remote

server administration

S #5 Speaking to your Host

Make sure you have a good relationship.

Let your host know your plans.

Get advice on your approach.

Summary

The 5 S’s of Success

– Starting Out– Statistics– Scalability– Speaking to your host– Security