Archive for the ‘Windows Web Hosting’ Category

Which sites run in that Application Pool (IIS6 / IIS7)?

As a hosting company we’re frequently having to deal with code run amok from our customers, and the tell tale sign is usually a process consuming a large amount of memory or CPU cycles.   If you’re running a VPS in our clour or possibly a dedicated server and are hosting multiple sites, you might need to do this yourself from time to time.  Once you find the given process running under w3wp.exe the toughest thing to figure out is which application pool in IIS is causing the issue so you can find which site(s) are at fault.  Luckily there are some easy to use tools to hunt that down.  Here’s how you do that:

First, find the offending process in the Task Manager, and make sure you can view the process ID.  If not showing, go to View in the top menu and select columns and check PID.  From there, the process varies from IIS6 to IIS7.

For IIS6:
  – Open a command prompt
  – Run C:\Windows\system32\cscript iisapp.vbs
  – The result will look like the following allowing you to match up the Application Pool Names you have setup in IIS to the Process ID from Task Manager:

Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.6
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-2001. All rights reserved.

W3WP.exe PID: 3216   AppPoolId: rackwire1.com
W3WP.exe PID: 5012   AppPoolId: rackwire2.com
W3WP.exe PID: 5196   AppPoolId: rackwire3.com
W3WP.exe PID: 4224   AppPoolId: rackwire4.com
W3WP.exe PID: 5856   AppPoolId: rackwire5.com

For IIS7:
  - Open a command prompt (Since this is likely a Windows 2008 server, make sure to run as Administrator or you won’t have the needed privileges)
  – This time you run C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd list wp
  – The result will look similar to the above from IIS6, with the same info, but slightly different format:

WP “5128″ (applicationPool:rackwire1.com)
WP “4548″ (applicationPool:rackwire2.com)
WP “6648″ (applicationPool:rackwire3.com)
WP “2408″ (applicationPool:rackwire4.com)

So that’s it, pretty simple overall.  Now you will know which app pool is causing you headaches.  The next steps are to track down in IIS which sites are running in that app pool to determine which might be at fault.

Could not load file or assembly ‘Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=10.0.0.0……

Have you seen this error before on your website?  With the growing use of .Net 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010, many developers are using the built in ReportViewer control to create great looking AJAX based reports in their sites.  The only problem is when you then deploy applications with these controls to your web hosting company, you may get the error above.  The issue comes from the fact that the dll’s needed to support this control do not get set to have local copies in your project files and may not be present on the server.  Luckily there is an easy fix if you host your own server or have a web hosting company who will install the ReportViewer controls on their server.  The Microsoft Report Viewer 2010 Redistributable Package can be downloaded and installed on the web server and will immediately fix the error you would have seen before.  Here at Rackwire we’ve installed this package on our shared web servers so you can create great looking reports, error free.  Happy coding!

Rackwire Supports .Net 4.0

We are pleased to announce support for .Net 4.0 on Rackwire’s Windows Hosting plans.  We have updated all of our shared web hosting servers to support .Net 4.0 and you can select between which version of .Net you would like to run for each website you host under your account.  Full support for .Net 1.0 through 4.0.

Windows Hosting Control Panel

Our Windows Shared Web Hosting comes with a full control panel where you can do some of the following actions:

  • Manage Domain/DNS
  • Setup Websites/Directories
  • Create FTP Accounts
  • Manage Files
  • Create Databases
  • Create Mail Domains and Accounts
  • Schedule Tasks, suck as backups
  • Install Microsoft and .Net Apps

Our Industry leading Control panel allows you to take full control ovver your web applicaiton and manage it yourself!  Here is an overview screenshot of a sample account using our .net Web Hosting Control Panel.

There is also an e-mail interface where you can add and create e-mail accounts:

Adding a New User in Windows Server 2008

If you would like to give another user Remote Desktop access to your Windows Server 2008 VPS or Dedicated server, you will need to create a local user.  Here is how you would do this:

  • Login to your server with the Administrator account.
  • Open up the “Server Management” tool by right clicking on “Computer”  and then clicking on “Manage”.
  • Expand the “Configuration” tab and then expand the “Local Users and Groups” tab.
  • Right click on “Users” and click “New User…”
  • Enter the user name that you would like to create in the “User name:” field.
  • Make sure that you uncheck “User must change password at next logon” and make sure that you check both “User cannot change password” and “Password never expires”.
  • Once you click create, this user will be added.

If you need anymore help, do not hesitate to contact our support department.

Barracuda or Postini SPAM filtering

I HATE SPAM.  I am getting tons of it, even on my new domain name I have only had running for half a year.  So I started researching, how did I get on a spamers list?  Here are a few ways that your e-mail address/domain can get found:

  • Putting the address on a webpage, in an HTML mailto: link.
  • Posting to Craigslist, replying to a question and/or reponding to a fake ad.
  • Putting an addess on a Yahoo Group
  • Posting a comment on a public website
  • Opting out of an illicit opt-out list
  • Posting to a newsgroup
  • posting on a mailing list
  • An account that was only publicised in the Hotmail directory and Internet White pages
  • Signing up for a non-reputable website, mailing list…..goforcheapvacations.com, etc

So the question is not how do I make sure my address never gets SPAMMED, the questions is how do I block and protect my address once it does get SPAMMED.  RackWire.com has two best of breed offerings it pairs with it’s web hosting and e-mail hosting packages:

Postini Anti Spam is an industry leader in message management: filtering unsolicited junk mail and halting possible threats, while providing easy-to-use management controls and archiving. Postini is the most comprehensive, most flexible, and most trusted anti-spam and anti-virus management solution on the market today.  Postini is priced at a per account basis, at $1/mo per mailbox, but gives each user a Postini Login.

The Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall is an integrated hardware and software solution designed to protect your email server from spam, virus, spoofing, phishing and spyware attacks. It leverages 12 comprehensive defense layers to provide industry-leading defense capabilities for any email server.  Barracuda Spam Filtering is at a per domain pricing of $5/mo per domain and does not give a web login to each user.

What Application Installers are Included with Linux Hosting?

Take the Guess-work out of installing Web Based Software with RackWire’s Cost Effective Linux Hosting.  RackWire’s Linux Website Hosting Features cPanel User Control Panel and Fantastico De Luxe Software Installer.  Using Fantastico you can Automatically insall any of the listed application in your Shared Hosting Plan.  Installing the Script will use your included Hosting Plan and MySQL Database to give you instant Web Application Setup. 

RackWire_Fantastico_Installers_Hosting

Blog Software:
b2evolution
Nucleus
WordPress
 
Classified Software:
Noahs Classifieds
 
Content Management Software:
Drupal
Geeklog
Joomla 1.5
Joomla
Mambo
PHP-Nuke
phpWCMS
phpWebSite
Siteframe
TYPO3
Xoops
Zikula
 
Customer Relationship (CRM) Software:
Crafty Syntax Live Help
Help Center Live
osTicket
PerlDesk
PHP Support Tickets
Support Logic Helpdesk
Support Services Manager
 
Discussion Boards
phpBB
SMF
 
E-Commerce Site Software:
CubeCart
OS Commerce
Zen Cart
 
F.A.Q. Tools:
FAQMasterFlex
 
Hosting Billing Software:
AccountLab Plus
phpCOIN
 
Image Gallery Software:
4Images Gallery
Coppermine Photo Gallery
Gallery
 
Mailing Lists:
PHPlist
 
Polls and Survey Tools:
Advanced Poll
LimeSurvey
phpESP
 
Project Management Software:
dotProject
PHProjekt
 
Web Site Builders:
Soholaunch Pro Edition
Templates Express
 
Wiki Software:
TikiWiki CMS/Groupware
PhpWiki
 
Other Script Tools:
Dew-NewPHPLinks
Moodle (eLearning)
Open-Realty
OpenX
PHPauction
phpFormGenerator
WebCalendar

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SiteBuilder Image Gallery How To Guide

Here’s a brief tutorial about how to upload images for the Rackwire site builder.

SiteBuilder Access & Publishing FAQ

To access the Windows Hosting RackWire SiteBuilder go to:

http://sitebuilder.rackwire.com/Login.aspx

1.  Log into the SiteBuilder and follow the wizard to build your custom site.  Your Login User and Password is the same one that was created for your control panel account access and e-mailed to you.

2.  Follow the Wizard to choose a desired Website Template and build your custom site.

3.  Publish your Website to your hosting FTP Account with the following settings.  You will need to know your FTP Username and Password which is the same as the control panel account.

  • Web Site URL: your domain name at RackWire you would like to update.
  • Login: your FTP User Name (Same as your control panel login)
  • Password: your FTP Password (Same as your control panel password)
  • Working Directory: This is the directory path to your WWW folder.  You can get this by logging in via FTP, usually in the format: /username/yourdomain.com/wwwroot

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