Hello, recently I sent a bunch of basic questions concerning CF8 hosting plans to the HMS supporters. Unfortunately I didn't get any response yet and I don't know if I ever will. May somebody out there can give me some brief answers - I would appreciate it!

Dear Sirs

I'm actually updating a project which I built in Coldfusion MX using a Microsoft Access database. The update contains several ColdFusion 8 tags and functions. Unfortunately my actual hosting partner here in Switzerland doesn't and won't offer a hosting plan for CF8. Before I sign up for your CF Builder or CF Builder+ I wanted to make sure that the following needs are fulfilled by HMS. May I ask you to send me brief answers to the following questions:

1. The DNS will be still managed / organized here in Switzerland. I will point several domains on the same host which I would like to run on your platform – is there a problem with this? Can I configure this with the control panel or so?

2. The database (a *.mdb file) lies somewhere in the file structure of the site. Can I upload and tell CF8 where the database lies? Can I do this config with the control panel or so?

3. I am using CF8 commands like:
cffile
cfdocument
cfimage
cfpdf
cfchart
Do you support all of these and are there any restrictions writing and reading files to the directory structure?

4. cfpdf creates PDF including the font-family 'Century Gothic' and 'Frutiger'. Is there any problem with this? (CF MX was causing troubles! We had to fix this on the physical web server!)

5. To test whether everything works I would like to make your system answer to a request like 'http://test.xyz.ch'. Is this possible? When I had a first glance at your order possibilities for CF Builder+ I noticed that you mandatory ask for http://www….. how would I configure http://test.xyz.ch? Anyway it seems that you were running Beta trials in the past – is there no longer a possibility to try out your plans for free?

I appreciate your short answers.

Yes. You can manage your domain from anywhere. But your name servers must point to HMS name servers.



Yes. You can create a datasource from the HostMySite control panel that points to your access database. You might want to consider converting your database to SQL server for better performance and security



Yes. they will all work. You can read the HostMySite CF8 FAQ's here:



As long as the fonts are installed on the server you should not have a problem. I can't answer if they are or aren't



Not really sure what your asking here. If you are asking if you can run two seperate websites like store.xyz.ch and support.xyz.ch then the answer is no. Each hosting account only allows one single website. You can have as many subdomains as you want, but they all must point to the same website.

Question 5 isn't that clear, but to add to Jason's answer, you get a dedicated IP with the plan, so you can use that to test the site to make sure everything works. If you want to setup a subdomain (like test.domain.com or dev.domain.com) to test the site, that is fine too.

CF8 was in beta, but now it is live on the servers, so when you sign up, you'll be on a CF8 server. And you can try out the services risk free, there is a 30 day money back guarantee.

Dear Connie, dear Jason many thanks for your input. I will try to clarify my questions.



Yes. You can manage your domain from anywhere. But your name servers must point to HMS name servers.

I want to configure the DNS by myself and NOT with HMS. So my question is partly answered by Connie. I need the IP of the web server at HMS or parameters to configure the CNAME. Is this request fulfilled with HMS?



As long as the fonts are installed on the server you should not have a problem. I can't answer if they are or aren't

Do you have any experience with such requests? Would HMS install my needed fonts?



I try to explain in a different way. I built a website and it's running under http://www.yxz.ch. A second URL, http://www.xyz.ma, shows exactly the same site. The DNS for both domains points on the same host and web. For the moment this/these site(s) have to stay up and running. My idea to test whether everything works fine with HMS is to set up http://test.xyz.ch (and may be additionally http://test.xyz.ma) running at HMS. The DNS config for test.xyz.ch (and test.xyz.ma) will be done on my side, so I need an IP of the web server at HMS or all parameters for a CNAME.

Please let me know whether it's still unclear. As you might notice I'm more in building websites than configuring systems :-)

Kind regards

Having support copy the fonts to the server shouldn't be an issue at all.
And hosting your own DNS is fine, since you have the dedicated IP, you can point to it in any which way you want. If you aren't sure about the records, you can always ask support or just check out your control panel (they'll set up your DNS record by default, so you can look in there to view it and copy those if need be on your own DNS configuration).

Hi,

as I understand you want to point multiple domains to one site.
This will be no problem since you will have a static IP provided by HMS. You can manage your domains on your side - all you have to do is point them to the IP provided by HMS.

I had some issues with CF8 specific tags (cfwindow etc.). But it's nothing you can't get rid of in a matter of minutes - just contact the support. In my case it was wrong path to the scripts folder.

I really have to admit, I never had better support than here.

Regards,
Luggage