Is there a reliable mail server on Windows 2008 web edition? - windows-server-2008

I'm currently looking for a webhost that offers Windows 2008 virtual or dedicated hosting for my ASP.NET app. On dedicated hosting you pay a monthly fee for Windows, I noticed there's a noticeable difference in cost between the web edition and the standard edition, so, my question is:
Does the standard edition come with MS Exchange? If so, is there any reliable equivalent in the web edition?
Thanks

No version of Windows Server 2008 OS (Web, Standard, Enterprise) comes with Exchange. They all have basic outgoing smtp capabilities but if your want imap, pop3, or webmail you need to look for a 3rd party product.
A popular free mail server is SmarterMail

As far as I know the web edition is only for hosting web sites. It does not include any mail server like exchange. It should have an smtp server and should be able to accept mail, but nothing like Exchange.
It might be possible to install a mail server on web edition, but I don't have enough knowledge to know for sure.
In past versions you could not install sql server on the web edition. I am not sure if that has changed.

Another good free email server is hMailServer. I've been using it, and its greylisting feature has really cut down on spam. However, I don't know if this will run on the web edition of Windows Server.

I just read on the SmartTools forum that SmarterMail will run on the web edition.

Does anything know the purpose of getting the Standard Edition of Server 2008 over the Web Edition? I am hosting ASP.NET websites with MySQL 5, SmarterMail and SmarterStats, and need 4 GB min of memory. Will the Web Edition work for this? Just want to make sure it doesn't block ports or anything. I read on another site that they don't allow you to run a mail server on the web edition. The price difference between the two is huge.

Related

Sync Framework: SQL Server to SQL Server To SQL Express

I'm very new to Sync Framework, Still exploring different possibilities. Here is my Scenario.
We need to have an application (SQL Server and ASP.Net) which is hosted on our web server. Users can register and interact with it online. Another Copy of the application will be installed on our Client's Intranet server. Users can be registered over LAN on this server.
A third copy of the Application (SQL Express) will be installed on various laptops and windows 7 tablets. Users will use the application remotely without connectivity to LAN or internet. Once the device is back in network, it will sync data with the LAN server and LAN Server will sync to the Internet server.
I intend to do this using WCF services and Sync Framework for the sake of security, however I'm open for suggestions. Can someone please suggest me the correct way of doing this and point me to some tutorials samples to do this. I've been struggling with samples available online (mainly this one http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Database-SyncSQL-Server-e97d1208) for a while and still have no success ..
Feel free to shoot any questions and I will answer them as best as I can.
have a look at this link and ignore/substitute the Azure specific stuff with SQL Server...it has a good discussion on the WCF specific components... Walkthrough of Windows Azure Sync Service Sample

Sql Server 2008 Express Edition Licensing

I'm deploying a web application into a server (hosting company).
The application uses Sql Server 2008 Express Edition as its database.
It seems from the license agreement that this state is ok, as Microsoft says:
"All editions of SQL Server Express are free downloads that can be redistributed subject to agreement. Each edition can function both as the client database and as a basic server database. Any edition of SQL Server Express is an ideal choice for independent software vendors (ISVs), server users, non-professional developers, Web developers, Web site hosts, and hobbyists who are building client applications... "
I didn't see any explicit reference on that case.
Do you have any experience with that issue?
Is there any license problem with that?
No, no licensing problems at all - SQL Server 2008 Express is FREE to use, to deploy, to install - and can be used for any kind of hobbyist or commercial application - no restrictions.

Can I run Windows Server 2008 on Amazon EC2

does anyone know if this can be done? I can find Windows Server 2003 but not 2008.
I read you can create your own EC2 Virtual machines, but I haven't found any articles that say you can do this with Windows Server 2008.
I'm really after IIS7, but I'd also intend to use SQL Server Express 2008 until such time as I can add support for SimpleDB or maybe fire up a seperate SQL Server instance.
I also have some Windows Services which run. Which puts shared hosting out the window mostly. Yes there's Azure but I think that would involve more effort than I want to spend initially.
Any help much appreciated,
My current stack is
Windows Server 2008
IIS7
.Net 3.5 SP1
Asp.net MVC
Some Windows Services
Linq2Sql
SQL Server Express 2008
You can now!
Amazon revealed Windows Server 2008 availability in december 2009 and there are pre-build AMIs ready for use either with or without Sql Server 2008.
See their Windows information page for more info about pricing and such. The Windows & .NET Developer Center is also a useful resource.
Amazon EC2 does not currently support any Windows besides Windows 2003.
Have you tried hosting.com's cloud? http://hosting.com/cloudhosting/enterprise/
Yes you can!
Using either QEmu or VirtualBox on top of a bare-bone linux server
as for the QEmu option you may start here.
Guides for VirtualBox are available everywhere, simply Google for them

Which one should I choose to install on my server: Windows 2003 Standard or Windows 2008 Web Edition?

I'm in the process of looking for a dedicated server to host my soon to be released web apps. THey are build with ASP.NEt and uses Sql Server 2005. I've got a great deal with a company for a Intel Core2Quad Q9300 with 8Gb or ram and 750Gb sata.
They offer me Windows 2003 64 Standard or Windows 2008 64 Web for free, which one should I choose?
My main concern is about the database, in the first moment I'm going to have only one box to host both the web and database layer. Will I be able to install SQL Server (initially the express edition, then eventually the standard) on the Web version of Windows 2008?
If you can get Server 2008, i'd go with it because IIS7 is an excellent Upgrade to IIS6.
SQL Server Standard 2008 64-Bit is officially supported on Windows 2008 Web Server. SQL Server Enterprise 2008 64-Bit is NOT (not sure if it does work and is only not listed. 32-Bit Enterprise is listed, but running 32-Bit on a modern server does not sound appealing). See System Requirements here for a full list of SQL Server 2008 Editions and supported Servers.
Not sure about SQL Server 2005, there seems to be a patch needed.
You can run SQL Server on Server 2008 Web Edition (this is a change from Server 2003 Web Edition). The main limitations I am aware of between Web and Standard for 2008 is Web cannot do any kind of virtualization, Active Directory or DNS management, etc. It is intended to be essentially an application server.
I would recommend the newer OS, since it comes with IIS7 and the enhanced TCP/IP (among other things).
If its free, go for the standard version. Here is a comparison of the features:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-features.aspx
I've never noticed any performance differences in the versions, so might as well get features you might use someday. Expensive to upgrade later.
You can run the SQL on either one.

Are there any pitfalls trying to run DNN on Windows Server 2008 Web Edition?

I am considering switching to a co-located solution running a DNN (DotNetNuke) installation and an email server that mostly just does alias forwarding. I think I can get DNS services outside of this colocation box - but that could be an issue.
I am running this website for a non-profit group and trying to stay inexpensive. Will Windows Server 2008 Web Edition be acceptable for running all of this? My research so far says it will but I am looking for anyone with any experience running web edition and what sort of pitfalls does it have?
I was going to install SQL express as the backend for the DNN site. Indications are that you can't connect to SQL from outside the Web Edition box. Does this include SQL Management studio?
Any assistance or advice on this would be appreciated.
Update:
Still looking for any specifics with Windows Server 2008 Web Edition
We tried running DNN on Windows 2008 64-bit and 32-bit a while back. Not a great experience with intermittant failures and application hangs. We had to revert back to Windows 2003.
This was on a moderately loaded site. If you want to give them any sort of guaranteed uptime/availability I would recommend Windows 2003.