Not sure how a Microsoft Windows based web platform can help your business? Come and learn at this exclusive event hosted by Applied Innovations and Microsoft.  Much has happened in the recent months that has changed the entire landscape of web platforms. Innovations, changes in existing products and new programs have greatly increased the benefits accompanying Windows web hosting, and this is the place to keep abreast of the new developments.

Here’s what you’ll learn

Latest Components of the Windows Platform

With the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, many new tools and capabilities have been added that dramatically increase the effectiveness of windows hosting. Learn about the new IIS7 web server extensions, HyperV virtualizations and the Dynamic Data Center.
You’ll also find out how IIS Media Services enable you to more efficiently deliver expensive bandwidth intensive content to your customers in a way that improves their viewing experience.

PHP on Windows

Learn how improvements in IIS7 finally obliterate the difference between running PHP on Windows and Linux. The FastCGI module allows PHP code execution to take place as fast on Windows as it ever was on Linux.
Not only that, explore how you can now use Microsoft tools such as Web Expression 3.0 to write PHP applications – finally bringing the fantastic coding tools provided by Microsoft to the PHP domain.

Microsoft’s Web Tools

Find out how Silverlight, Expression Studio and Visual Studio can improve your productivity and allow you to develop scalable code for large enterprises.

Applied Innovations’ Hosting Tools

Learn about the new cloud computing capabilities offered by Applied Innovations and evaluate how they can impact your business.

WebSiteSpark

The new unbelievable program from Microsoft that allows you to obtain three years of free  licenses of Microsoft Products!

PHP on Windows and The Microsoft Partner Evangelism Initiative

Learn about the two programs by Applied Innovations that will help you market your business and harness your PHP programming skills.

Incentives to attend

To sweeten the deal for you, we’re also offering two months of free VPS hosting from Applied Innovations. In addition, there will be a draw for 4 prizes namely:

1. 12 Months of Managed Windows VPS Hosting
2. A copy of Windows 7
3. An Xbox360 Elite game console
4. A ZuneHD
5. An 8GB Zune

So don’t miss this exclusive event! Find out how to improve your web development by integrating Microsoft products into your business and reap the benefits.

Event Details

Date: December 8^th, 2009
Time: 9:00AM-6:00PM
Venue:

Marriott Fort Lauderdale

6650 N Andrews Ave
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

The custom theme looks like the below image:

You can also see a live demo of the custom .NET user group template.

Applied Innovations, is extremely pleased that we were selected as the exclusive recommended hosting partner for this offering from Kentico and are happy to be able to give back the .NET user community.

To learn more about the Kentico / Applied Innovations offering and signup for your own account, visit the Kentico website.

This past week at MIX one of the presentations I sat in on was Advanced SEO for Web Developers by Nathan Buggia, Lead Program Manager for Live’s Webmaster Tools. Although it’s titled Advanced SEO I think it provides a good introductory overview of certain things you should and should not be doing with your search engine optimization efforts and encourage everyone to watch the video (linked to below).

Another great video is by Matt Cutts titled, Whitehat SEO tips for Bloggers, given at wordcamp 07 in San Francisco and was recorded by Jeremy Pozadzides . The video is geared towards blogging but is a great overall video for solid, clean SEO advice.

Today in Los Angeles, Steve Ballmer will keynote the global launch of Windows Server 2008. This event will be followed over the coming months with launch events all over the globe as well as a virtual launch experience.  You can learn more about the Launch events as well as register for a launch in your area at the heroes happen here website. 

With all the fanfare there are of course a few questions that have come up regarding Windows Server 2008 in a hosting environment and I thought I’d spend a little time discussing the most common questions here.

What are the different flavors of Windows Server 2008 and will you offer them?

There are currently five versions of Windows Server 2008 in the family: Enterprise, Datacenter, Standard, Web and Itanium. Each version except Itanium can support Server Core which is a reduced footprint installation of the OS.  Each version except Itanium and Web can support Hyper-V, Microsoft’s new Virtualization platform. 

Of course, each version is also available as a 64bit and 32bit operating system. It’s rumored that Windows Server 2008 will be the last Server OS to support 32bit

We currently support all versions of Windows Server 2008, except Itanium. All of our dedicated servers deployed today with Windows Server 2008 can support either the 32bit or 64bit version (available upon request).  Here’s an overview image of the different versions and the full details are available from the Microsoft website.

What’s new or updated in Windows Server 2008?

Microsoft has available a table detailing the different versions and what’s new or updated in each on available on their website. Below is a screen shot of this table.

How do the different versions of Windows Server 2008 Compare?

Below is a table outlining the different technical features and specifications of each version this is available from the Microsoft website.

Below is also a table showing the different server roles available in each version, also available from the Microsoft website.

Lastly, the image below shows the differentiated features in each version of Windows Server 2008, also available from the Microsoft website.

What’s this Hyper-V and why is there a with and a without version of Windows Server 2008?

Hyper-V is the new Virtualization technology from Microsoft, it’s currently in BETA and will not be fully released until mid-year 2008. We can install it upon request but the default install is without Hyper-V.

How much is each Windows Server 2008 license on a Dedicated Server?

This is the big question, just how much money is it going to cost! The good news is during the initial launch period we’re installing Windows Server 2008 Web Edition, FOR FREE!.  Afterwards current monthly pricing (which could change) is as follows:

• Windows Server 2008 Web Edition: $25
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition: $50
• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition: $150
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition: $250

The recommended setup would be Web Edition for front-end servers (web servers) with Datacenter Edition for back-end servers (database servers, application servers). You’ll notice that pricing from 2003 to 2008 has changed considerably, in the past you were able to license a dedicated server with standard for about $25/month per CPU and now it’s $150/month per CPU and this change is hosting industry wide. The reason for the change is that the previous licenses were “un-authenticated” licenses and Microsoft has discontinued “un-authenticated” licenses. Because of this change all licenses are now licensed as “authenticated” and thus the higher price. It should be pointed out that authenticated licenses were always this much.  Because of this change in pricing we except to see more licenses of Web and Datacenter editions going forward.

What kind of promotions are you running?

With the launch of Windows Server 2008 we’ve created a very appealing bundle:

• A Dual Core Xeon based Dell Server with 1GB of memory and 2 160GB drives
• A Free SmarterTools Bundle ($500 Value)
• A Free license of Sharepoint Designer to all Windows Server 2008 Dedicated Server Customers
• Free Licensing of Windows Server 2008 Web Edition
• and A Free Month of hosting!

This package is priced at just $190/month.

Where can I learn more about Windows 2008 Dedicated Hosting?

You can learn more about our Windows Server 2008 Dedicated Hosting offering by going to our Windows Server 2008 Dedicated Server page. If you’re a developer
and considering a new dedicated server, we recommend you review our Windows 2008 Developer Dedicated Hosting page. Finally, if you attend any of the launch events, you’ll receive a flyer in your bag of goodies with a link to our developer ready Windows Server 2008 dedicated hosting landing page.

When will we see Windows 2008 Shared hosting available?

We’re currently working on our roll out of production Windows Server 2008 shared hosting as we have been for the past year. Because Windows Server 2008 offers so many new features and capabilities we feel it would be an injustice to not offer as much of these features as possible with the initial launch and this has been the delay. Expect to see an announcement of Windows Server 2008 shared hosting in the coming days.

When will we see Windows 2008 VPS Hosting?

Unfortunately, this will most likely be a few months away, but should happen before the middle of the year. Since Hyper-V is still in beta and Windows Server 2008 is still relatively new there’s still a fair bit of work to be done.

What’s next?

This year is going to be a very exciting year for not only Applied Innovations but the entire web community. The release of Windows Server 2008 is bringing so much change to the hosting industry that we’re all extremely excited. Whether, you’re an ASP.NET developer, a PHP developer or just a web designer, 2008 is going to be a year dedicated to you and one you should be equally excited about.  My advice, stay tuned and as the technology evolves and is ready for production you can rest assured that Applied Innovations will be among the first to bring it to you.

Not Just Another Blog Engine!

When you first look at Graffiti you’re probably going to think “oh great, another blog engine… Just what we needed … NOT!”. However, truth be told, Graffiti is a great blogging engine, if that’s what you need. But Graffiti offers so much more than just a blogging engine.  Graffiti was actually developed to be a full content management system with even support for workflows, search engine optimized urls and content and built-in versioning (surprisingly, something many CMS’s lack today). In fact, the Graffiti website is built using Graffiti (dogfooding at it’s finest).

The image above is that of a test blog I was working on to make sure Windows Live Writer was fully supported (and it is) and to see just how easy it is to setup a new graffiti based site.

Getting Started with Graffiti at AppliedI.net

If you’re ready to take the plunge into Graffiti and test it out for your own website or blog here’s what you’ll need to make sure you have enabled on your site:

1. Support for ASP.NET 2.0 or later (remember, if your current website runs in ASP.NET 1.1, you’ll need to create a new website to run ASP.NET 2.0 you can only run one or the other on a particular site).

2. Virtual Directory Settings – If you plan to run Graffiti on a subfolder (perhaps for a blog) then you’ll want to set the folder it’s running in as an application using the virtual directory tool in the control panel. If you get stuck just email support and they’ll help you out.

That’s it! Graffiti doesn’t need any more than that to get up and running immediately, but as always if you get stuck, email our support team and they’re familiar with the application already and should be able to help you out of a jam pretty quickly.

Great Features in Graffiti

1. Optional support for MS SQL2005 or MySQL - By default Graffiti uses the VistaDB engine which a lightweight alternative to SQL server 2005 that you can just upload and run.  If you prefer to use MSSQL or MySQL though it’s fully supported and you can easily update your web.config to support either.

2. Search Engine URLS built-in - If you’re going to build a website today or write a blog you have to have search engine ready URLs. Graffiti makes it easy to enable this right from the start.

3. Ability to support 3rd party templates & plug-ins - Today applications need to be extendable, Graffiti is! There’s already a Graffiti Marketplace and it won’t be long before we start seeing more 3rd party plugins. I can’t wait to see some of my favorite wordpress themes migrated over (like Cutline, nudge, nudge)

4. Support for Windows Live Writer - Yes I love WLW, it’s the best blog editor I’ve used to date and it’s supported in Graffiti

5. Support for BlogML - All the top blog engines today are supporting BlogML either built-in or through 3rd party plugins. BlogML provides an XML markup for Blogs. This allows you to easily backup and restore your blog but even better it allows you an easy way to export and import your blog between different blog engines! Looking to switch from WordPress to Graffiti? No Problem, use BlogML. Looking to go from BlogEngine.Net to Graffiti, Not a problem, BlogML!

6. It’s made by Telligent - These guys are simply awesome. Community server (their flagship product) powers some of the most popular and busy sites on the Internet, MySpace, Xbox.com, asp.net to name a few.  They understand social media, ASP.NET and Web 2.0 and know how to code for it.

7. There’s a free version! - Everyone wants to test the waters so Telligent is providing an Express version of Graffiti CMS for you to experiment with or run on your personal site. If you run a commercial site then they ask you to license it and licenses start at just $399 and comes with support from Telligent.

8. Block spam with Akismet - Today comment spam runs rampant on the Internet and all the best engines support Akismet. On our own blog it’s blocked over 20,000 spam messages since we launched the blog just a few months ago.

9. It’s not just for blogs.  With the proper templates it can be used for any type of site and there’s rumors of some e-commerce support? Very exciting stuff.

10. It can be hosted at AppliedI.net – Not only do we support it but to celebrate the launch, we’re offer 25% off your initial term with any shared hosting account. Just use the coupon code: graffiti and get 25% off your initial hosting term (sign up for a month get 25% off that first month, signup for a year get 25% off that first year!). I’d recommend starting with the VS-1 small business hosting plan but the ValuePlus Personal Hosting Plan works just as well when you’re just getting started.

Where to go next?

Sound good? Ready to kick the tires? Head over to www.graffiticms.com and download the express version of Graffiti. All of our plans support multiple websites so you can create a new site for it and publish it there or you can publish it to a subweb of your existing site. If you’re hosted somewhere else or want to start a new account, use the coupon code: graffiti and signup for new hosting here at www.appliedi.net. As I mentioned, if you get stuck getting started with Graffiti, just email support and we’ll help you get it running.

Oh, and we’d love to hear your feedback on this application.

Jess’s interview talks about Applied Innovations, our history, our business philosophy and the direction Applied Innovations and Microsoft Windows Webhosting as a whole is headed. We invite you to visit the appliedi.net – hostsearch interview and learn a bit more about AppliedI.net.