March 4, 2002 [Number 222]     Printable version (469k PDF)

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ColdFusion Hosting is Now Available at CIT

The Gartner Group says ColdFusion’s combination of application-development technology with advanced features for data integration offers "a compelling solution to companies looking for rapid Web-application development." CIT is pleased to offer hosting for ColdFusion Web applications at the NIH Computer Center. This service provides a production-quality environment for ColdFusion applications using the latest ColdFusion technologies.

ColdFusion Hosting

ColdFusion, a product of Macromedia, provides a tool for quickly developing robust Web applications with advanced features for data integration. Using ColdFusion, an application can access and write data in a variety of databases (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2), implement sophisticated program logic, create and send email, and provide a user-friendly Web interface via a Web server like Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS).

You can develop your application locally using various tools like ColdFusion Studio and, when it’s ready for production, move your code to a CIT ColdFusion server. You don’t have to worry about acquiring server hardware, upgrading the operating system, installing or configuring the ColdFusion server software, monitoring the security of the Web server, or maintaining network connectivity. All this is taken care of by CIT staff.

The CIT ColdFusion servers run on the Windows 2000 platform and use the latest release of the ColdFusion Enterprise Server (Version 5), in conjunction with Microsoft’s IIS.

Levels of Service Available

CIT’s standard ColdFusion hosting service is intended to offer dependable and economical hosting for fairly small or entry-level applications. This service is appropriate for individuals or organizations that are exploring the advantages of ColdFusion applications, or who use ColdFusion as a quick way to provide dynamic Web applications for their labs or offices. The standard service applications share a ColdFusion server but can each have a unique "virtual" Web address.

Each application using CIT’s standard ColdFusion service is provided with:

• up to 100 MB disk space
• 7 x 24 server monitoring
• monthly usage reports
• access to a staging ColdFusion server for pre-production testing

This standard service costs $200 per month—plus a onetime $200 setup fee.

If an application’s needs exceed the capabilities of CIT’s standard service, there are several additional possibilities that can be tailored to an organization’s requirements. These "extended" services include additional processing capability (even a dedicated server if appropriate), more frequent reports, and security certificates. Since the NIH Computer Center operates on a cost-recovery basis, an organization will only be charged at CIT’s cost for providing the services.

Web Site for ColdFusion Hosting

Additional details of the various features offered and information about how to get started with CIT’s ColdFusion hosting services are available online.