[thelist] DSN/DSN-Less & Cold Fusion/ASP Hosting

Warden, Matt mwarden at odyssey-design.com
Sat Mar 31 19:14:03 CST 2001


Hi Gina,

> Since I have decided to look into ColdFusion (and possibly ASP), I am just
> looking at hosters, and seeing what's available out there. Two questions:

members.evolt.org?

> 1. On one particular host I am looking at, they have this in their
>    starter package features:
>
> DSN Datasources included : 2
> DSN-less connections: Unlimited

Marketing at work. OF COURSE DSN-less connections are unlimited. They don't do
anything to the server. It's just stored in code. In other words, you got that
with all hosts.

>    I sorta got the gist of what DNS vs. DSN-less actually is

Watch your letter order. DNS = Domain Name Server. DSN = Data Source Name.

>    (by looking it up in Google ;), but in Cold Fusion, do DNS
>    connection types matter? I didn't find much about DSNs and CF.
>    As you can see, I'm a *NIX gal and most of this doesn't make sense yet.

Well, I'm no CF man, but from the code I've seen, they've all used DSNs.
However, I would be surprised if there was not a method to create a file DSN
or storing connection information in the code itself (maybe in
application.cfm? -- there, I've exhausted all the knowledge of CF I have
=P).

> 2. Also, what database support should I be looking for here? This
>    particular hoster gives MS Access or FoxPro database support
>    included, with MSQL 7.0 Database as an option. I have Access
>    on my computer here, is one better than the other?

Heh, once again... Marketing at work. Access and (I assume) FoxPro databases
are just files. There's no setup on their part, and they'd probably never know
whether you had one on your hosting account or not (unless they did some
snooping). As far as which is better... well, it depends on what you're
intending on doing. Personally, I've only used databases other than Access a
few times. Twice it was MSSQL Server. The other times it was MySQL. However, I
do mostly projects for small companies for my on-the-side freelance gigs.
Enter the dependancy. Figure out what you want to do with these skills and
then make a decision. MSSQL Server is really nice to know, but it might not be
worth the extra learning curve at this time.

> Any of you guys that fool with CF are welcome to give me hosting
recommendations
> ;)

*cough*
members.evolt.org?


--
mattwarden
mattwarden.com





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