A very common question that I get asked by people is; what tools do you use to complete your development and what type of system do you use. Now, I believe I have written a bit about this in the past, but I thought I would take some time to go through and give a bit of a detailed overview of what I use for development and why I have selected the hardware and software that I have. I will cover this in detail from both the hardware and software point of view.
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Posted by Mitchel on Friday, May 22, 2009
My last blog article "Selecting the Right Source Control Provider" touched on the evaluation criteria that I use when looking for a source control system. This article is a review of sorts of SourceGear's Vault product, my preferred source control system. I'll start by reviewing vault as it relates to the criteria from the previous article, I will then provide my overall feedback on my experience with Vault.
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Posted by Mitchel on Thursday, April 16, 2009
One of the most common questions that I have been getting recently has been "what source control provider do you use and why?". This article is the first in a series of two articles about source control. This article takes a quick look at criteria that I believe is important to consider when it comes to evaulating source control systems for use. The next article in the series will be a review of the source control system that I use, in relation to the evaulation criteria that I list in this article.
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Posted by Mitchel on Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Recently I have been responding to more and more forum posts and e-mails regarding DotNetNuke and selecting a hosting provider. Back in May I had a blog post Selecting a Hosting Provider Revisited, this article did a great job of outlining the basic consideration points when it comes to selecting a hosting environment for DotNetNuke. However, recent technology changes and other hosting options has created a few more items that need to be considered. This article is designed to specifically address the concerns and questions behind shared, virtual dedicated, dedicated, and cloud hosting options.
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Posted by Mitchel on Monday, December 08, 2008
One item that many people find unusual about my DotNetNuke installation guides is my insistance on NOT using the Database.mdf, dynamically attached database file for the creation of a DotNetNuke database. In my tutorials I have quickly dismissed the topic by noting that "issues" come up when trying to use a dynamically attached database and I leave it at this. Well after seeing more questions on this topic recently in the DotNetNuke.com forums I wanted to take a moment to put my $0.02 out there as to WHY I don't like it. I will do this by discussing quickly what the differences are in the two approaches, then I'll discuss the "downfalls" of each.
Differences in Approach
Everyone is most likely familiar with the common process for creating a SQL Server databse, during the creation process two files are added the .mdf which stores the actual data and the .ldf which stoes the log. When the database is created the files are typically placed inside the "Program Files" folder, storing them with the rest of the SQL Server files, although this location can be changed by the Server Administrator.
The dynamic attachment method uses a pre-defined database.mdf file that is located in the App_Data folder of the DotNetNuke installation. When the system connects to the database server this file is attached to the server and operates like a database on the server would normally, however, all data is stored inside the DNN location.
Why I Think Its Bad
One of the most common arguments supporting Dynamically attached databases is that they "save time". Well That might be true for the first connection, however, in my experience the time spent troubleshooting later makes it a much longer process. The first thing to remember is that the database is attached and it has a name associated with it, DotNetNuke when working with DNN, if you go to install a second DotNetNuke installation on the same server with the dynamically attached file an error will appear noting that the database already exists. For beginners this can be a very upsetting experience.
However, the most problematic downfall of dynamically attached databases in my experience is that you must "Attach" the database before you can manipulate it in SQL Server Management Studio or SSMS Express. This is a very common stumbling block as individuals will know that the database exists, however, SSMS will not show the database at all, until it has ben successfully attached.
Overall
I feel that overall there are no compelling reasons that would direct a person to use a dynamically attached database rather than a standard SQL Server database especially when it comes to databases that need to be administered on a regular basis. If working in a test environment it might be helpful to have a dynamically attached database, but that is a limited use case, and for the most part DotNetNuke databases at one point in their life will need to be administered, backed up, restored, or moved. For these actions a standard database is a good way to go.
Please share any comments/feedback below.
Posted by Mitchel on Monday, November 24, 2008
A while back I created a monitoring application for Pingdom Corporation called Pingdom Alerter. This application has been used by a wide customer base to monitor their site status on the Pingdom service. I am looking to find at least 3 individuals that have used the Pindom Alerter, created by my company IowaComputerGurus Inc. that would be willing to be a reference to state that the application works as described. The application can be found on the Pingdom Services Page.
If anyone can help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it as this is the final step needed for my business to attain Microsoft Certified Partner status. Please e-mail me at msellers@iowacomputergurus.com if you are willing/able to help.
Posted by Mitchel on Monday, August 18, 2008
In the past I have completed reviews of various DotNetNuke modules, components, and skins, however, recently I have been receiving a number of e-mails with questions about how I manage my business. Typically these questions have been from individuals that are just starting out with consulting business, or those looking for better ways to manage their pending products. Once item that I always recommend to people is BaseCamp, a hosted project management solution provided by 37Signals. This article will go through the features/services offered, and why I use it to manage all projects.
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Posted by Mitchel on Friday, August 01, 2008
Recently when browsing the forums on DotNetNuke.com I have noticed more and more
questions regarding Script Injection vulnerability in the core and third-party modules.
I have often found that at times it is hard for non-developers to truly understand
the concept of script injection and what makes a site vulnerable. So in this
article I will take a bit of time to discuss both types of injection that users
of DotNetNuke should be aware of, how to test for them, and also how to prevent
the vulnerability when creating modules.
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Posted by Mitchel on Tuesday, May 20, 2008
I am sure that most readers of this site have at one point or another noticed my RegularExpression articles. Well this past week I was looking for a very specific regular expression and thought I would share it with you. The following regular expresion is used to validate a GUID value for user input. You can use this to ensure that product keys and other GUID values that you are using are in the proper format.
^(\{){0,1}[0-9a-fA-F]{8}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}(\}){0,1}$
Posted by Mitchel on Sunday, April 22, 2007
So yesterday I decided to replace my computer system, and today now that it is running it is totally amazing. The system is so fast and quite it is not even funny. I built the system myself using stuff purchased from Tiger Direct's outlet store in Naperville, IL and from a CompUSA in Naperville, IL that was going out of business! That will teach me to go to Chicago for a weekend!
The system has the following specs.
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 Ghz Processor
-2 Gb DDR2 800 RAM
-1 10,000 74Gb SATA Hard Drive
-1 320Gb SATA 3.0Gb/sec Hard Drive
-256 Mb ATI Radeon X1300 graphics card (I don't do PC Games)
-DVD Burner with LightScribe
-One really massive ThermalTake CPU cooler!
It is amazing how my multi-taking actually works now, I can have multiple large applications open and instantlly switch between them without any difficulties at all!
Just thought I'd share!
(Remember, my company is in the business of building a custom system for you, contact us for details!)
Posted by Mitchel on Tuesday, October 10, 2006