Experiences with Railo

>I know this is a bit of a thread hijack... Sorry about that, But I am super >curious how things have been working out using Railo in a production >Environment.. Speed-wise, it's great. And I love some of the configuration options Railo gives you as well, although since my code is designed to run on any of the main CFML engines, I can't take advantage of many of them. One of my main reasons for putting my client on it was to really get a real-world test of my software on it and find any problems, so it will run smoothly for any other customers that want to use Railo. And I do regularly run into little glitches that require me to make minor code changes. I do report these and I love working with the guys that do Railo, they put out updates with fixes for these little issues within days of it being reported. I'm hoping once it becomes open source and more people use it, we'll find even more of these little issues, but even now it's pretty solid overall. Most of them are just very minor differences from CF that are easy to tweak your code for. For instance, the most recent I found was a function I had that read a integer from an external text file and then used that in the code. ColdFusion automatically converts that to an integer and strips off any line return that might be in there, but in Railo, I needed to use a Val() function to handle it. >What has been your experience been like using Railo? Did you run it as a >stand alone server or in conjunction with Apache or IIS or Tomcat?  Have you >used it with hosting automation software like Plesk, Helm etc? I'm running it on top of resin in IIS. I don't use Plesk or Helm, too many problems in the past with such programs, I only use them if I am hosting a number of users on the same box. Plesk in particular really drives me nuts with the way it messes up the MySQL implementation on the box. --- Mary Jo

I'm strongly considering dumping Plesk.  It seems designed for people who want to offer "public" hosting services, and the way the workflow happens in Plesk seems geared towards that.  I host my clients' websites, but they don't access the servers. I think Plesk is just getting in the way.  I'm used to doing all the configuration via Remote Desktop on the server. I'm having trouble now getting a connection to my MySQL instance on my new VPS... either remotely from my workstation or even with Navicat installed on the new VPS. I was told that to work on the server directly while having Plesk running at the same time could cause some conflicts. I've got some sites set up on the new server using Desktop Remote and IIS, I just can't get the blasted connection to MySQL to work. Aggravating... Rick ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- with > such programs, I only use them if I am hosting a number of users on the same box. Plesk in particular > really drives me nuts with the way it messes up the MySQL implementation on the box. > > > --- Mary Jo >

> I'm strongly considering dumping Plesk.  It seems designed for people > who want to offer "public" > hosting services Exactly, it's built so you can just hand off a login to the customer and let them manage everything themselves, perfect if you are reselling hosting. If your clients don't access the server though, there's little reason to use it. It does save some time on some things, like automatically setting up DNS entries, creating FTP accounts, etc. But I'm willing to put up with a little extra hassle to not have it on there messing up the server and getting in my way. And if you've ever dealt with a Plesk update gone awry, you'd definitely feel the same way! > I'm having trouble now getting a connection to my MySQL instance on my > new VPS... either remotely from > my workstation or even with Navicat installed on the new VPS. Yes, it basically wipes out the root account and doesn't allow remote connections at all. It's possible to go on the server and use the command line to get around this and add a new root account...but that's really a pain to do if you are not familiar with doing command line functions on MySQL. It also drove me nuts that if you create MySQL databases through Plesk, it insists on each one having its own login. Suffice to say, I'd need a *really* good reason to let Plesk anywhere near one of my servers again. ;-) > I was told that to work on the server directly while having Plesk > running at the same time could > cause some conflicts. Not so much conflicts (although that certainly might be a possibility)...just that you can have stuff that you've added/created on the server that doesn't show up in Plesk so can add to some confusion. --- Mary Jo

Yeah... I forgot about the whole MySQL Debacle with Plesk. That sucked. The one thing I really liked about it was being able to use the API to manage email accounts and user accounts right in our CMS. Anything to not have the phone ring off the hook.... If you ever need a Hosting CP I would look at H-sphere. I have ran into a few minor speed bumps with it, but over all I have been very happy with it over the years.  They have a single server version for *nix.. I think it is free cuz I cant find a price for it. Anyways is only $4.50 per  client licence for the full blown version. http://www.psoft.net/promo/single_server.html -- "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough" -- Mario Andretti

H-Shpere was unfortunately bought by the same folks that own Plesk - a company now called Parellels. I would not be surprised if they attempt to move H-Shpere users toward Plesk in the very near future. Parallels was previously SW-Soft - makers of Plesk and Virtuozzo and a whole host of very popular hosting-related software. They went through a buying spree about 6 months ago - buying up their competitors and absorbing their products and their customers. Some of the victims of this process were Comodo's H-sphere, FreeVPS (a Virtuozzo competitor) and CP+ (a Plesk competitor). Further development on FreeVPS and CP+ has been halted, and Parallels has made no attempts to offer a migration path for customers who were using them. This has cost my company tens of thousands of dollars in migration efforts away from CP+ and FreeVPS. It's a crying shame because both FreeVPS and CP+ were *excellent* products, and served us very well for many years. Parallels also publicly stated that they would offer migration paths for customers who were effected by their acquisitions - this never happened. Despite my phone calls and emails asking for said promised service. They never came through. Parallels lies. I do not trust them. I will not use, nor would I recommend their products, or products owned by them, to anyone. Warm regards, Jordan Michaels Vivio Technologies http://www.viviotech.net/ Open BlueDragon Steering Committee Adobe Solution Provider Gerald Guido wrote: ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Please accept my apologies. I should not have stated this on a public mailing list. It was an emotional response to past experiences that I should have kept under control. Again, my apologies. Warm regards, Jordan Michaels Vivio Technologies http://www.viviotech.net/ Open BlueDragon Steering Committee Adobe Solution Provider Jordan Michaels wrote: ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Hey, as long as you're being honest and frank about the situation, I know I, for one, appreciate knowing not just that there are products out there, but how they work and are or are not supported. Your experience can save others of us tens of thousands of dollars, as well. Rick ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Yeah... what Rick said. Psoft put out a great product. H-Sphere is/was a great product. Sorry to hear about that... and your experiences. Your words were kind compared to what I had to say during the Rehat Debacle of 02. ;) ~G~ ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your understanding. Warm regards, Jordan Michaels Vivio Technologies http://www.viviotech.net/ Open BlueDragon Steering Committee Adobe Solution Provider Gerald Guido wrote: ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Yes, "individual login" for every database was just not going to cut it for me. I finally managed to set up a MySQL account I could use through the Plesk/phpMySQLAdmin interface, and then finally I could get control over the db management through Navicat. Navicat is so much easier with the data transfer, data synchronization, etc. I had Plesk set up on the VPS since it was free, and I thought "why not?"... now I know "why not!" I may keep it around for certain features, but never for managing the server. Rick ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- everything > themselves, perfect if you are reselling hosting. If your clients don't access the server though, > there's little reason to use it. It does save some time on some things, like automatically setting up > DNS entries, creating FTP accounts, etc. But I'm willing to put up with a little extra hassle to not > have it on there messing up the server and getting in my way. And if you've ever dealt with a Plesk ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- possible > to go on the server and use the command line to get around this and add a new root account...but that's > really a pain to do if you are not familiar with doing command line functions on MySQL. It also drove me > nuts that if you create MySQL databases through Plesk, it insists on each one having its own login. > Suffice to say, I'd need a *really* good reason to let Plesk anywhere near one of my servers again. ;-) ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- stuff > that you've added/created on the server that doesn't show up in Plesk so can add to some confusion. ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----