can't download OSCmax

[Karen]

hi, i'm a newbie. When i go to this linkosCMax Power e-commerce software - osCMax - osCommerce Maximized to download OSCmax, the page shows "Access denied", how can i download it?
THZ

[michael_s]

Log out of the site and you should then be able to download. Let me know if that works. Sometimes when logged in, it doesn't allow access. It only happens to the odd account now and then. I know, strange, but I have not been able to sort out why this happens for some users and not others.

[Karen]

Michael, thank your replied. The problem was solved after I logged out. I can download the software even I don't log in.
Also, I wanna to ask you, would you mind suggesting some web hosing companies to me? As my budget is very limited, I don't know which web hosing company is suitable for me!~
Thank you very much!
Best Regards,
Karen Chang

[met00]

Karen,

Web hosting is a major issue that has all sorts of considerations. Most small to mid-size stores initially host with a shared services, but some have moved to "virtual servers". It has a great deal to do with what you feel your stores traffic needs are, as well as what is on the servers besides your store. Some ISPs have configured their servers for specific types of businesses. For instance a ISP may decide that they can host 5 large CMS, 20 personal blogs an 3 commerce on a serve with no problem, but then when a blog becomes popular, whoops!

In running an ISP there are three things that need to be balanced on the servers. (1) space, (2) processing speed and (3) bandwidth. How a ISP manages those needs against the users on the machine is what determines if they are a good ISP for you. But then it comes to YOUR needs. These needs are based on what you will be doing in terms of customers/traffic, what's in the store and cost.

You have already stated that "cost"is your driving factor at this point, but speed/performance can also affect your sales, so that has to be balanced out as well. If you have a large number of items, then you would also have to balance out disc space requirements.

So, what YOUR specific needs are may or may not be what one ISP that any of us recommend may be able to deliver.

My first store was on a sever with shared space in Hong Kong. After a year I realized that would not meet my needs and moved to a more expensive service that limited the number of users per server. But when one day one of the other users had a code issue that brought the server to a crawl, I realized that I needed a server where I had greater control and got a root server where I had full control. The cost for the initial server was $5/mo (back in the late 90's). The cost for a dedicated server is $400/mo. When I consider the cost for a physical retail space is many times the cost for the dedicated server, it is "cheap" by those standards, but as you can see, it doesn't meet your prime concern of cost compared to a shared solution.

Don't know if this "helps you", but it should provide you with something to consider as you search for a provider.

[ridexbuilder]

Pretty good, well thought out summary, Mett0.

[pgmarshall]

Karen,

Might I suggest that you might consider using Michael's own service or EJ's (RidexBuilder) as they can provide very reasonably priced hosting and they are experts in osCmax.

Michael's is called aabox
RidexBuilders is called EJSolutions

Both of them will be able to handle your requirements and scale your store if you have the need.

Edit: You can also build your store locally on your mac/pc and then upload once you have everything sorted. Check out the wiki for details on how to do this.

Regards,

[Karen]

Thank you very much, Mett0!
The replied is very valuable, I'm really grateful to your so wonderful replied.
About ISPs, I know the three considerations:
(1) space, (2) processing speed and (3) bandwidth
I can always find the provided space and bandwidth, but how can I know about the processing speed? Actually, someone suggested that I should find the ISP locally to increase the speed. Is this relavant to processing speed? Or, I should ask the ISPs each by each to know their provided processing speed?
This is my first time to build up a store, so I don't know whether the business can be success. Your experience is really important for me and also give me confidence to build up my first store. Thank you for your help.
Best Regards,
Karen Chang

[Karen]

RidexBuilders, thank you for your replied! Thank you very much to see my post!~

[met00]

Karen,

It's somewhat humorous that you have most of the development team posting responses, but that has a great deal to do with the fact that we have all been there. Michael and Ridex both do run services as PGM says. I too provide a service (but not as an ISP per say, I develop and host stores based on a further enhancement to oscMax).

So, let's talk servers and performance...

Three issues.
1) speed of processor
2) memory
3) bandwidth

I have three stores on this server:
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Linux
2 GB memory

the load average runs about .32 with bursts up to .5
memory usage is average 32%
swap usage is about 5%
per alexa, the sites there average "Fast (1.125 Seconds), 79% of sites are slower."

So, what does all that mean? It means that on my dedicated server I have a "overbuilt" server for the needs of the clients. I could most likely double the server use and not see a perceptible decrease in performance (although there could be spikes at specific seasons that if not managed, could degrade performance).

So, how do you know how well your potential ISP is managing performance? Ask them if they have stores on their servers that would be on your server and check out page load times for those domains at Alexa. Ask what the average memory usage is for the server, what it peaks at and the same for throughput and the load average. Find out what the "seasons" are for the current clients (for instance a pool supply store has a season that runs from March - Sept, with the peak in May-July) and what your season is, and see if there will be too much overlap in seasonal sales that could degrade performance when you need it the most.

Finally, if you are looking at an ISP that does stores, find out what stores they do run and how many of each. There is one particular store that "sells" a professional version, but gives away the non-pro version. The non-pro version is not tuned to run well (or at least it wasn't a few years ago) and had security holes in it (again,a few years ago). If I were to find that the ISP was going to put me on a sever with other stores of that type (the non-paid version) , I would be troubled.

The more homework you do up front on what any ISP offers, the better you can determine if it will meet your needs. Now, here is the kicker. Anyone can be an ISP. Two were already recommended here by PGM who have a great deal of experience with stores and oscMax in particular.

[Karen]

pgmarshall， thank you for your replied.
Yesterday, I found a ISP that can provide a really bargained price. I got 50% off coupon. You can find the details in following link.
Web Hosting - Shared cPanel Web Hosting

"You can also build your store locally on your mac/pc and then upload once you have everything sorted. Check out the wiki for details on how to do this. "

I heard this from my friend. He suggest to buy a PC as server purpose.
I will do that when I think my business can carry on!~
Thank you very much!

Best Regards,
Karen Chang