If you don’t follow the best practices to write secure applications, the language you use makes no difference. On the other hand, AJAX combines several technologies (XHTML or HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Document Object Model (DOM), XML and XSLT, XML HTTP Request, and JavaScript (JS)) and the weaknesses in all of them are also combined. This is why you do need to make some efforts in order to be able to write and deploy AJAX applications safely and easily. Here are some tips to help you achieve that.

Choose a Reliable Webhosting Provider

AJAX applications are real monsters in terms of hardware and bandwidth requirements. This is hardly surprising because AJAX allows to write powerful applications with lots of functionality and it is quite logical that such applications can’t be executed on your old home computer over dialup. However, some AJAX applications can be so resource hungry that the average web host won’t be able to meet their demands.

This is why you need to look for a best web host. You need a web host with powerful hardware and wide bandwidth. If your application is very heavy and you expect many visitors, you could even consider dedicated hosting.

When you are looking for best web host offers for your AJAX applications, you might want to look for AJAX hosting in particular. Similarly to ASP and ASP.NET hosting, many best web hosts offer AJAX hosting. AJAX hosting means that your package will include everything you need in order to safely and easily deploy AJAX applications.

Follow Common AJAX Security Best Practices

Even the best web host can’t save you if your AJAX application is not written properly. It is true that unlike many of the other web programming languages, AJAX still doesn’t have a tradition in security best practices but there are many resources on the Web where AJAX security principles are discussed. For instance, Top 10 Ajax Security Holes and Driving Factors by Shreeraj Shah is an excellent brief introduction to what you need to have in mind when you write AJAX applications.

AJAX security best practices aren’t much different from the best practices in other web programming languages. Basically you need to take care of authentication, authorization, access control and input validation. Input validation is especially important because you get input from various kinds of untrusted sources.

Set a Test Server Before You Deploy Your AJAX Application Into Production

As with any Web application, when you deploy an AJAX application, it is highly recommendable that you do it on a test server first. Deploying a new application, or modifications to an existing one, on a production server is a suicide. If your web host offers such a functionality, it is best to use a test server of theirs but if this is not possible, you can set a test server inhouse and deploy your AJAX application there.

Try a Self-Hack Test

A self-hack test is a common practice and you might want to try it as well. However, if you plan to do load tests, it might be a good idea to warn your provider – you don’t want to crash their servers, right? Well, if you have chosen a best web host, a simple load test shouldn’t crash their servers but you’d better not bet your life on it. Also, if your self-hack test includes any other steps that might threaten your web host in any way, you must discuss all this in advance.

Deploying AJAX applications securely and easily is a piece of cake, if you have chosen a reliable web host and if you follow AJAX security best practices.

Hosting companies are offering would be hosting services buyers more and more web space and more and more bandwidth, this is all very good but what really separate the leaders in the hosting business from the beginners who still need a lot of growing up to do is the quality of services that comes as part of the hosting package. Many hosting companies offers cheap hosting, that is all well and good, the question to ask is not just how cheap is cheap but how reliable are the services behind the cheap offering including the quest whether your hosting company can say yes to the following: high quality, reliability, performance, flexibility, Scalability, free domain name, money back guarantee?

For the more demanding website owners who has outgrown the share hosting stage and has got to a point when only a cheap dedicated serve will do. What are the questions you should ask a dedicated server provider before you sign on the dotted line? Just any one can now provide a server hooked up to the Internet, but if you are hosting a very important site, what should you expect from your dedicated server provider? In addition to high end server with disk space, processor speed and bandwidth to come with the site or applications you need to run on your dedicated server, how about disaster recovery? Has provision been made should the disk on your server crash? Should a fuse burn in the rack that host your server, how quickly can it be replaced to stop your server going offline, is remote reboot facility available or do you have to have physical access to the server to reboot it?

Of all the questions asked about dedicated server the most important things when considering a cheap dedicate server is the security of your server. Whatever operation system your dedicated server users (most popular being Linux and Windows) regular patches will need to be applied to keep the server operating system up to date, who will apply the patches as they become due, you or your server provider? Most of the time it is better to get the server provider to be responsible for applying software updates as this will be much more efficient than you applying it yourself. Dedicated server provider tends to package this services as and add-on to providing you dedicate server so you should be aware of this before choosing a dedicated server, the terminology used for this service is managed dedicated server.

Once you have asked all the above vital questions and get a satisfactory answer, they you are ready to choose your shared hosting package or a dedicated serve.

Your business is most likely not about web hosting or domain names. You just want to be able to run your business online and not worry about the technical details of your site. There are some web hosting companies available that will help you design your site and provide you with the hosting as well. Try to find a company that offers good support for you after your website is up and running.

Depending on the size of your website and the business that you planning, you may be able to get away with a starter package and move into a larger package as your business grows. However, you don’t want to use a web hosting package that is too small from the beginning and quickly grow out of it. Consult with the web designer and find out what their recommendations are for your company.

Here are some of the criteria that you should consider when you are choosing your web hosting company.

The first thing that you should consider is the amount of web space that will be available for your site. You might want to consider enough space so that you can expand your site later if you have to. Most websites use about 5MB of web space. The type of files and graphics on your site will cause the amount of space that you need to vary.

Check for file types and size limitations on the files that you upload onto your site. Depending on the type of business that you are running, this could be a very important consideration.

The most important consideration for your site is the speed of access and the reliability of the hosting company. You won’t be doing much business if your site is down all the time. Slow access will also discourage business. Try to find some reviews of the hosting company online to find out this information.

Find out what your bandwidth allotment is on your site. There are some hosting companies that will put a limit on the amount of traffic on your site. If you exceed your limit, you may be disabled by the hosting company.

Text that is Easy to Scan 

When people surf the web these days, they skim. Think about what they are doing. Usually it is to try to figure something out, and they are trying to figure it out quickly. The trick here is to break up your content into smaller paragraphs, all with their own headings. A good rule of thumb for online writing is to keep your paragraphs six or less sentences long, and to title them. 

Easy Access to Recent Articles 

This is especially important when running a blog, but it is relevant for any website. Whenever you have moved content or a link to content from the home page, you need to make sure it is easy to find for your return visitors. A common scenario would be a return visitor who likes the content, but did not bookmark the actual link besides your home page. They have been using your home page as the method to find it.  Finding content after it has been moved, is often a daunting task for visitors. 

Have a Search Function 

Having a search engine for your site is an extremely valuable tool for your visitors, and should be located in a highly visible spot. For sites with more than 100 pages, you should think of this as a required function. The search function supports your users when navigation fails them, and it speeds up their ability to achieve their desired actions.  

Download Speed 

You have probably heard this a million times that it’s important to keep your site loading quickly, but it is even more important now with all the cell phone and PDA usage going on these days. Make sure your site loads quickly to prevent bounces and user frustration. 

Font Consistencies 

One of the easiest ways to give your site a more professional appearance is to look for inconsistencies. Having several font types on a single page reflects poor quality control, patchwork, and lack of proper web development skills. Usability wise, handling headers, content emphasis, and main content should the same throughout the site. This gives the user known expectations when viewing other pages, and improves their experience. 

Identify Non HTML type Files 

There is nothing worse than opening a huge PDF file by accident. Talk about hostile take over of my PC. When linking to files that are not the standard type of web files, they should be identified as such so the user knows that another application besides their browser will be opening it. This is another issue that is becoming more relevant with the rise of cell phones usage. 

Hyperlink Colors 

This one is extremely valuable, and should not be ignored just because there are a million other websites ingnoring it. In content hyperlinks should be underlined, and more importantly they should change color after visiting. The reason for making them change colors is so the user can identify what pages they have already visited. This method of navigation for visitors is still considered one the most primary methods. It’s a quick visual clue, and it should not be dismissed in trade for layout stile.

We do not build our sites from pre-made templates, all codes and graphics are created to meet customers’ specific needs. Because our clients are small businesses and individuals, we keep our prices low to meet our clients budget.

All web design and web development project completed by Velnet Designs come with free domain name and free web hosting for a least a year, this ensures your website is available online as soon as its designed.

Velnet Designs also submit client sites to all major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to give each completed web design project basic visibility in search engines.

We look forward to designing a website for you.