Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Typical server requirements for ecommerce xcart store?

[markm455]

Hi,

I am building a ecommerce store using x-cart (was also debating on customized oscommerce cart) and will be using SEO plugin to have dynamic search engine friendly site urls, meta tags, etc.

The site will only be selling around 20 items to start.

I am trying to figure out what kind of hosting I need to have a website without a lot of lag time.

I have been looking at VPS options since I figured dedicated would be overkill at this point.

Or would just a normal business plan on a shared server be enough to start out with?

Thanks for any help.

-Mark

[David]

Mark,

I think any shared host geared towards the quality end of the spectrum (i.e. non-overselling hosts) would be the goal at this point. I don't see any need to jump immediately to a VPS unless there is any custom code involved (something that would be more safe in a more secure VPS environment).

As you're using xcart the obvious requirements will be in play:

Link to details

Technical requirements for hosting packages
PHP
Web server must have support for PHP version 4.0.6 or higher (X-Cart is also compatible with PHP 5). The configuration file php.ini must contain the following settings:
a. safe_mode must be disabled
b. file_uploads must be enabled
c. [PHP 5] register_long_arrays must be enabled
d. the functions "exec", "popen", "pclose" and "ini_set" should not be included in the disabled functions list

Required extensions:
a. EXPAT PHP extension is installed
b. libCURL PHP extension and/or an HTTPS module (like Net:SLeay perl module, CURL executable, OpenSSL executable) is installed
c. Perl is required for Net:SLeay perl module
d. GDLib version 2.0 or better (required for X-Magnifier module)

MySQL
The web server must have support for MySQL databases. X-Cart is compatible with any MySQL version from 3.23 to 5.0.18 inclusive. Clients must be granted the ability to choose between MySQL v 4.x or v 5.x at least.

Security
• Shared SSL certificate.
• Ability to install any SSL certificates chosen by client.
• Clients data protection. No access for users from other hosting accounts.

Other
1. Outgoing connections to 80 and 443 ports must be enabled.
2. Loop-back connections must be enabled.
3. There should be no restrictions on memory and processor time usage for PHP. If such restrictions exist they must be adjusted or disabled upon clients requests.

The majority of hosts out there using a LAMP configuration (linux, apache, mysql, php) should be sufficient.

[markm455]

Thanks for your help!

I will stick with a good shared host to start out with and save some $$$.

[DaKine]

Not all shared hosts will allow you to change the PHP settings that X-Cart requires. So make sure they will allow this before you sign up. The amount of items and traffic you are expecting should be okay on a host that is not overloading their servers. X-Cart can be a CPU hog so when your store starts to use resources you will want to have an upgrade path to a small VPS. It might be wise if you discuss all these things with your potential host before you sign up.