Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Windows Hosting : Joomla on Windows?

[dig814]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good Windows host that supports Joomla. We currently host with Hostmonster and are happy with them. The problem is we are having a custom Joomla component built that needs to connect to an external MSSQL database and we can't seem to get this working on Linux. We tried Free TDS and couldn't get it going. I am getting really frustrated with this process. Our IT guys isn't very familiar with Linux and wants us to switch to Windows. Any suggestions? Anyone know how to solve this issue on Linux?

[PremiumHost]

I think the issue is with PHP mssql library.
Also check status of mssql remote connection.
We have a customer hosting php script on our windows server connecting to their dedicated SQL server (the database is like 12GB in size)
Hosting joomla on windows has other limitation like htaccess url rewrite.

[horizonrays]

well , both windows , and php has almost same kind of look in bankend so i do not think that back end will be an issue ,
joomla is meant to be run on mysql and apache for optimal result so use that instead of iss and sql server .
Php and IIs has some run time problem and other issues .

[eacollin]

I would go with HostGator but thats not Windows its Linux - I have to agree with horizonrays switch to Linux. HostGator are Great host and Fantastic Support. I'm not a fan of Joomla for a CMS for a website there are way better options for a CMS; but it does sound like you've already invested in Joomla?

[bvsonline]

Hi,

Please check the link given below. Mak the configurations as specified here.

==================
http://www.easysoft.com/developer/la..._tutorial.html
==================

[RyanBishop]

Joomla runs great in Windows as long as there are the supported functionality, when selecting a windows host you will want to make sure that they have an IIS Mod-Rewrite component available on the server or if they support IIS7 or 7.5 you should be able to easily import your htaccess rules. IIS.net has a how to article on doing this via the remote manager.

[dig814]

I am the original poster. We ended up switching to Arvixe for our windows hosting needs. I agree with everyone here that Linux would be way easier. We came from a Linux host (hostmonster) and were very happy with them and had no problems. We had a few tools built that need to be run on windows so that is the reason we switched.

First, i will say Arvixe has been great and have tried really hard to make things work, but to no avail. Our site works fine minus one excpetion, SMTP mail setting don't work. Upon submission of a form, you get nothing but a blank page. No errors, nothing. Upon first setup, we had SMTP working OK. Now it doesn't. They are telling us that PHP mail function, which we are using now isn't supported. Right now it works on almost everything. On registration, you get a few errors but seem to receive the emails. We have worked with the Arvixe support team for weeks now trying to get this working and no luck. This was there final email:

"I've tried setting the SMTP setting inside your Joomla to send emails using an external SMTP server and no connection was even made by Joomla to that external mail server. I also used a test script to make sure PHP's SMTP module was working and it is. At this point, without any proper Joomla error, we have exhausted our resources identifying the issue. What have identified is that -

PHP's SMTP addon is working
It is not related to the SMTP server as several SMTP servers were used

We suggest using a linux plan to setup your Joomla sites to not have issues in the future."

This is of no help to us. We need to get this working. Any suggestions? Any Windows hoster with a solution? We would be glad to switch to you if you can get everything working. We are just running out of ideas and need to get this going.

Thanks

[Ronald_Craft]

It's unfortunate that you weren't able to get Joomla working 100% for you, dig814. It's true that we don't support PHP mail on Windows. There's just too many issues with it (especially in the security department) and it's not worth taking that risk. I'm sure there's some hosts out there that will offer you the solution you seek. Otherwise, you could setup a VPS and run anything you'd like on it.

Have you considered trying a different email approach or a different CMS system? Or are you set on using Joomla? I'm sure there's some alternatives out there that would offer a similar solution without using the PHP mail function.

[kpmedia]

This shouldn't be an issue on IIS7.
But I'd mention that it worked fine on IIS6, too.

People are still using Joomla?

[dig814]

Originally Posted by kpmedia

This shouldn't be an issue on IIS7.
But I'd mention that it worked fine on IIS6, too.

People are still using Joomla?

Yeah, like 20 or 30 million people...

[hostingcertified]

If the mail() function is disbled, it won't work with SMTP authentication or without authentiation. When your scripts are running fine, you just need to copy them to a windows hosting company that is having support for mail() function on php.

[dig814]

Originally Posted by hostingcertified

If the mail() function is disbled, it won't work with SMTP authentication or without authentiation. When your scripts are running fine, you just need to copy them to a windows hosting company that is having support for mail() function on php.

Thanks everyone for your help. We switched to Mochahost and everything works great. Settings are the same as they were on Arvixe, but for some reason they didn't work on Arvixe. Just a blank white screen. Who know? It's working now!

[Ronald_Craft]

Best of luck with your new web host, dig814.

[cheminroad]

Originally Posted by Adam Brown

HostGator will quite useful in your concern.

Not onlu hostgator but some other companies as well.

[kpmedia]

Originally Posted by dig814

Yeah, like 20 or 30 million people...

I highly doubt that.
The number of downloads does not equate to functional sites.
I've probably downloaded it myself 3-4 times, but it's not live anywhere.