A little over 6 months ago I started an ASP.NET MVC project for a client. During the planning phase we evaluated several web hosting companies and in the end choose DiscountASP.NET. One of the reasons we selected DiscountASP.NET is the Control Panel API feature.

The DiscountASP.NET Control Panel API allows us to programmatically manage our web hosting account. For example, we can manage email accounts, check bandwidth usage, and etc. All of these management functions are nice, but the one API feature that interested us the most was the ability to automate backups of the Microsoft SQL Database.

Look, I think it is important to choose a web hosting service provider who is reliable. However, any system can fail and data can be lost. Therefore, it is more important to not only choose a company you can depend on, but to utilize every feature you can to protect yourself. For this project, the ability to automatically perform a nightly backup of the website data and then download the backup to local storage was another layer of protection from a total data loss scenario.

With a simple goal of automating the Microsoft SQL Database Backup process and downloading the files to local storage, I started thinking about the features this process would need. Here is what I came up with:

• Multiple Database Support - currently my client only has one hosted database, but I can see that changing in the future.
• Purge Old Backups - the option to remove backups from the local storage that are more than XX days old.
• Email Notification - the option to notify me if when a backup was performed and if the process was successful or failed.

Based on these criteria, I created the DASP SQL Backup application (DSB.Service.EXE) for performing automatic backups of a DiscountASP.NET MSSQL database. This application installs as a Windows Service and runs in the background without any user interface. Running the application as a service adds the ability to use the Windows Service Control Manager to Start, Stop, Pause, Resume, and Restart the application. In addition, there is no need to worry about restarting the application if the PC is rebooted, because the service can be set to automatically start on boot up.

The DSB.Service.EXE application records all events (success, failure, error) in the Windows Application Event Log with a Source of DASP SQL Backup. By recording events in the Windows Application Event Log, I can use the Windows Event Viewer to see what happened and when. I also don't have to worry about purging old events, because Windows can handle this automatically.

The DSB.Service.EXE application includes command line options for installing, uninstalling, starting, and stopping the service. Keep in mind that Administrative privileges are required to perform these commands.

All configuration settings are stored in two XML files: Databases.XML and DSB.Service.exe.config. At this point I did not create a user interface for modifying these files. This is something that I am considering for the future.

If you would like a copy of this application, you can download the latest version from http://pfsolutions-mi.com/Product/DASPSQLBackup. The following is a list of important notes:

• This application requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile.
• You must enable the DiscountASP.NET Control Panel API.
• Be sure to read the README.TXT file for instructions on installing the service and how to modify the configuration files.
• I'd love to hear any feedback. What do you like, what do you not like, what kind of features would you like to see in future versions?

Links:
DiscountASP.NET http://discountasp.net/
DiscountASP.NET Control Panel API http://support.discountasp.net/KB/a176/control-panel-api.aspx
Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=5765d7a8-7722-4888-a970-ac39b33fd8ab

For a while now I have wanted a way to monitor my website. I don't visit the site every day. That meant that if there was ever a failure, it could be weeks before I found out. I have also found that periodically "hitting" my website prevents the web server from unloading the site from memory.

Guessing that I wasn't the only person with this issue, I did some research and found two types of solutions. The first type of solution is what I would describe as a Website Monitoring Service Provider. In other words, a company that monitor websites for a monthly and/or annual fee. The second type of solution I found could be described as Website Monitoring Software. Typically, this was an application I could install on my PC and configure to monitor one or more websites.

Faced with two kinds of solutions, I started thinking about the features I really wanted. Here is what I came up with:

• Monitor Multiple Websites - the ability to monitor my website and websites for my clients.
• Control the Frequency of Checks - the ability to check the "Home" page every 10 minutes, but only call the "System Maintenance" page every 24 hours.
• Control the Response Timeout - the "Home" page should respond in less than 15, whereas the "System Maintenance" page may need several minutes.
• Failure Notification - the option to notify me if a website did not respond in the time specified.
• Resumed Notification - notify me when a website was back online if the previous check failed. In my experience with using website hosting companies, it is not uncommon for a website to be un-responsive one moment and then a minute or two later be start working again

Based on these criteria, I was able to immediately rule out both the Website Monitoring Service Providers and Website Monitoring Software that I had previously found. The deciding factor was (A) the solution did not have the features I needed or (B) the price was too high.

One of the perks of being a software developer is that if you can't find an application that does exactly what you want...you have the skills to build it yourself. (Hmm, it can be a curse too.) And that is what I did. Here's how it works.

WSM.Service.EXE is an application for monitoring one or more websites. It installs as a Windows Service and runs in the background without any user interface. This gives me the benefit of using the Windows Service Control Manager to Start, Stop, Pause, Resume, and Restart the application. I also don't have to worry about restarting the application if the PC is rebooted.

The WSM.Service.EXE application records all events (success, failure, error) in the Windows Application Event Log with a Source of Website Monitor. This gives me the benefit of using the Windows Event Viewer to see what happened and when. I also don't have to worry about purging old events, because Windows can handle this automatically.

The WSM.Service.EXE application does include command line options for installing, uninstalling, starting, and stopping the service. Keep in mind that Administrative privileges are required to perform these commands.

All configuration settings are stored in two XML files: Websites.XML and WSM.Service.exe.config. At this point I did not create a user interface for modifying these files. This is something that I am considering for the future.

If you would like a copy of this application, you can download the latest version from http://pfsolutions-mi.com/Product/WebsiteMonitor. When using this application, please keep the following in mind

• This application requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile.
• Be sure to read the README.TXT file for instructions on installing the service and how to modify the configuration files.
• I'd love to hear any feedback. What do you like, what do you not like, what kind of features would you like to see in future versions?

Links:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=5765d7a8-7722-4888-a970-ac39b33fd8ab

Last night Paul Mrozowski did a presentation called "Lucene.NET as a Document Search Engine". He began by explaining that Lucene.NET is an open source indexing and search library written in C#. It is not a traditional application. Instead it is a tool developers can use to index and search documents, such as CHM, DOC, HLP, PDF, RTF, and TXT files.

Paul first demonstrated how easy it is to install Lucene.NET, some of the configuration settings, and how to set it up to run as a background service in Microsoft Windows. Next he showed us a COM wrapper class that he created in order to use Lucene.NET from Visual FoxPro.

The wrapper class could be used to index the source files and perform some pretty complex searches. I liked the way it could include the surrounding portions of text with the search results. For example, if you searched for the phrase "fox" in "Visual FoxPro Rocks", you could include a variable amount of the original characters found before and after the search phrase.

In addition to indexing document files, he also demonstrated how the wrapper class could be used to build your own index entries with meta data. For example, you could index the contents of a memo field and then store the table name and record identification in the meta data. Later, this information could be searched the same as document file.

Although the wrapper class did not have the complete functionality of Lucene.NET, it did fill the most basic needs. He mentioned the idea of either posting the sample code to his web site or better yet making it a VFPX project. All in all, it was a very cool presentation.

Links:
DAFUG http://dafug.org
Paul Mrozowski http://www.rcs-solutions.com