AbleCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Hello,

I would like to know what is different about an AbleCommerce hosting company versus a typical hosting company?

I don't know if I need to switch because of something I "need" in order to run AbleCommerce that they couldn't offer.

This is their Windows server hosting plan.

100GB of disk space
2000GB data transfer
1000 mailboxes
2000MB MS SQL 2000 or 2005 database

Is there anything special I need to ask if they do?

Thank you for your time.

The only thing you'll want to make sure of is that they will let you install a custom cart on their servers. Many hosts do not allow you to install software on their servers. An AbleCommerce host should be familiar with AbleCommerce and will be able to either install and configure the software for you or provide you with enough access to your server so that you can do the installation yourself. Also, if there are problems a host that is familiar with AbleCommerce will be able to provide better support than one that has never worked with it.

If you have full access to your server at your current host (i.e. a dedicated server that you have terminal services access to and have complete control of) there should be no need to switch providers. But if you are on a shared server (with other sites also running on it) your host may not allow you to load AbleCommerce or may not provide you with enough access to the machine.

So, before purchasing AbleCommerce (or any other shopping cart) check with your current host and see what their policies are. And also consider the level of support they'll be able to provide with AbleCommerce.

They might ask you if you need to run an executable to install the software, which they might not want to do. You don't have to do that- you can ftp up all the pages. and the only files Able needs are within the install directory. If you need to upgrade and they will not allow you to run the upgrade routine, you can do it to your test server, then upload the new files. If they haven't hosted an Able site, it might be a little tricky the way IIS should be set up as far as virtual directories, but they can be told how to do it.