Moving SQL Express databases to a SQL Server
A common query our customers have is knowing how to migrate a SQL Express database embedded in the App_Data directory of a web application over to our SQL Servers.
The primary reason that we don't allow User Instance SQL Express databases on our web hosting servers is the the difficulty of managing server resources. Websites generally use a stready amount of RAM, where SQL Express will try to use as much RAM as available to it. For this reason we run web applications on web hosting servers and the corresponding databases on SQL Server hosting servers.
The first step is take a backup of your embedded database.
1. Open SQL Express Management Studio 2008 or SQL Express Management Studio 2008 R2 and connect to your SQL Express instance. Usually the default settings (Server Name = .\SQLExpress and Windows Authentication) will work fine.
2. Right click on the Databases folder and select Attach.
3. Click the Add button and select the mdf file for your database, then click Ok. You should give the database a name in the Attach As field, then click Ok to Attach the database.
4. You will now see your database in the database list and can right click on it, then select Tasks, then Backup to backup your database to a file.
5. Remove the current backup destination and add in a new destination to your backup directory. Give your backup file the same name as your database with .bak as the extension (i.e. myDatabase.bak)
6. Click ok to take the backup.
Once you have your database backup, you can Go into the Maintenanace Tools section of your database settings within the WebsitePanel control panel and restore the database.
Email being flagged as spam
We are sometimes asked why emails are being flagged as spam.
Mail servers use a disparate variety of methods to combat spam and in most cases we are not in control of the system that is flagging these emails as spam. This is therefore not a question we can answer with authority, but is something the recipient network administrator can answer.
However, two common issues have emerged:
1. Message content - your message may contains words or phrases which are spammy.
2. SPF record - mostly affecting mail sent from outside our network. Explained below.
The default SPF record we give domains does not allow sending from all IPs, rather it specifies only the A and MX records. What this means is that unless you've made changes to your DNS by either changing the SPF record or the MX record, mail sent from an external mail server masquerading as mail from a domain on our network has the potential to be flagged as spam by a receiving mail server.
If you are finding emails being flagged as spam and are not using our mail server to send, you can try changing the SPF record (currently a TXT record in the DNS) to "v=spf1 +all" without the quotation marks. This may result in your messages no longer being flagged as spam.
Be aware that changing the SPF to +all will result in mail from any server passing SPF, and increases the chance that a third party can pretend to be sending from your domain without being flagged as spam.
Resellers: How to modify the default hosting space summary email
1. Login to WebsitePanel using the login information in your welcome email, then click the 'Mail Templates' in the bottom right of your user page:
2. Select the template you wish to edit
3. Set the template to Override Host Settings to allow changes to the template.
4. Use this guide to create your own templates.