Qualiteam Software Ltd. company, a provider of e-commerce software solutions, used by tens of thousands online merchants in 111 countries worldwide, released a new version of X-Cart v 4.1.9. New release of X-Cart features further improvements in core functions, payment modules and addons.

The major changes between v4.1.8 and v4.1.9 are:

• Completely re-worked X-Magnifier add-on, see below for details.
• Improved installation wizard now suggests solutions.
• HTML meta keywords and description tags moved above JavaScript code for SEO purposes.
• Shipping Label Generator module has been updated (USPS labels retrieval, code refactoring).
• Major improvement in online payment processing security. 3DSecure transactions support enabled in the following modules:

• eSelect Plus. Transaction API
• iDEB
• Caledon
• eSec.Direct
• eSec.ReDirect
• WebCraft/Transactium
• PayFlow Pro (via PayFlow FPS)
• Authorize.NET
• PsiGate
• Netbilling
• USA ePay

Qualiteam Software announces a new version of X-Magnifier add-on, which features usability and performance improvements, including:

• A completely stretchable zoom window.
• Improved usability (scaling images with mouse scroll wheel button, “fit to page” button, thumbnail management interface in admin zone).
• Customizable zoom window (two predefined skin sets come with the add-on out-of-the-box).
• Improved performance (46% less memory needed).

X-Cart

After almost a year of the intensive development, CS-Cart version 1.3.5 is finally released! We did our best to supplement the software with the most needed features/ functions to provide store owners with the most powerful and useable tools on the market today.

Below is a list of a few of these valuable additions in CS-Cart v.1.3.5

• New XHTML compliant css-based storefront skin
• One page checkout
• New import/export API (ExIm) both with the sets of import/export patterns
• RMA addon
• Promotions addon
• Reward points addon
• Drop shipping addon
• Gift certificates addon
• Cart and wishlist content viewer
• Image verification functionality

Please visit the CHANGELOG page to see a complete lists of changes.

http://cs-cart.com/

All e-commerce operators need a good understanding of connectivity. The size of your “pipe” to the Internet has a profound affect on your customers’ surfing experience. Thus, when searching for a web-hosting service for your website, consider only those that can offer you at least a T-3 line to the Internet.

When considering your own connectivity needs (whether for your internal network or a self-hosted website), neither go too small, nor too large.

It is impossible to over-emphasis the importance of connectivity. Take the time and effort to choose the right Internet connection for your website’s needs. Do your homework. Your pipe to the Internet must be able to provide a continuous data stream so your website can always perform at its peak, while at the same time, giving you the most “bang for the buck.”

You also need to consider the size of the pipe of your web host/ISP. When searching for the best ISP for your self-hosted web server or a web-hosting service to host your web server, ask pointed questions about their connectivity strength. If you expect your website to receive say, a million hits a month, then find a service that can provide you with sufficient data feed, that means the provider must have T-3 and/or optical carrier lines.

Here is a quick tutorial to help you understand what these different data feeds provide.

T-3/E-3

A T-3/E-3’s (also known as DS3) data carrying capacity is about 45 Mbps with 672 channels, each channel having a 64 Kbps transfer capacity. This type of service is very expensive and overkill for all but the largest, most popular websites (and websites offering multiple video streams). Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use T-3/E-3 lines as their connection to the Internet backbone.

Even if you feel that your website might need a T-3/E-3 data stream, first consider using inverse multiplexing (the reverse of ordinary multiplexing, which combines multiple signals into a single signal). Generally, inverse multiplexing across even eight T-1/E-1 lines is less expensive than going the T-3/E-3 route.

Inverse multiplexing speeds up data transmission by dividing a data stream into multiple concurrent streams. Those streams are transmitted at the same time across separate T-1/E-1 channels and are then reconstructed at the other end back into the original data stream. It is a technique commonly used where data in a high-speed local area network (LAN) flows back and forth into a wide area network (WAN) across the “bottleneck” of a slower line such as a T-1/E-1. By using multiple T-1/E-1 lines, the data stream can be load-balanced across all of the lines at the same time.

Optical Carrier (OC)

The term “Optical Carrier” describes fiber optic networks that conform to the Synchronous Optical Network standard for connecting fiber-optic transmission systems (commonly known as the “SONET standard”). Fiber optics is a technology that uses gloss or plastic fibers or threads to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of fibers or threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.

The SONET standard also defines a hierarchy of interface rates that allow data streams at different rates to be multiplexed. SONET establishes OC leaves from 51.85 Mbps to 2.488 Gbps. The standard OC levels include:

• Optical Carrier Level 1 (OC-1) offers data speeds up to 51.85 Mbps.
• Optical Carrier Level 3 (OC-3) is actually an optical carrier with three 51.84 Mbps multiplexed OC-1 circuit streams on an underlying SONET/SDH circuit and thus offers data speeds of up to 155.52 Mbps.
• Optical Carrier Level 3-c (OC-3c) is actually an OC-3 circuit with the three OC-1 lines concatenated into a 155.52 Mbps circuit (used in ATM transmission).
• Optical Carrier Level 12 (OC-12) offers data speeds of up to 622.08 Mbps. An OC12 line can handle over 400 times more data than a T-1/E-1 line. Some Internet Service Providers, especially those that also offer web-hosting services, often provide OC-12 connectivity to the Internet backbone.
• Optical Carrier Level 24 (OC-24) offers data speeds of up to 1244 Mbps or 1.244 Gbps. Canada is at the forefront in deployment of OC-24 service. Both Le Groupe Videotron Ltee (the second largest cable service provider in Canada) and Videotron operate and own more than 2484 miles of installed fiber-optic cable and fiber-optic infrastructure throughout the province of Quebec. Among Videotron’s product mix is transmission of its multiplexed signals using OC-24 service.
• Optical Carrier Level 48 (OC-48) offers data speeds of up to 2488 Mbps or 2.488 Gbps. The Abilene, which connects regional gigaPops to form the Internet2 network, runs over a OC-48 fiber optic cable.
• Optical Carrier Level 192 (OC-192) is the newest SONET interface rate. It offers data speeds of up to 9.952 Gbps.

In some areas, the only “high-speed” service offered will be ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). ISDN is an access technology that uses digital transmission with a bandwidth of up to 128 Kbps over your local telephone company’s ordinary copper wire lines. However, unlike your local telephone service, which transmits analog signals, ISDN can, over these same wires, transmit multiple digital signals simultaneously. There are two ISDN user interface standards: Basic Rate Interface (BRI) and Primary Rate Interface (PRI).

• ISDN BRI is defined as consisting of two 64 Kbps B-channels and one low-speed 16 Kbps D-channel (used only for signaling).
• ISDN PRI standards vary according to the geographic region the service serves. In the U.S. and Japan, ISDN services based on the PRI interface are defined as 23 B-channels plus a D-channel (all operating at 64 Kbps), yielding a total of 1.536 Mbps). In Europe, however, ISDN PRI is defined as 30 B-channels and one D-channel yielding a total of 1.984 Mbps.

Wherever situated, the slower D channel is always the last channel, (e.g. channel 24 in the U.S. and channel 31 in Europe), and it serves the purpose of call signaling, call setup, requesting network services, and routing of data over B-channels.

A terminal adapter (TA) is the piece of equipment you install at the end of an ISDN line in your home or business -– it can be an ISDN phone, a fax machine, or an ISDN “modem.”

There are two kinds of ISDN TAs, internal and external. TAs can look like modems, like computer bus cards, or like interface cards for PBXs or routers. Many ISDN phones and modems have analog jacks on the back that allow you to connect ordinary phones, fax machines, and other analog, non-ISDN devices.

External ISDN TAs are easier to install (they plug into your PC’s serial or USB port) but won’t give you maximum performance. Some, such as the Motorola Bitsurfr Pro or the 3COM Courier, actually look like modems and are often called “ISDN modems.”

The problem with ISDN is that it’s not scalable — you get 128 Kbps (a little over twice the speed of a 56k modem) and that’s it. Data is routed from your ISDN modem to your web host/ISP over the same copper wiring that you may have previously used for ordinary analog phone service, then out to the Internet.

ISDN is available from the local telephone company in most areas in the United States and Europe for around $150 for installation, $300 for the external adapter/modem, and a $50 to $100 monthly line fee. But use ISDN only if there isn’t another, faster option available, e.g. DSL.

T-1/E-1

A T-1 (E-1 in Europe) line’s data-carrying capacity is 1.5 Mbps (E-1 offers 2.048 Mbps) within 24 channels (E-1 offers 31 available channels), each channel having a 64 Kbps data transfer capacity. For most small businesses a full T-1/E-1 line may be overkill since such service is expensive. However, a fractional T-1/E-1 line or burstable T-1/E-1 may suit even a small website’s budget.

A fractional T-1/E-1 is a T-1/E-1 line that is channelized or partitioned, and is referred to as a “fractional configuration.” If a business does not need a full T-1/E-1 line it can lease any portion of the 24/31 64 Kbps channels, with the transmission method and rate of transfer remaining the same. This service is most preferable for a website that expects its traffic to be higher than 1 Mbps 50% of the time.

A burstable T-1/E-1 is a cost-effective Internet access solution for websites to receive direct, reliable, high-speed Internet connectivity. You only pay for the bandwidth that is used rather than for the total size of the circuit and bandwidth, much of which is often unused.

Access to the Internet is set at a minimum of 128 Kbps with burstability to the full T-1/E-1 capacity of 1.5/2.048 Mbps when necessary. Although a monthly minimum is based on sustained usage of 128 Kbps, burstable T-1/E-1 service always provides the availability of the full T-1/E-1 bandwidth. An unshared, point-to-point, full T-1/E-1 line can cost anywhere from $800 to $1500 per month, but a burstable or fractional T-1/E-1 is less — how much less will be based on the service you need.

For example, here’s how the cost for a burstable T-1/E-l might be calculated: Usage is usually monitored every day with SNMP (a network monitoring and control protocol) to create an end-of-month usage report. Rates are then averaged based on the mid-dle 90% of reported usage for the monthly basis. Reports should be included in your monthly billing.

Any T-1/E-1 installation (including burstable and fractional service) will come with a set-up fee of approximately $5000 that includes:

• All the local telephone company loop charges and carrier fees.
• Full 1.54/2.048 Mbps availability.
• Cisco router or other certified network equipment.
• T-1/E-1 CSU/DSU.
• All T-1/E-1 installation charges.
• T-1/E-1 set-up fees.
• As many IP addresses as can be justified.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology brings high-bandwidth transmission to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. “xDSL” refers to different variations of DSL (e.g. ADSL, HDSL, and RADSL) that provide high-bandwidth transmission of up to 10 Mbps over your local telephone company’s ordinary copper wire lines. Installation of Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), a popular version of xDSL, appeared in 1998 and soon exploded to offer service throughout the United States and elsewhere. In many areas it has replaced ISDN (discussed later in this chapter).

DSL works by placing special line conditioning and transmission equipment on both ends of an ordinary copper line from your location to the local telephone company’s central office. Because this connection uses a much broader range of frequencies to transmit digital data than a standard analog phone line, higher speeds are possible. Your data is then routed from the telephone company’s central office to your web host/ISP over high-speed trunk lines, then out to the Internet.

DSL offers several advantages over an ISDN connection. Even a “lite” ADSL connection offers from 384 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps of Internet bandwidth as opposed to 128 Kbps with ISDN, i.e., DSL is at least six times faster. Full-rate ADSL can move 8 Mbps, thus having the bandwidth of several 1.5 Mbps T-1/E-1s.

DSL is hundreds of dollars per month cheaper than a burstable or fractional T-1/E-1 connection. A DSL connection gives you acceptable bandwidth to your web server at a fraction of the cost. But DSL is not very scalable.

Since most DSL technologies require installation of a signal splitter there is an up-front installation expense of about $100.00. You also will need to install a DSL router that is connected to your web server’s network hub, which will cost around $75.00. Use only a high-speed “business class” DSL service (i.e. a symmetrical DSL technology that offers the same speed upstream and downstream) to host a web server. Your monthly costs for business-class DSL service should be between $75.00 and $300.00.

“Connectivity” is a buzzword used in Internet circles to refer to the ability of computers to link to networks, and therefore to the Internet. This chapter deals with the bandwidth aspect of connectivity, i.e., the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. Although this chapter does not provide a complete education on connectivity and bandwidth, it does provide the information you will need to make an intelligent connectivity decision.

The first step is to estimate the amount of bandwidth you will need to feed data from your web server to your customers.

Bandwidth (in the Internet context) is the number of bits per unit time that can be carried across a communications line. The basic unit of bandwidth measurement is bits per second (bps), but most commonly you’ll see it expressed Kbps or Mbps, which stand for kilo-bits per second and mega-bits per second, respectively. The rate at which your connection transfers data is measured in the same bits per second. This bandwidth determines how fast data is transmitted to and from your web server and also how many requests can be serviced simultaneously. Even with a robust server, if you do not have sufficient bandwidth for the number of customers coming to your website, delays or failures will occur.

Select a way of delivering bandwidth that is scalable to meet your website’s future needs while at the same time limiting additional costs and frustration. For example, although a small website can get by with a business-class DSL connection, this solution does not have much scalability. If you can afford it, you should choose to go with at least a burstable or fractional T-1/E-1 line. A large or enterprise website may want to go with a T-3 connection.

Since your website should be accessible to everyone on the Web, and you hope to have many visitors to your site, plan for lots of bandwidth. A website offering streaming video, lots of audio, or one that receives a large amount of traffic would need a T-1/E-1 connection all to itself.

In addition to the number of simultaneous customers, think about the speed at which data is sent to your customers. This is determined by connection speed and data size. It should take fewer than five seconds to send a page of type. Even with the additional bandwidth demands of graphics, audio, or video, a page should load in fewer than 30 seconds.

Once you’ve determined the amount of bandwidth needed for your web server (whether self-hosted or outsourced to a web-hosting service), consider whether your website will offer other services that require increased bandwidth such as email, chat rooms, streaming audio or video. If so, be sure to include enough bandwidth to cover those services.

If running a self-hosted site, you should understand that the Internet connection comes through a router. A network interface card connects your web server to the router — a high-performance network card will prevent a bottleneck between your Internet connection and your web server.

Whatever size bandwidth you end up using, know that most Internet service providers (ISPs) or web-hosting services will take care of most of the details of getting the line installed. But you should still understand that your local telephone company is needed to provide the piece of the connection (the “local loop”) that brings the Internet to your door. Then, if your web-hosting service has a point of presence (POP) co-located with your telephone company’s central office (practically all do), you’ll be able to connect with them using just a local loop. Otherwise you’ll have to rent a dedicated line to wherever the “on ramp” happens to be.

It is up to the web host (whether or not an ISP) to ensure that their POPs are capable of delivering the bandwidth and the response times that their customers need. Ultimately, these providers must be able to expand their POP as they increase their customer base and add new services.

Now let’s look closer at the high-bandwidth services available.

Despite the most compelling design, and innovative programming, there are many reasons that a website can fail. One of the keys to minimizing site failure is redundancy. The power and data redundancy discussed in this chapter are a good start to ensure that your website is always available, but other types of redundancy also should be considered when building a website. For example, using industry-grade equipment and ensuring your site has more than one route to the Internet.

Mirroring of a website is the creation of multiple websites that are exact duplicates of an existing website. Only high-traffic sites should consider adopting a mirroring model.

A website can use mirrored sites in many ways:

• To improve the download speed to your customer by providing more than one server in more than one location with the identical information. Therefore, when traffic becomes too heavy for one geographical site (or one server) to handle, your system can hand off the additional traffic to the mirrored site.
• Live standby servers where data contained on the primary servers are seamlessly mirrored on the standby servers. In the event of an unplanned outage, such an infrastructure can keep a website running efficiently, including both hardware and software.
• When a website uses a system that generates dynamic HTML, it can create a mirror of the site with fixed HTML for search engine indexing purposes, along with special scripting that can direct customers automatically to the “real site.”

Since you are creating a duplicate of your site in every way, including the software and the hardware, the costs can be astronomical. To help you to decide whether to implement a mirror site, consider the costs that come with a site being down because of a natural disaster at the servers’ location or a hacker attack.

An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) is a device with a built-in battery that sits between the power supply and your server(s). It protects your equipment from power outages, brownouts, sags, surges, bad harmonics, etc., which can adversely affect the performance of the system. UPSs are available in numerous configurations. A UPS that can protect a single web server will cost around $250. If you have a network of servers, UPS costs can run into thousands of dollars.

There are two types of website — the ones that have had a power problem and the ones that will have a power problem. A UPS will be one of the most important pieces of equipment you will install to help ensure the reliable operation of your website.

Standby Power Supply

There are many UPSs with varying capabilities. A “standby power supply” or “offline UPS” is not a true UPS. It won’t protect your web server. This standby power supply’s power comes directly from the power line, until the power fails, then a battery-powered inverter takes over. The time required for the inverter to start providing electricity to your server varies greatly. Some servers might tolerate a standby power supply, but don’t chance it.

Hybrid UPS

A “hybrid UPS” is a device that uses a ferroresonant transformer to maintain a constant output voltage between the power source and your server, protecting against line noise. It can maintain output relying on its battery (a secondary power source) for a limited period of time. If power is not reinstated, a total outage occurs. It is questionable whether this type of device can actually respond when needed without an accompanying interruption in power. There is some debate as to whether a UPS’s ferroresonant transformer will interact with the ferroresonant transformers in your equipment, producing unexpected results. The hybrid UPS system is comparatively cheap, but, if you choose it, be sure to test it thoroughly with all of your equipment before going on-line.

True UPS

All e-commerce operators should use “true” UPS systems. While these systems are more expensive to purchase and maintain than the others we have examined thus far, this system continuously operates from an inverter with no switchover time and offers good protection from power problems.

A true UPS has internal batteries and can absorb small power surges. It continues to provide power during line sags, negates noisy power sources, and provides power for a set length of time during a power loss. It provides continuous power independent of the outside power supply. The minimum support you want from any UPS system is 30 minutes, enough to survive short outages and other power inconsistencies. Keep in mind though, as you design your server system that a true UPS generates quite a bit of heat; so don’t put it in a closed space.

Included in the “true” UPS category are systems that provide:

• Automatic shutdown and restart of your website’s equipment during long power outages.
• Monitoring and logging of the status of the power supply.
• Display of the voltage/current draw of the equipment and the voltage currently on the line.
• Alarms on certain error conditions.
• Short circuit protection.

How to Rate UPSs

When researching your UPS requirements and the various brands and configurations available, make certain that the UPS vendor offers a support and/or maintenance contract. If not, go to another vendor. There are many options you may wish to consider before purchasing your UPS. A manual bypass switch is helpful so that when the UPS is out of operation, power can pass through it to your web server. You also should know how close the AC output of the UPS is to a sine wave.

An inverter is an electronic device that converts a battery’s DC output to AC through a switching process, producing a “synthesized” AC, which can be charted as a waveform on an oscilloscope or graph paper. Inverters produce two types of waveforms: The so-called “modified sine wave” and the “true sine wave.”

True sine waves, or sinusoidal signals, are the most common waves that exist. They’re called sine waves because they have the same shape as the graph of the sine function used in trigonometry. Sine waves look the way they do because they are produced by rotating electrical machines such as generators and, indeed, a sine wave’s intensity (amplitude) at any given instant can be represented by a point on a wheel rotating at a uniform speed since waves are perfectly “balanced” over successive time intervals.

On the other hand, a “modified sine wave” is not actually a sine wave, but a stepped wave, which is the kind of wave a pendulum produces, and is not as smooth as a sine wave. But “mod sine” inverters cost half the price of sine wave inverters, thus lowering the cost of a UPS. However, they can cause electrical noise on a circuit, and digital clocks and timing circuits can be confused or even be occasionally damaged.

Sine wave inverters in a good UPS deliver true sine wave AC output power with high efficiencies from storage batteries. They have high surge ability and low idle current draw. Because of the pure sine wave, the expense is greater than a modified sine wave inverter.

If your UPS does not output a pure sinusoidal waveform, do not put a surge protector between the UPS and the server since a surge protector can mistake the nonsine waveform as a power surge and send it to ground; that will damage the UPS. Some experts think that most computers use a switching-type power supply that only draws power at or near the peak of the waveform, therefore the shape of the input power waveform is not important. It is the authors’ opinion that it is worth spending a little more for a UPS with pure sinusoidal output especially for a UPS that must continually provide a waveform to the computer.

Check what useful operational information the UPS itself provides via displays, etc., such as the power or percentage load the unit is drawing, the battery level and power quality. Most UPSs use lead-acid batteries with a life span of only a few years but no battery memory. Therefore they should be run “dry” as few times as possible.

Maintenance

As your UPS ages, its battery life will become shorter. Be vigilant in monitoring the active support time. When your website has no one accessing it (or you can take it off the Internet for a few minutes) and you’ve completely backed up you hard drive(s), test your UPS and its failure modes. Simulate a power outage by throwing the circuit breaker that has the UPS on it (don’t pull the plug from the wall) to check the UPS. If you don’t have your UPS-protected website on an isolated circuit, you could install a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) socket (GFI sockets are the electrical switches with a red and a black button you have in your house or office).

Power problems are inevitable and beyond your control. Therefore, a UPS is one of the most crucial items you can purchase to keep your website up and ready for action.