Eircom doesn't support PHP!

[sticker]

Hey all,

I've just finished a site for a friend, He has hosting with Eircom - I created three enquiry forms but Eircom now tell him they do not support PHP on any of their hosting options.

Is this credible for the main telecommunications company in the country?! - they tell me they only support ASP & Pearl. I am unfamiliar with these.

Can anyone suggest a workaround (Beyond changing Host - as my friend would rather stay with the devil he knows. His email is crutial and he's not confident in migrating it - I wouldn't blame him!)

Just to try, I uploaded the form but got this message:

Method Not Allowed

The requested method POST is not allowed for the URL /equipmentrepairform2.php.
Apache/1.3.28 Server at www.weebsitename.ie Port 80




Thanks in advance!

 

[louie]

no PHP no go.
Get a hosting account with blacknight.ie, setup the server and email account, than request DNS change from eircom to the new hosting.

This way he doesn't loose anything.

 

[EdenWeb]

Careful when asking Eircom to change DNS. On more than one occasion they have made a balls of this for my clients including once deleting (somehow) the client's account. Website, email, account all zapped.

 

[louie]

Better off - request domain transfer with the new hosting provider.

 

[sticker]

Careful when asking Eircom to change DNS. On more than one occasion they have made a balls of this for my clients including once deleting (somehow) the client's account. Website, email, account all zapped.

This is my friends concern - That for the sake of a few forms (which would be great to have) he doesn't want to run the risk of issues with email - Ths companys income depends on a working email system.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Blacknight or Digiweb would be probably BETTER than Eircom's service, but I understand his concerns in migrating the lot.

Can someone explain to me why Eircom does not support this very common language? If Blacknight & Digiweb can do it, why can't they?!

 

[niall]

Hi,

You can have the best of both worlds, get a hosting package with another hosting company, setup the site, test it, and then ask Eircom to change the A record for the domain so that it points at the new server while keeping the mail (MX record) with Eircom.

This means that while Eircom still control the mail and the DNS, you can have the hosting on a package that supports PHP.

Being totally unbiased due to the fact they sign my paycheque, I would say go with Blacknight

Niall.

 

[mneylon]

Can someone explain to me why Eircom does not support this very common language? If Blacknight & Digiweb can do it, why can't they?!

A lot of the "old" ISPs don't / didn't allow any form of server-side scripting on their hosting accounts.

I think Eircom might offer Perl support, but if I recall they would audit all the scripts before allowing them to be used (and charge for this)

Esat BT offer some server-side scripting support from what I can gather, but I've no idea what exactly.

Most hosting providers these days would offer perl, php and asp / asp.net (Windows only - obviously).

 

[sticker]

A lot of the "old" ISPs don't / didn't allow any form of server-side scripting on their hosting accounts.

I think Eircom might offer Perl support, but if I recall they would audit all the scripts before allowing them to be used (and charge for this)

Esat BT offer some server-side scripting support from what I can gather, but I've no idea what exactly.

Most hosting providers these days would offer perl, php and asp / asp.net (Windows only - obviously).

They said they DO support Perl & ASP, but I'm not in a position to produce forms with these langauges.

Does anyoine fancy doing me a nixer?!

I pay for someone to produce the three forms in Perl or ASP...

 

[sticker]

Hi,

You can have the best of both worlds, get a hosting package with another hosting company, setup the site, test it, and then ask Eircom to change the A record for the domain so that it points at the new server while keeping the mail (MX record) with Eircom.

This means that while Eircom still control the mail and the DNS, you can have the hosting on a package that supports PHP.

Being totally unbiased due to the fact they sign my paycheque, I would say go with Blacknight

Niall.

...Interesting! I've already responded to Blacknight before reading your post. Can you confirm this is do-able Blacknight?

Is there ANY risk to the email infrastructure with what Niall suggests?

 

[niall]

Is there ANY risk to the email infrastructure with what Niall suggests?

There's the risk that Eircom still screw up the DNS request, but that can be mitigated by being very very exact in the email to Eircom's DNS people.

Niall.

 

[sticker]

There's the risk that Eircom still screw up the DNS request, but that can be mitigated by being very very exact in the email to Eircom's DNS people.

Niall.

Exact in what regard? The details of the new hosting or telling them not to screw it up in stern terms?!!!

 

[n3tFl0w]

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't consider Eircom a real hosting company. I used to work there in the past I got the feeling they were only doing it becuase they could. Plus it was handy for people and their attempts at "hello world" websites. I know that's what I used it for.

 

[niall]

Exact in what regard? The details of the new hosting or telling them not to screw it up in stern terms?!!!

Make it clear that it's the A record for www that has be changed and that the MX record for the mail isn't to be touched. You might also want want the main A record changed for the domain presuming that it exists.

Niall.

 

[sticker]

Thanks for the feedback all... much appreciated!

 

[jmcc]

Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't consider Eircom a real hosting company. I used to work there in the past I got the feeling they were only doing it becuase they could. Plus it was handy for people and their attempts at "hello world" websites. I know that's what I used it for.

The bulk of Eircom's client base consists of historical .ie registrations. About eight years ago it occupied the top tier of the Irish hosting market along with Esat.net but ISP marketshare has collapsed as the second generation hosting service providers (HSPs) like Blacknight, Hosting365 and Novara took over the market. At an estimate, the ISPs only account for around 20% of the Irish market.

Regards...jmcc

 

[sticker]

Just a suggestion, but for a painless and risk free option, could I organise hosting with blacknight, and simply "point" the domain to that space?

This way, the forms will work and email stays intact.

Is this possible?

 

[n3tFl0w]

The bulk of Eircom's client base consists of historical .ie registrations. About eight years ago it occupied the top tier of the Irish hosting market along with Esat.net but ISP marketshare has collapsed as the second generation hosting service providers (HSPs) like Blacknight, Hosting365 and Novara took over the market. At an estimate, the ISPs only account for around 20% of the Irish market.

Regards...jmcc

Wow. Never realised that it was that high actually. As I said, It often felt like an afterthought in there. But then I didn't know the history. Cheers.

 

[jmcc]

Wow. Never realised that it was that high actually. As I said, It often felt like an afterthought in there. But then I didn't know the history. Cheers.

Eircom and Esat had a lock on the Irish hosting market a few years ago. It was incompetent management and a failure to adapt to market needs that allowed the HSPs to gain market share. I've been working on a hoster stats side of the HosterStats.com: Domain Registration Statistics And Historical DNS Database site and it has flash graphs showing all this stuff. It should go live in the next week. The decline of the ISPs and the rise of the HSPs are quite visible. I'll probably get around to posting the Beta URLs in the next few days.

Regards...jmcc

 

[n3tFl0w]

Eircom and Esat had a lock on the Irish hosting market a few years ago. It was incompetent management and a failure to adapt to market needs that allowed the HSPs to gain market share. I've been working on a hoster stats side of the HosterStats.com: Domain Registration Statistics And Historical DNS Database site and it has flash graphs showing all this stuff. It should go live in the next week. The decline of the ISPs and the rise of the HSPs are quite visible. I'll probably get around to posting the Beta URLs in the next few days.

Regards...jmcc

Would definitely be interested in seeing that. Looking forward to it.

 

[TheMenace]

Does anyoine fancy doing me a nixer?!

There are loads of tutorials for ASP email and data type validation - you could teach yourself how to set up a form in ASP in no time flat!