How should I go about providing downloads?

Colin F

Colin F

Guppy
Hi

I have a Lotto Forum which runs on MS SQL and which you are welcome to visit:
www.lottoposter.com

In passing I say I have made quite a few enemies in this area because of my honest approach - so I have to be cautious where I lay myself open to sabotage. To the credit of Jodohost I believe the very savy people they employ and the efficient way they manage things have been a deterrent to would be saboteurs and I appreciate that. (Now, there's a nice referral for you Mr Jodi!)

I've reached the stage where I would like to provide an Access Database Utilities program (randomizer etc) for users to download for a small fee - enough to finance say a cup of coffee or an icecream, over and above my costs.

I gather this is done by anonymous FTP access - but before I step into areas I should be wary of I would appreciate some kind person giving me an overview, maybe even step by step and a list of what I should look out for.

Regards
Colin
 
your maybe better off creating a ftp account on request, or one they use to login to a folder that will hold the latest version

else anyone could download the database weather they paid or not,.

just make sure its only read not write enabled else anyone could also upload to the server . which could be harmful.
 
Emagines reply ...

Thanks emagine.

I'm waiting to get access to my control panel - put a ticket in and was told I would have to wait a few days because of change of servers. I'm patient but very dubious on that one since I've been trying for a few days!

Excuse my ignorance but why does one have to provide a dedicated IP?

Regards
Colin

ps Could you explain why I am a swordfish. Never really thought of myself that way - but thereagain I'm not a toothless tiger!
 
In my opinion, i think you should skip FTP download and set up a database for registered users (users that have paid for your utility) and simply have a script that gets called when the user logs in to download file (or uses a special automatically generated access code) - which never directly calls the file from the file system (as in the browser never actually SEES where the file is being downloaded from on the server). This sort of script is widely used to prevent leeching and outdated links to downloads, and i'm sure you could easily find a ready-made, even free script in your preferred server side scripting language.

The file would of course be downloaded by HTTP protocol rather than FTP, not sure if there is some other reason why you would need to use ftp.

I think that would be easier than dealing with ftp permissions and related ftp issues. Plus, you can use the regular shared IP, rather than having to switch to a dedicated IP, which offers you no advantage in this case.

hope this helps!
 
after to agree.

you could have the database above root folder to prevent downloadin straight from a url,

then using asp for example you could stream the database from above the root folder to the user.

using ado.Stream

also means you can check users logged in, referrer etc. and as mentioned onl require a shared IP.

the sword fish is the starting group, the more you post/ and time frame with posting

your rank changes.

thats all.. only the ocianic police are set group for the JodoHost admin Team.
 
Download thank you's.

Sensei ... and Emagine

Thank you both. I think you've pointed me in the right direction.

Regards
Colin
 
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