What to look for in a coldfusion dedicated server provider?

Using Coldfusion dedicated server, web developers can build multi-functional websites, content publishing systems, e-commerce websites, content publishing systems and a host of other things. Coldfusion is an easy to learn, user friendly, tag based scripting language which has connectivity to enterprise level data and strong in built searching capabilities, all of which helps in creating brilliant web pages. 

Developed by JJ and Jeremy Allaire and released as an Allaire product in July 1995, Coldfusion along with Allaire was acquired by Macromedia in 2001, while Macromedia in turn was sold to Adobe Systems in 2005. A Coldfusion dedicated server is an application server used to develop both computer software and dynamic websites. Products in the same category as that of Coldfusion are Microsoft ASP.NET, JavaServer Pages or PHP. ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) is the scripting language, similar in nature to JSP, ASP.NET, PHP and HTML is a brilliant and distinguishing feature of Coldfusion. Nonetheless it must be remembered that other CFML application servers apart from ColdFusion exist as does other compatible scripting languages like Actionscript and embedded scripts written in CFScript.  

A Coldfusion dedicated server is generally used for data filled websites or intranets but remote services like SOAP web services and Flash remoting can also be generated using Coldfusion. Asynchronous forms like SMS and IMs can also be handled by Coldfusion thanks to the gateway interface, available in ColdFusion MX 7 Enterprise Edition.  

Some of the value added services that come with Coldfusion are:

• generation of client-side code for form widgets and validation
• converting to PDF and FlashPaper from HTML
• database querying, regardless of platforms via ODBC or JDBC
• data retrieval from Active Directory, LDAP, POP, HTTP, FTP, Microsoft Exchange Server etc
• XML parsing, validation and querying
• client and server cache management
• clustering of server
• session, client, and application management
• Using Verity K2 for file indexing and searching
• Task scheduling
• GUI administration

Certain implementations of CFML allow enhanced functions like running in a .NET environment and image manipulation. 

Coldfusion dedicated server is a commercial product that has many integrated services which are unavailable in PHP and ASP. Business graphing, file upload handling utilities and full text search are some great features of Coldfusion. It becomes easier for web development since it also incorporates Macromedia Flash flawlessly, making it preferred globally among (data-driven) intranets.

The capability of handling asynchronous events like SMS or IMs using its gateway interface makes the ColdFusion MX 7 Enterprise Edition a must have tool for a web developer. The power to convert from HTML to PDF, Graphic User Interface (GUI) widgets, database querying using ODBC or JDBC regardless of platforms, management of session, client and application and client and server cache management are some of the other marvelous services that the Coldfusion dedicated server offers.