Answer: ASP.Net is the official successor to the ASP (Active Server Pages) scripting language. Rather than being a simple scripting language, ASP.Net is a web application framework that combines the Microsoft .Net Framework technology with scripting languages and other non-scripting languages.

ASP.Net is released with the .Net Framework and allows web developers to build dynamic websites, web applications, and web services. It features an event-based programming model and can utilize a variety of programming languages, including C#, J#, and VB.Net.

This Common Language Runtime allows programmers to use any language supported by the .Net Framework. Windows server system administrators can install ASP.Net as part of the .Net installation, and developers can use Microsoft Visual Studio to develop dynamic websites with ASP.Net technology.

Only .com and .net names will be affected. Keep in mind that you can renew names at the current rate for up to 10 years. So assuming that your registrar raises its fee by $1.00 USD, you can save up to $10.00 by renewing in advance.

Actually, you could save quite a bit more because you would also be immune to price hikes for the duration of the registrations and most registrars provide discounts of up to 15% on long-term registrations.

Whenever you change configuration for a service or need to reinitialize it, you should perform a service restart. This is much more convenient than what people normally do with desktop computers, which is to restart the entire system. On a server, you want to keep the server running and just restart the necessary service. This is a much faster and less invasive solution.

To restart a service, you can use the “net” command to stop it and then start it again: “net stop service” followed by “net start service”. For example, if you want to restart DNS, the commands would be:

net stop dns
net start dns

That is all it takes for basic restarting of Windows services. For more information on advanced tasks consult your Windows Server documentation.

Photo Source: Flickr

Verisign has informed its registrars that the wholesale prices of .com and .net domains will be going up as of July 1st, so if you’re in the market to be purchasing a domain name, get ready to pay more. Verisign has stated that .com domains will increase by 7% and .net domains will increase by 10%.

We can only expect the registrars to pass these costs on to the market, possibly at higher rates again. Verisign can now increase domain prices by a rate of 7% each year, meaning it just added an extra $27 million to its takings.

Source | Gawkwire.com

Photo | Flickr

The new prices will take effect July 1. Those looking to save money can renew their names early, however. It is possible to renew for multiple years and lock in the discount. So if you own a lot of .com domains, it would be better to renew them now and save 7% next year.

The proposed plan would let hosts “swap out” customers’ domains after 30 days in the event they canceled their hosting or did not pay up. This would save providers money because they must pay the full cost of a registration regardless of whether or not a customer stays a full year, but could cause a lot of problems. It would let registrars keep names for 30 days at a time at a prorated cost, essentially allowing the banned practice of domain tasting.

As far as I’m concerned, if hosts want to buy domains for their customers, let them suck up the loss if the client has cold feet. Domain registration has traditionally been a customer expense, not something the host should pay for. Approving VeriSign’s plan will do nothing to serve the needs of registrants and only benefit the already well-off registrars.

Photo | Flickr

With Mono, developers can create C# and .NET applications that will work on almost any platform. What this means for server administrators is the ability to provide their services to various clientèle without having to make multiple versions of their applications. It is also a way to distribute their content even in virtualization environments.

Mono is free and open source software and is available for most Linux distributions, although its Novell origins mean that SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports it out of the box. To install Mono on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora, simply open a terminal, login as root, and type:

# yum list mono*

You can then see which mono applications you want to install or install them all with:

# yum install mono*

Source: Mono Project

According to ken Silva, the Internet giant’s CTO, these upgrades are crucial to ensuring they can keep up with the rapidly increasing Internet traffic and the occasional spikes caused by malware, attacks, and malicious bots. In 2007, Verisign spent $100 million to increase their capacity until 2010. This next round of upgrades reflects the fast-growing nature of the Internet.

In addition to providing access to .com and .net domains, Verisign is also renown for selling SSL certificates. What is not clear from their announcement is what the upgrades will entail exactly and how long these latest upgrades will sustain the rapidly expanding cyber-universe.

Source: Associated Press

Wikto, which apparently borrowed its name from Nikto (a Unix-based assessment tool), is a free and open source windows-based web scanner that searches a windows server environment for potential security issues. Unlike web application scanners that focus on the scripting code, Wikto looks at the web server setup and searches for security problems.

Wikto relies on the .NET environment, and you will need to have .NET installed in order to use it. Full documentation is available on the project’s website. You can download it for free from their website as well.

Other notable sales:

attending.com- $10,000
sushifan.com- $5,000
lesbianpornvideos.com- $3,500
ebook.pro- $3,900
ginv.com- $3,800

The sale price of attending.com is surprising high. I think gerunds are awkward in a domain. Ebook.pro and sushifan.com both faired well at auction, too.