We read allot of articles on how one can use MRTG as an Intrusion detection tool or to creating traffic graph for a particular network subnet or a single IP address on Linux platform with Apache web server. But we find very few that allow us to have graphs on Windows Dedicated server with IIS Web Server.

Here are some steps that can be used to create graphs on Windows Dedicated server with IIS as the web servers. And there is no need to take all the efforts to configure MRTG as we can simply have graphs with the use of logparser and the RRDtool from Tobias Oetiker and you can use the RRDtool perfectly without the rest of MRTG.

Logparser

Logparser is a great free tool from Microsoft. It is written by Gabriele Giuseppini a Software Design Engineer from the test department. The first version of logparser was an internal testing tool inside Microsoft. Version 2 was made publicly available at the website, version 2.1 was a part of the IIS resource tools kit and version 2.2 was made available in January 2005.

Here is a brief introduction how logparser works:

Logparser need three things, an input format, an output format and a sort of SQL query. The SQL query is a dialect of SQL.

There are few very interesting articles on Microsoft’s website, one written by the Author himself:
How to use Logparser
Another one from Scripting Guys:

The article from the scripting guys shows you how to use the logparser directly in a script with a com object.

You can download Logparser from the link below:
DOWNLOAD LOAGPARSER

The above download has portable help file in the application directory. This help file give you the parameters of all the properties of the logparser.
There is also an unofficial website specially for logparser:
www.logparser.com

About RRDtool.

What is the RRDtool:

The RRDtool or Round Robin Database tool is a tool that can store date in a database and create graphs with it. The really great thing about RDDTool is that the database does not growing. It will stay almost the same size as when it was created.

On the RRD website
RRDTool Website
there are some really good tutorials, and it is recommended to read them before you use the RRDtool.
From this website you can also download the RRDtool, the only problem is that you need to compile it but if you download it with the MRTGbundle from the link below, it has a completed version of the RRDtool in the packet. If you unpack the MRTGbundle, you can copy the RRDtool directory to your scripting directory or your application directory and start using it.
DOWNLOAD RDDTool Compiled Version

Create Database.

Before you can use the RRDtool you need to create the database.
The link below has all the information on how and why to create a database along with the parameters.
How to create a database
Parameters

You can also use a script to do that.


‘#start script.
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strCMD = ".binrrdtool.exe create Eservicing.rrd"
strCMD = strCMD & " --start N "
strCMD = strCMD & " -s 300"
strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Hits:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Error400:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Error500:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:288"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:2:2016"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:4:2232"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:12:8760"

WshShell.Run strCMD
‘#end script.

Here is an explanation of every command in the script:

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
This line create a shell object you need to run the RRDtool .
In the next 10 lines I create the command line that I run in the last line.

strCMD = ".binrrdtool.exe create Eservicing.rrd"
this starts the RRDtool with the create function and give the name of the database.

strCMD = strCMD & " --start N "
–start set the start time of the database and N is the current time. The RRDtool works with Unixtime, this are the seconds from 1 January 1970.

strCMD = strCMD & " -s 300"
-s is the seconds between a database update.

strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Hits:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Error400:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
strCMD = strCMD & " DS:Error500:GAUGE:600:0:2000000"
with this three lines I create three data sources. DS stands for data source, Hits is the name of the data source GAUGE is one of the four type’s of data sources, 600 are the seconds between the records if there is no input after 600 the value is NULL, 0 is the minimum value of the record and 200000 is the maximum value.

strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:288"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:2:2016"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:4:2232"
strCMD = strCMD & " RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:12:8760"
this four lines create four Round Robin Archives. RRA stands for Round Robin Archive, AVERAGE is one of the four consolidation functions, 0.5 is the consolidation interval, 1 is the number of data sources that are consolidate in one record in the Round Robin Archive. If every 600 seconds a DS is created and the value is 4 instead of 1 every 2400 seconds there will be a record add to the archive, the last value is the number of records the archive contains.
The first line create a Round Robin Archive with a consolidation interval of 0.5. every data source gets a record in the archive and the archive is 288 records long.

WshShell.Run strCMD
And with this line the command is executed.

Update database.

With the next script we use logparser to evaluate the logfile from a IIS server. We can run this script every 5 minutes. To write the results in RRD database.

‘#start script
Const ForReading = 1, ForWriting = 2, ForAppending = 8
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------
LogDir = "serverd$logsyswwwsiteW3SVC1"
Set WSHShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objLogParser = CreateObject("MSUtil.LogQuery")
Set objDictIISlogslist = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

Dim strDate
Dim count
Error400 = 0
Error500 = 0
‘————————————————————————-
Main
‘————————————————————————-
‘————————————————————————-
Sub Main
Call MakeStrDate
Call GetUniqueHits
Call GetStatus
Call UpdateRRD
End Sub
‘————————————————————————-
‘ —————————————————————————-
Sub MakeStrDate
strMonth = Month(Now)
If Len(strMonth) = 1 Then
strMonth = “0″ & CStr(strMonth)
End If
strDay = Day(Now)
If Len(strDay) = 1 Then
strDay = “0″ & CStr(strDay)
End If
strYear =Right(Year(Now),2)
strDate = strYear & strMonth & strDay
End Sub
‘ —————————————————————————-
‘————————————————————————-
Sub GetUniqueHits
Set objInputFormat = CreateObject(“MSUtil.LogQuery.IISW3CInputFormat”)
objInputFormat.recurse = -1
objInputFormat.iCheckPoint = strDate & “.lpc”
strQuery = “SELECT count(*) as UniqueHits FROM ‘” & _
LogDir & “ex” & strDate & “.log’”
Set objRecordSet = objLogParser.Execute(strQuery, objInputFormat)
Do While Not objRecordSet.AtEnd
Set objRecord = objRecordSet.GetRecord
count = objRecord.GetValue(“UniqueHits”)
objRecordSet.MoveNext
Loop
End Sub
‘————————————————————————-
‘————————————————————————-
Sub GetStatus
Set objInputFormat = CreateObject(“MSUtil.LogQuery.IISW3CInputFormat”)
objInputFormat.recurse = -1
objInputFormat.iCheckPoint = strDate & “Error.lpc”
strQuery = “SELECT sc-status , COUNT(*) as Hits FROM ‘” & LogDir & “ex” & strDate & “.log’ WHERE sc-status > 399 GROUP BY sc-status ORDER BY Hits DESC”
Set objRecordSet = objLogParser.Execute(strQuery, objInputFormat)
Do While Not objRecordSet.AtEnd
Set objRecord = objRecordSet.GetRecord
If objRecord.GetValue(“sc-status”) > 399 And objRecord.GetValue(“sc-status”) < 500 Then
Error400 = Error400 + objRecord.GetValue(“Hits”)
End If
If objRecord.GetValue(“sc-status”) > 499 And objRecord.GetValue(“sc-status”) < 600 Then
Error500 = Error500 + objRecord.GetValue(“Hits”)
End If
objRecordSet.MoveNext
Loop

End Sub
‘————————————————————————-
‘————————————————————————-
Sub UpdateRRD
strRun = “.binrrdtool update Eservicing.rrd N:” & count & “:” & Error400 & “:” & Error500
X = WshShell.Run(strRun,0,True)
End Sub
‘————————————————————————-
‘#end script

We will not explain this script line by line as it is a pretty simple script.

Creating a Graphic with the RRDtool.

With the next script I create a graphic with the RRDtool.

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

strCMD = “.binrrdtool graph .graphintranetNLweek.gif”
strCMD = strCMD & ” –start N-1w –end N”
strCMD = strCMD & ” –vertical-label ” & Chr(34) & “Hits ” & Chr(34)
strCMD = strCMD & ” –title INTRANET”
strCMD = strCMD & ” DEF:Xhits=.databaseintranetNL.rrd:Hits:AVERAGE”
strCMD = strCMD & ” DEF:Xerror400=.databaseintranetNL.rrd:Error400:AVERAGE”
strCMD = strCMD & ” DEF:Xerror500=.databaseintranetNL.rrd:Error500:AVERAGE”
strCMD = strCMD & ” LINE2:Xhits#FF0000:” & Chr(34) & “Hits” & Chr(34)
strCMD = strCMD & ” LINE2:Xerror400#00FF00:” & Chr(34) & “400 Errors” & Chr(34)
strCMD = strCMD & ” LINE2:Xerror500#0000FF:” & Chr(34) & “500 Errors” & Chr(34)

WshShell.Run strCMD

You will make a note of 2 important thing in this script:
1. The DEF line: this line defines the Data Sources you use.
2. The LINE2: This defines the line in the graphic.

There are 3 types of problems with site preview in Plesk:

1. Site Preview in Windows Plesk will show 404 Page Not Found error
2. Site Preview in Windows Plesk will show Plesk Default page.
3. SitePreview will ask for user name and password.

We will troubleshoot each problem with site preview one by one.

1. Site Preview in Plesk will show 404 Page Not Found error.

Cause: This happens if the sitepreview ISAPI DLL is not loaded correctly in IIS web server.

Troubleshoot steps:
a. First check if a the Virtual folder with the name sitepreview is create in IIS Default Web Site. If it is not created then create it without the application pool and map it to folder “%plesk_dir%isapi”, same as in image below.  Also Make sure that Executable Permissions are set to “Scripts And Executables”

b. Make sure that the Site preview ISAPI DDL is Allowed in Web Exteniosn and look like in image below, if not then Add it in Plesk Extensions.  

c. Also make sure that the Site Preview ISAPI DLL has been loaded with green Arrow in IIS >> Web Site >> Right click >> Properties >> ISAPI Tab. like in the figure below. If it is not loaded then just click on the Add button and browser through “%plesk_dir%isapisitepreview.dll” and restart IIS.

d. If you have IIS7 on Windows 2008 Server then make suer that you have Plesk Site Preview DLL added in IIS >> Click on Server >> IIS Group >> ISAPI Filters.

2. Site Preview in Plesk will show Plesk Default page.

Cause: Related to IP configuration on the server.

Troubleshoot steps:

a. Please fo through all the steps in problem one for this. However the only reason for this problem that I have found is main IP address of the server. Just make sure that you have alleast one site added on the main IP address of the server. To know the main IP address of the server Go to START >> Control Panel >> Network Connections >> Right click on main network adapter >> Click on Properties >> Select TCP IP >> Properties. The IP address list in this windows as IP address is the main IP address of the server. Just make sure that you have atleast one site hosted on this IP address.

The above solution will also apply is Plesk Site Preview option is working with https prefix butnot with http in URL browser.

3. SitePreview will ask for user name and password for all website.

Cause: Related to Permissions and Security Options.

Troubleshoot steps:

a. First check if the URL work fine with the IP address only:

http://192.168.1.52/

if not then there are permissions issue with the default site and if you are using a dedicated IP address instead of shared IP then the problem is with the permissions of the site that holds the dedicated IP.

b. If step “a” is working then try access the link below:
http://192.168.1.52/$sitepreview/

The above link should get redirected to the IP address and show Plesk default page or index.html page in Default Web site but it is is asking for password then permissions on sitepreview virtual directory is not correct. Make sure that IIS_WPG, NETWORK SERVICE, psaadm, psacln & psaserv has read an execute permissions on the virtual folder, do not forget to inherit the permissions to files in it.

c. If it asks password for only one site then the problem should be either with the website permissions or the file you are accessing it.

I think this should cover all the problems with Parallels Plesk Site Preview problems. But if you still face problem and don’t want to use Site Preview then you have try the HACK below.

WINDOWS HACK TO POINT YOUR SITE TO AN IP WITHOUT CHANGING THE NAME SERVERS.

While I was searching for the solution I found the KB articel on Parallels sites below:

http://kb.parallels.com/en/1147

Where they (Plesk adminstrators) have clearly mentioned that custom permissions set on top level folder like httpdocs, statistics, cgi-bin etc will get reset by Plesk. So I decided to make a test, I manually gave write permissions to httpdocs folder and ran webservmng.exe on it and yes it was removed. Then after allot digging I would that there us a file .Security which is saved under the folder with the domain name (parallel to httpdocs folder), that stores all permissions for that domain.

Before we start please be informed that these steps are applicable to Parallel Plesk version 8.4 and above as .Security file was introduced in 8.4 only.

So here are steps to get around the problem permanently:

1. Backup the .Security file and delete it from [drive]:inetpub/vhosts/domain_name, this file saves all the permissions assigned to that user from Plesk on Windows. Deleting it will remove all the records.

2. After renaming or deleting the . Security file, run this command below:

"%plesk_bin%/websrvmng.exe" --reconfigure-vhost --vhost-name=domain_name

3. This command will create a new .Security file with all default permissions on that domain.

4. Now login into Plesk >> Click on Domains >> domain_name >> File Manager >> httpdocs >> golden padlock of folder_name to set perm on >> “Advance” Button >> Select users >> Assign permissions >> OK.

These steps will save new permissions in .Security file and even if you run websrvmng on that domain again, the new permissions that has been set from Plesk will not get removed. There is no need to add any special group or users like, ASPNET or NETWORK SERVICE to any folder as those permissions are handled by IUSR_ & IWAM_/IWPD_ users.

Any permissions that has been assigned directly to httpdocs folder will get reset by Plesk and if you inherit them to sub folder, permissions from sub folder will also get removed.

So the moral is, DO NOT give any permissions from RDP, use File Manager option if you want to keep the trouble of permissions away.

So here we go:

On your local machine, [AND NOT THE SERVER]:
Goto START >> Run >> and Type:
notepad "C:WINDOWSsystem32driversetchosts"
And hit Enter

If you get file does not exist error then create hosts file in notepad “C:WINDOWSsystem32driversetc” folder.

At the end of the file you will have:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Just add your domain with the IP you want to point to, and it will look like, this will be also applicable if you have create a new hosts file:

127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.52 mywebhostingblog.net
192.168.1.52 www.mywebhostingblog.net

Save the file and exit.

Now ping the domain on the computer you have made changes on and it will point to the IP address defined. You can now browse your site without the site preview and you will have to the content of the server you are moving to. Just remove the entries from the hosts file to point your domain back it was.

Wasn’t that Simple..!!!

C:\DOCUME~1\USER~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER8bd7.dir00\appcompat.txt

Above error pop ups when Error Reporting is enabled on your system and w3wp.exe faces an error.
Windows Error Reporting increases Hard Disk space , by adding above pop ups in two different dump files i.e. HDMP and MDMP
HDMP (Heap Dump) – Uncompressed error dump file generated by Windows when a program has an error or crashes.
MDMP (Mini Dump) – Compressed Heap Dump files are saved as Mini dump (MDMP) files and may be sent to Microsoft as part of an error reporting process.

Windows Error Reporting settings are stored in Windows Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting

However, if you do not choose to send files to Microsoft. These dump files will gradually go on clogging up your system disk space.
To avoid this you have to fix error in application and delete dump files present at
C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\ERRORREP\UserDumps

Read further for Customizing or disabling Windows Error Reportin.

Windows Error Reporting can be kept disabled or can be customize as per requirement.

On your Windows System >>> Right Click on My Computer >>> Click on Properties >>> Click on Advanced >>> Click on Error Reporting >>> You can Enable or Disable Error Reporting from here >> if you click on Enable >>> Click on Choose Programs for customizing.

To add w3wp.exe in exception list without Disabling Error Reporting navigate yourself as shown below : -

On your Windows System >>> Right click on My Computer >>> Click on Properties >>> Click on Advanced >>> Performance >>> Click on Settings >>> Click on Data
Execution Prevention >>> Turn on DEP for all programs and
services except those I select >>> Add w3wp.exe process in exception list
(Reboot not required)

For steps on Linux refer the link below:

How to install PHPMyAdmin on Linux

How to install phpMyAdmin 2.11 on Windows Desktop and Server

Here are steps that will help you installed PHPMyAdmin on a Windows server.

REQUIREMENTS:

>> PHP 4.3/4.4/5.1
>> MySQL 4.0/4.1/5.0

DOWNLOAD:

This installation was tested on phpMyAdmin-2.11.1
You can select the file from PHPMyAdmin Downloads

CONFIGURATION:

Configuration that needs to be noted, the one below are the one we have chozen. They might be different on your server:

Installation path: C:\www\phpMyAdmin (If you have Apache on your server then place out side of webroot of Apache)
Apache webroot : C:\www\webroot
My-SQL path : C:\www\mysql\bin
Access phpMyAdmin as : http://192.168.1.52/phpMyAdmin/

INSTALLING PHPMyAdmin:

1. Unpack the downloaded file phpMyAdmin-2.11.1.zip under the directory C:\www
2. Rename directory C:\www\phpMyAdmin-2.11.1 to C:\www\phpMyAdmin
3. Make a copy of C:\www\phpMyAdmin\libraries\config.default.php
4. Open the default configuration file of PHPMyAdmin C:\www\phpMyAdmin\libraries\config.default.php and make following changes:

a. Find:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = '';

Put the full URL of PHPMyAdmin in the quotes, you can replace the IP address with the IP address of your server or your domain name:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = 'http://192.168.1.52/phpMyAdmin/';

b. PHPMyAdmin can also try to auto-detect the proper value for the above directive if it is left as it is [BLANK] and the below line is changed to ‘TRUE’:

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri_DisableWarning'] = FALSE;

c. Authentication Method:

– For single-user (root or trusted) environment:

– Method 1 would be to prompt client for MySQL user/password, this option will only work if your database is not accessed by other users:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';

– Method 2 is to store MySQL user/password under config.ini.php file.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'root-password';

Please replace the user and password with the administrator user and password of your MySQL server.

d. Authentication Method — for multi-user (untrusted) environment, this will allow to give access to your developers or clients if it is a shared server in hosting environment.
This step is also required to for enabling phpMyAdmin’s relational features

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controluser'] = 'pma';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlpass'] = 'pmapass';

Save the password: pmapass

e. Now we will have tp create MySQL controluser user ‘pma@localhost’ with password ‘pmapass’, and with the proper permissions to the user:

C:\www\mysql\bin> mysql -u root -p
mysql> GRANT USAGE ON mysql.* TO 'pma'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'pmapass';
Note the SQL password

mysql> GRANT SELECT (Host, User, Select_priv, Insert_priv, Update_priv, Delete_priv, Create_priv, Drop_priv, Reload_priv, Shutdown_priv, Process_priv, File_priv, Grant_priv, References_priv, Index_priv, Alter_priv, Show_db_priv, Super_priv, Create_tmp_table_priv, Lock_tables_priv, Execute_priv, Repl_slave_priv, Repl_client_priv) ON mysql.user TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT ON mysql.db TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT ON mysql.host TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> GRANT SELECT (Host, Db, User, Table_name, Table_priv, Column_priv) ON mysql.tables_priv TO 'pma'@'localhost';
mysql> quit

CONFIGURING APACHE 2.0

a. If you run Apache as the webserver then you will follow the steps below:

Open file C:\www\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf to edit it and uncomment line (remove the beginning character ‘#’)
I would suggest you to backup the http.conf file incase you have messed it up.

LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so

b. Make sure directive ‘DirectoryIndex’ contains ‘index.php’ http.conf

DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.php

c. Then add the following lines:


Alias /phpMyAdmin "C:/www/phpMyAdmin"



Options None
AllowOverride None
order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from 127.0.0.1


Do not forget to restart Apache once you have made the above changes and have saved the http.conf file.

CONFIGURING IIS6.0

a. Open IIS Webserver from START >> RUN: inetmgr
b. In IIS manager expand SERVER_NAME >> Web Sites and select Default WebSite.
c. In the Right pane right click in white soace and select New >> Virtual Directory.
d. In the Virtual Directory creation Wizard, click Next.
e. Give directory Alias (Name) as PHPMyadmin and click Next.
f. Click on Browse button and navigate to “C:\www\phpMyAdmin”
e. Select “Read”, “Run Script” & “Execute” and click Next.
g. Now Right click on the PHPMyAdmin Virtual directory and select permissions.
h. Give “Read & Execute” permissions to IUSR_ and inherit the permissions.
i. Right click on the PHPMyAdmin Virtual directory >> Properties >> Virtual Directory >> Configuration and map .php extention to PHP executable.

OPTIONAL CONFIGURATIONS:

Configuration for PHP v5:

These steps are only required if you want to use PHP5 for PHPMyAdmin, in PHP4 PHP extension php_mysql.dll is build in and extension php_mysqli is not supported.:

a. Edit file %SYSTEMROOT%\php.ini, under the ‘Dynamic Extensions’ Section:

Uncomment line:
;extension=php_mbstring.dll

If using MySQL v4.0 : Uncomment line
;extension=php_mysql.dll

If using MySQL v4.1 : Insert line
extension=php_mysqli.dll

Edit config.inc.php and update server extension line:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension'] = 'mysqli';

Enable phpMyAdmin’s Relational Features:

Please make a note that these steps are required for “Authentication Method — for multi-user (untrusted) environment”

Edit phpMyAdmin’s configuration file C:\www\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] = 'phpmyadmin';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['bookmarktable'] = 'pma_bookmark';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['relation'] = 'pma_relation';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_info'] = 'pma_table_info';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_coords'] = 'pma_table_coords';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pdf_pages'] = 'pma_pdf_pages';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_info'] = 'pma_column_info';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['history'] = 'pma_history';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['designer_coords'] = 'pma_designer_coords';

Now Run phpMyAdmin’s sql script file ‘create_tables.sql’:

C:\www\mysql\bin> mysql -u root -p
mysql> source C:\www\phpMyAdmin\scripts\create_tables.sql
mysql> quit

That is it, you should be done with PHPMyAdmin installation on Windows.

We have seen allot of people looking to have the best option to secure the connection string in their ASP .NET code to connect the MS SQL database since it contains the username and password of their database. It is very important to use a secure method for corporate clients and those who save Credit Card details in their MS SQL database. Or they will easily get hacked and all the important data will be exploited by the hacker. And also for those who store important data in MSSQL.

Here are the list of methods that can be used to secure your MS SQL connection string in your ASP.NET application.

METHODS:

1. Using a DSN connection string:

If you have the administrator users access to your Windows Server or use a control panel like Plesk then you can create a DSN with ODBC connector that stores the password of your database along with its name.

You will have to go to Start >> Administrative Tools >> Data Sources (ODBC) on your Windows Server with an account that has administrative privileges.

Or if you use a hosting control panel like Plesk that you can create the DSN from the control panel itself.

Once you have created the DNS you will have to mention it in your code as:

oConn.Open "DSN=mySystemDSN"

2. Store your connection string either in web.config or global.asa:

It is safe to have connection string stored in either web.config or global.asa, since IIS does not allow these files to be accessed from the browser. But it is recommended to enable custom errors in web.config or else the browser just displays the exact exact in the event of an error.

An example of web.config would be:

3. Encrypt your connection String stored in Web.config.

To make the connection string more secure you can encrypt your string if you application is written in ASP .NET 2 as this only possible with the new feature in asp.net 2.0 through the config API.

Steps to Encrypt your connection string in web.config:

– Create a connectionstring section in web.config :-

– Run the command below:

aspnet_regiis –pe -app optionally you can provide the machine or user store.

– Get the connection string:-

Response.Write(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings

["Myconnstr"].connectionString.ToString());

– You can also encrypt:

– To decrypt the connection string use aspnet_regiis –pd with the same parameters.

– There are more option available, such as:

aspnet_regiis –pef
aspnet_regiis -pdf

4. Save the connection string in the Windows registry:

You can also save the connection string in the windows registry, the only problem here is you have to give appropriate permissions on the registry so that your web user is able to read the data fron the registry:

Procedure to follow:

Add a registry key for your application under SOFTWARE/[YOUR_COMPANY]/[YOUR_APP]
Add a string value for ConnectionString
Teach your ConnectionFactory to crack open the appropriate registry key (in a static constructor, not every page load).
Export the registry info as a .reg file, add it to source control, modify and apply it as necessary to set up additional machines.

You will also have to make sure that the user have appropriate rights on the register to read the data.

5. Save your connection string in a DLL.

You can also save the connection sting the to a DLL using Visual Studio but this includes few disadvantages like, you will gave to decrypt the DLL to make any changes in the connection string and then again encrypt it. This makes things very complicated for you to manage your applications and specially when you have a shared hosting package.

Whenever you plug a USB drive in your system (which you think is infected by virus), do not open it -  Do not click ‘OK’ !
click on ‘Cancel’. Now open Command Prompt by typing ‘cmd‘ in run box.
Type dir /w/a and press enter.
Above command will display list of files in pen drive. Check in the list if the files are not

* Heap41a
* New Folder.exe
* Autorun.inf
* svchost.exe
* Ravmon.exe
* or any other exe file which may be suspicious.

If any of the above files are present in the list, then your USB drive is infected. To remove these files, type the following command in command prompt
attrib -r -a -s -h *.* and press enter.
This will remove from files  Read Only, Archive, System and Hidden attributes .

The files which you will now be looking on are the junk files (viruses) and can be deleted using  del command. Delete all those files which you find suspicious. To be on a safer side, just scan again your  USB Pen drive using a anti virus to check whether it is free of virus or not.

2) On left pane, expand server name, then click “Web Sites“>>>right click on right pane>>>select  New>>>Web Site

3) Website Creation Wizard will open , here you have freedom to write absolutely anything (we will write – Testing) >>> Click Next

4)Under IP address and Port settings
Enter Ip address and port number (Default port – 80) and Host Header for the website >>> Click Next

5) Enter the path for Websites Home Directory and tick (check) “Allow anonymous access to this website” >>> Click Next

6) Under Website Access Permissions , necessary permissions for using ASP , Run Scripts can be used as per requirement. >>> Click Next

7) Click Finish and you’re done.

The Apache HTTP Web Server, we all well know it as Apache, is one of the world’s most widely used Web servers. It is very popular because of its strong security features, most outstanding performance & the fact that it does cost us any thing. It comprehensively supports and it is most recommended for MySQL & PHP/Perl/Python (and now also supports Ruby) programming languages.

It’s available for all flavours of Unix (GNU/Linux & UNIX systems), Microsoft Windows including other OS as well, for Example Linux distros such as  RedHat, SuSe, Debian, CentOs, Gentoo, Mandrake, Fedora, etc etc. Apache is used to serve both dynamic static content & static Web pages on the Internet. Some web applications are developed expecting the features & environment that Apache provides. It is one of the most basic feature in the hosting world is what allows your website to be seen by the world.

What is a DDoS attack ?

A Denial-Of-Service attack (DoS attack) or Distributed Denial-Of-Service attack (DDoS attack) is nopthing but an attempt to make a domain name or a computer resource unavailable to its users by sending mass packets to it. Perpetrators of DoS attacks like to target domains/sites/hosts or services hosted with high profile webhosting servers such as credit card payment gateways, banks, & even root nameservers.

The most common method of attack involves saturating the target (victim) machine with request that communicates externally, such that even the legimate traffic also does not get a response, or respond very slowly as to be effectively unavailable.

In general terms, DoS attacks are set so that the targeted computer(s) is either reset or consume all the available resources so that the target is no longer available to provide its intended service or to obstruct the communication between the users & the victim so that there is no suitable communication between them.

There are several ways to stop such kind of attacks, most of the providers use “Proxy Shield” which is most effective services available today and can handle an attack upto 4GB per second. Although it is a very expensive service and only corporate websites can afford them. If you want to handle small DDos attacks then you can either go for a hardware firewall or a software application like the one below, which is very effective to handle DDos at its initial stage.

About mod_evasive & how does it prevent DDoS attack ?

mod_evasive is basically an evasive maneuvers module configured on Apache web server to provide evasive action where ever there is an brute force attack or DDoS attack or HTTP DoS. You can also use it as a traffic detection or network management tool and can be effective configured to work with ipchains, routers, firewalls etc. You can also set mod_evasive up to send abuse reports via email & syslog facilities.

It creats an internal dynamic hash table of IP Addresses for detections & URIs and denying any single IP if any of the following is true:

– Making any requests while temporarily blacklisted on the server.
– Single page on your website is access for more then n number of time.
– Establishing more than 50 concurrent connections per second on the same child.

This method works well on both attacks, may it be single-server script attackor a distributed attack but like any other evasive tools it is only useful to the point of processor consumption & bandwidth hence to configure this tool with your firewalls & routers gines out the maximum protection to your dedicated server as well as webhosting sites.

This module is instantiated for each listener individually that is every time when there is a HTTP request to Apache Web Server and therefore the evassive tool has a built-in scaling capabilities & cleanup mechanism. Because of this per-child design, only the scripted attacks get cought and blocked access and legitimate requests are never compromised even if they come from NAT addresses or proxies. Even if the user repeatedly click on ‘reload’ button should not be affected unless they do it maliciously. One can tweak mod_evasive fully through the Apache configuration file that is httpd.conf and it is very easy to incorporate into your Linux web hosting server and most important, easy to use.

Here are the steps to install mod_evasive:

Install & configure it on a Linux Server:

Login to the server as root & execute following connabds one bu one:

cd /usr/local/src
wget http://www.zdziarski.com/projects/mod_evasive/mod_evasive_1.10.1.tar.gz
tar -zxvf mod_evasive_1.10.1.tar.gz
cd mod_evasive

For Apache 2.0.x

/usr/sbin/apxs -cia mod_evasive20.c

Then add add this too httpd.conf

DOSHashTableSize 3097
DOSPageCount 6
DOSSiteCount 100
DOSPageInterval 2
DOSSiteInterval 2
DOSBlockingPeriod 600

For Apache 1.3.x

/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs -cia mod_evasive.c

Then add this too httpd.conf

DOSHashTableSize 3097
DOSPageCount 6
DOSSiteCount 100
DOSPageInterval 2
DOSSiteInterval 2
DOSBlockingPeriod 600

Now just restart Apache web hosting server & the installation is complete..

/etc/init.d/httpd restart

Congratulations.. your Linux Apache web hosting server is now more safer from the DDoS attacks.

Here are some useful tools that help us in configuring IIS server to be more secure and less resource consuming:

1. IIS Passwords Sync:

IIS 6.0 web sites run under anonymous user accounts. It is IUSR_<machine name> (by default) or other user accounts created by your web hosting control panel. The users’ passwords are set automatically set and are never known. However, sometimes for some reason the passwords get out of sync or corrupted and need to be reset. The easiest way to reset these passwords is to use IIS Passwords Sync program. It extracts the passwords that Microsoft IIS 6.0 has in its metabase and updates the accounts in “Local Users and Groups” to use that passwords.

DOWNLOAD LINK

2. IIS Pool:

With IIS Pool tool we can easily search the problematic sites which have default application pool.

IIS Application Pools Monitoring and Analysis:

This program allows monitoring of IIS 6 application pools. All the monitoring data is stored in log files. It is possible to analyze a pool to find a website (or a virtual application) using too much resources. …

Overview -

IIS Application Pools Monitoring and Analysis:

* This program allows monitoring of IIS 6 application pools.

* All the monitoring data is stored in log files.

* It is possible to analyze a pool to find a website (or a virtual application) using too much resources.

Features -

* IIS application pools monitoring

* IIS application pools analysis

* Find websites using too much resources

DOWNLOAD LINK

3. IIS Report:

Overview -

IIS Report is a command line tool. It allows us to create different IIS related reports. For example it can get the list of all SSL websites and sort it by IP address, or get the list of all websites and sort it by application pool name and then by website name, …

There is no installation required. Just download and unrar the archive file. Then start the program with:

C:\>iisreport.exe /?

to get more information and see all the parameters available.

Benefits -

* Easy-to-use

* Fast

* It is possible to import the reports with Excel

* It is possible to parse the reports with VBS or BAT programs and other administration applications.

DOWNLOAD LINK