The Only Rule: The Doors to Your Online Store Should Never be Closed
In a lot of cases, your site is your business—or a large part of it. As they say, it's serious business. And Rackspace E-commerce
hosting solutions are built to help make
sure the doors to your online store stay open. We even help you get and stay
PCI compliant. Our
diverse services, industry-leading Service Level Agreements, the
Fanatical Support Promise®
and deep expertise in the world of E-commerce all back this up. And the experts we bring to the table—CISSPs, CISAs, CISMs and our PCI
DSS Validation—make it all happen. We keep your site available with a scalable and secure infrastructure.
Depending on the levels of security and scalability you need, we'll help you build a
hosting solution to fit your
requirements—starting with the infrastructure configuration and surrounding it with the right services and support resources. And
rest assured, whatever Rackspace solution you choose, we will deliver.
A Couple of Sample Configurations for E-commerce
There's more than one way to go about designing an E-commerce config. Here are a few starting points. Keep in mind, we can do a lot more.
NOTES
This more basic and secure configuration is ready for your simpler Ecommerce sites and for future growth.
NOTES
Your mission critical Ecommerce site needs to live on a fully redundant configuration like this.
Insider Tips for
E-commerce Sites
1.
Non-compliance Isn't an Option
If your site accepts, processes or stores credit card information, you have to take on the responsibilities of being PCI compliant. A
large part of that has to do with the security of your site's infrastructure and the manner in which your customers' data must be
secured. Internal processes and data accessibility also factor in and can influence your ongoing operations. Utilizing a 3rd party
payment gateway, and delegating the strictest requirement to another provider, is a common means for getting an E-com site up and
running quickly. This is complicated stuff though, so at the end of the day, if you have questions, be sure to ask an expert.
2.
Be Prepared for the Unexpected
Say one of your products is touted by a movie star, talk show host or super athlete. Would your site be ready? Could it handle the
traffic or quickly scale up to handle it? Whatever kind of hosting solution you choose, make sure you have a plan in place, so you
can build up your configuration and architecture to deal with this kind of unusual demand. And if you have seasonal spikes, sales or
promotions, enact your plan and test it weeks before the onslaught.
3.
Keep Your Eyes on the Shopping Cart
Online shopping carts are the cash registers of the online world. They ring beautifully when a sale is completed but have a tendency to
get jammed on occasion. And when they do, you need to know quickly. Since there isn't a clerk available on the Internet to inform you
of such issues, it is critical to have a robust monitoring solution in place. From basic site availability monitoring to custom URL
monitoring and Synthetic Transactions, a multitude of tools are available to ensure your shoppers will be able to complete their
transaction on your site.