Home > Standard Plans > Features

Standard Plan Features

Dedicated IP Number

Every business account is assigned a dedicated IP number. A dedicated IP number separates your web site from all other sites on the Internet. Unlike in a shared IP environment, you are not affected by what other Web site owners do. For example, as traffic is routed across the Internet it gets passed from router to router. At this level traffic can only be identified by IP number. If one site owner violates rules, such as using an email address extraction program, a hacking tool, or attempts a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, or in some cases, unintentionally runs an out-of-control search engine or news spider, then that IP number will get blocked at the router level. If other site owners share this same IP number then all sites on the IP number will be blocked until the cause of the problem is corrected, as in an out-of-control spider, or the culprit is found. A dedicated IP eliminates this issue -- your Web site will not be affected by what others do.

A dedicated IP number allows you to have your own private SSL certificate and anonymous FTP capabilities. It also makes it easier to upload and test your site before transferring your domain name to our servers.

POP3 Email Accounts

You can set up email accounts for use with your domain name, such as sales@yourdomain.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com, etc, using your Account Web Site Manager. Email received in these accounts can be retrieved using the mail program of your choice, such as Microsoft Outlook Express, Pegasus Mail, and Eudora. Each email account can be assigned a unique id and password to ensure privacy.

Select a plan with the number of POP accounts you will need or add email accounts to the plan you like. To request additional email accounts added to your web site, please contact us through the Help Desk.

Mail Forwarding Addresses

Once your domain name is active worldwide, you can receive all e-mail addressed to your domain such as webmaster@yourname.com, sales@yourname.com, etc. You can create mail forwarding addresses using your Account Web Site Manager if you need specific addresses to forward to different addresses on the Internet. For example, e-mail addressed to sales@yourname.com and president@yourname.com could forward to an AT&T account, and support@yourname.com could forward to an AOL account.

Vacation Messages

A Vacation Message automatically responds to incoming email. The vacation message creates automated email responses that reply to incoming email messages during times when a user is not available. This feature is most commonly used when a user intends to be unavailable for an extended period of time.

Email responders

Email Responders reply to incoming email automatically. An email responder will email a standard response (based on the text you specify) to anyone who sends email to a specific alias address (which you specify) at your domain. For example, an email responder could be used to send a standard message to persons addressing info@yourname.com. If you've ever received a response to an e-mail which suggests that the recipient is away from the office, you may have received such an automated response. You can set up Email Responders on alias addresses using your Account Web Site Manager.

SMTP Mail Service

RapidSystem is proud to be one of only a few hosting companies who offer SMTP mail service. This service is available with all plans - Standard, Windows, and of course, Dedicated Servers.

Our SMTP service allows you to send outgoing e-mail from our mail servers referenced with your own domain name. Although you can easily specify your own domain name within your mail program, many ISP's require you to send e-mail messages with the "From:" address showing "your_userID@your_ISP". This helps to prevent unauthorized "spammers" to use their mail servers, however, this looks unprofessional, especially when you are responding to e-mail sent to your domain. RapidSystem gives you the ability to send e-mail with the "From:" address showing "your_name@your_domain.com".

In order to use this feature, you will need to configure your e-mail program to use our mail server referenced with your domain name. In your e-mail program's configuration options, specify "pop.yourdomain.com" instead of the SMTP address given to you by your ISP. Also specify "your_name@your_domain.com" as your "return address" or "reply-to address" in place of the e-mail address given to you by your ISP.

In order to prevent unauthorized users from using our mail servers to send their "spam", we have set up a method that allows only authorized account holders to send e-mail through our mail servers. Before sending outgoing e-mail, you must validate yourself by checking e-mail from one of the POP accounts under the domain from which you wish to send e-mail. This is the key to our spam protection software. Checking your POP account with your userID and password activates our SMTP server.

Mailing List Server

Mailing lists are lists of email recipients that can receive email as group. When you create a mailing list, messages sent to the mailing list email address are automatically sent to every email address on the list. If you sometimes send messages to all of the email users on your site, you can create a mailing list to streamline the process.

Account "Web Site Manager"

You have access to a web-based Web Site Manager, which gives you access to your traffic statistics, allocated and available disk space, file transfers, web mail and more.

Unlimited Web Site Updates

You will have unlimited access to your account to set up and maintain your web site. You can work on HTML documents, graphics, and scripts locally and then upload files to your web site when ready. Popular web design programs are Macromedia Dreamweaver, Abobe GoLive, Home Site, and Netscape Composer, but there are many others available to you. You can also use FTP programs like WS FTP, LeapFTP or Fetch to transfer files to your web site.

Detailed web usage statistics & access to raw log files

RapidSystem provides you with detailed reporting of bandwidth usage as well as web traffic software to track your visitors. Visitor statistics include what domains are accessing your web site, how many hits and unique visitors you're getting, which search engines are finding your site, and more. In addition, RapidSystem gives you direct access to your raw log files so you can analyze your statistics with other more full-featured programs.

PHP

PHP is an HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. In an HTML document, PHP script is enclosed within special PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. And, because PHP is executed on the server, the client cannot view the PHP code. PHP can perform any task that any CGI program can do, but its strength lies in its compatibility with many types of databases.

CGI script support via your own cgi directory

You have access to a personal cgi directory in which you can place custom CGI scripts or scripts that you have purchased. CGI scripts are often used to accomplish tasks which are not supported by basic HTML such as a "hit" counter or guest book. The CGI script directory can be used to set up scripts that you write or find elsewhere on the web.

Shopping Cart programs

Shopping cart programs allow users to implement an on-line storefront. The shopping cart keeps track of what shoppers have ordered and allows them to add or remove items from a 'virtual shopping cart'. When a shopper decides to check-out, the order information including the shopper's name, address and billing instruction is e-mailed to the site webmaster and a receipt is sent to the shopper. RapidSystem supports the use of 3rd-party shopping cart systems.

For those of you who may be interested in an on-line commerce solution, check out the products available under eCommerce.

• WAASI's Cart32 Shopping Cart is available with the Starter Plan and above and includes access to WAASI's Secure Server (SSL).
• For shopping carts that require your own SSL Certificate, on your web site, select the Business Startup plan or above.

Access to SSL Secure Server

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) allows you to collect data from your customers, such as credit card information, in a secure environment. Information submitted by your customers or clients via a secure form is sent to the server in an encrypted mode.

Order your new SSL Certificate here.

mySQL Database Server and Utilities

mySQL is a lightweight database engine designed to provide fast access to stored data. We provide the tools to create a searchable database. In most instances, custom programming (commonly Perl or PHP) is needed to implement a fully functional web-to-database interface.

On-line Technical Support

RapidSystem offers technical support to help you get started, get you out of a bind, and give you the means to create complex, interactive sites. Support is available 7 days a week.