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Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

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    Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

    Should store owner be concerned if developer module license server goes offline for whatever reasons (e.g.: Power outages, server issues, out of business, etc...)?

    An offline module license server could theoretically render a website inoperable (e.g.: Senbenza's Ultimate SEO Links, etc...), could it not?

    If so, what percautions if any can store owners take to protect themselves against, short or permanent issues?
    Thank you, Bill Davis

    #2
    Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

    I haven't seen any third party modules that perform license checks during customer traffic, just during administrative activities. This issue has occurred before so it is a valid concern; typically they result in the screen you'd normally configure the module having one of three issues:

    1) It won't load at all or times out, but module still functions.
    2) It tells you your license is invalid and won't let you make changes, but module still functions.
    3) The worst option, if the developer's license server domain expires and a search spammer picks it up, it may respond to the web requests the module makes in a way that cause it to think you're up to something or that it should deactivate, then you lose the functionality the module provided even if you had already lost the ability to configure it.
    David Hubbard
    CIO
    Miva
    [email protected]
    http://www.miva.com

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      #3
      Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

      Maybe there should be a code repository to protect the community should a developer blow up. I have the same concerns based on recent behaviors.

      Now seems an opportune time to work it out.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

        I'm going to make the suggestion internally that we consider adding third party module license features to our API that developers use and offer license management from our license server if these thing are possible (I don't know, not involved in the development side of the house).
        David Hubbard
        CIO
        Miva
        [email protected]
        http://www.miva.com

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

          Whenever feasible, we do #2
          (It tells you your license is invalid and won't let you make changes, but module still functions.)

          If not, we make sure that the modules specific feature is disabled and will not effect any store functions. And, we'd never even do that if the module played a critical role in the store.

          BTW: Our system is hosted by MivaMerchant SAAS....so, there is a good chance that if ours was down...it would matter to a large number of Merchant store owners <g>.
          Bruce Golub
          Phosphor Media - "Your Success is our Business"

          Improve Your Customer Service | Get MORE Customers | Edit CSS/Javascript/HTML Easily | Make Your Site Faster | Get Indexed by Google | Free Modules | Follow Us on Facebook
          phosphormedia.com

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

            Originally posted by ILoveHostasaurus View Post
            3) The worst option, if the developer's license server domain expires and a search spammer picks it up, it may respond to the web requests the module makes in a way that cause it to think you're up to something or that it should deactivate, then you lose the functionality the module provided even if you had already lost the ability to configure it.
            That third one you mention should really give all store owners something to think about when purchasing modules that perform license checks.

            Is there anything a store owner can do to limit their exposure? Like check which modules perform license checks.

            We are in the process of migrating to MM5.5, and tech support advised us that we need to purchase the module referenced earlier.

            Given current MM module developer climate, I can't help being concerned investing in a costly migration project and a year or two down the road have an inoperable site that no one can do anything about it. Unless of course we change our category and product page URLs, which could be disastrous to a well established website.

            David, I really need your help.
            Thank you, Bill Davis

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

              Believe it or not, we switched to MM because our prior hosted e-commerce solution went out of business without any warning. We were without a website for a week. Fortunately we were finally able to per$uade company hosting eCommerce solution to give us a backup. What a nightmare that was.
              Thank you, Bill Davis

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

                I'm going to make the suggestion internally that we consider adding third party module license features to our API that developers use and offer license management from our license server if these thing are possible (I don't know, not involved in the development side of the house).
                This would be ideal if Miva Merchant wants to push future retail module development and associated app store sales. Unfortunately we had to make the decision to develop our own license key manager for retail module sales, which we really wanted to avoid for a number of these reasons. The development, management and hosting of this license manager adds to the retail price of our module offerings as well.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Should concern exists if developer module license server goes offline?

                  I can verify that some of the old NetBlazon modules do a check at real-time, and not just in the admin screen, because some were "drop-in" type modules that didn't require an admin interface and just did whatever they did at the time. However, all of our licensed modules use the MivaCentral licensing, so as long as Miva doesn't allow that to break, it should work indefinitely. I always figured that if MivaCentral went down, then Miva was probably out of business too :)
                  Susan Petracco
                  NetBlazon

                  1.866.400.2444

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