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NB: Technical Terms in this page are linked to Webopedia, an encyclopedia of technical terms. These appear in blue. Other hyperlinks that are not in blue are links to the item talked about. For your convenience, these will open in a new window so as not to disturb your reading.

Click here for credits on developing the new site.

Helpforce.com is hosted and developed on three servers:

Red - Red is the main server that hosts everything you see here. Red has an OC-3 backbone connection and is co-located by Verio, a major Internet hosting provider. Red runs FreeBSD Linux with Apache Web Server. It is managed and maintained by ASIS TeleMedia and has less than 5% downtime.

8bit.wc3.co.uk - 8Bit is currently the only engine box behind Helpforce's site. It hosts the deep-down "engine room" that powers Helpforce eTalk. It hosts a MySQL server which collects all the messages, news, private messages, etc from Helpforce eTalk to be served later.

8Bit's Specifications:

• 1.2Ghz Intel Pentium III Processor
• 128mb RAM
• 40gb + 40gb + 10gb RAID Array IDE Hard Drives
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Fast Ethernet connection to T-3D Shared Internet backbone
• Software: Apache Web Server, PHP, MySQL Server.

8Bit is remotely administrated by an advanced web interface custom written for the server. 8Bit is hosted by Global Internet and like Red has less than 5% downtime.

admiral.wc3.co.uk - Admiral is the development box that the entire Helpforce site was created and tested on. Admiral doesn't actually provide any services to the live Helpforce site, but is constantly in use for testing and researching new services for Helpforce when it isn't being used for site design.

Admiral's Specifications:

• 500Mhz Intel Pentium Celeron Processor
• 512mb RAM
• 20gb + 10gb IDE Hard Drives
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Fast Ethernet Connection to LAN, LAN connection to 3Com LAN Modem. Dual 56k pipes to Internet. 56k's provided by BT Ignite.
• Software: Microsoft IIS 5, PHP, MySQL Server, Microsoft Front Page 2000, JASC Paint Shop Pro 7.

Helpforce owns three domain names, helpforce.com - Our main technical support site. helpforce.org - Our secondary site, providing the same content as helpforce.com. helpforce.biz - Our corporate site, with information on Helpforce. We have no plans to expand our range of domains at the moment, but the possibility always exists.

ASIS - Helpforce wouldn't exist without ASIS. ASIS TeleMedia are the main ISP that host our site. ASIS Provide Internet Access, Web Hosting and PC Repair at very competitive prices. Please visit www.asis.com for more details.

Helpforce.com was designed entirely using Microsoft Front Page 2000 with Paint Shop Pro. (Helpforce.com does NOT make use of PHPNuke in any way but does use the PHP language in some places.) Other languages used were DHTML, for positioning objects on pages and CGI for the counter, search, eTalk and eHelp features.

Because the Helpforce Executives and members are spread all over the world, regular meetings in the same room are not very frequent. We make use of Helpforce eTalk for the day-to-day administration of Helpforce. We normally use Internet Voice Conferencing for meetings, as well as Video Conferencing occasionally. Executives and members that are in the same country use telephone, but International calls are too expensive for a regular basis. Helpforce is a completely paperless company. All files are stored electronically, all messages transferred electronically. Helpforce truly believes in supporting and using 21st Century technology as best we can.

The Helpforce web site is coded to the standards of HTML 4.1 as laid out by the W3C which insures that all web sites are globally compliant with all web browsers.

The Helpforce web site is rated by ICRA which insures that all web sites have a rating to say if they contain any material inappropriate to children.

If you have activated your content advisor feature in Microsoft Internet Explorer and other browsers, you will be aloud to visit the Helpforce site as it contains no bad Language, no Nudity, no Sex and no Violence. This web site is safe for children to use.