X-Payments - Own vs Hosted

Mike SSI · #1 03-28-2013, 11:23 AM

Which is the better option? Purchase X-payments and install on our server or the hosted solution? In terms of cost, clearly purchasing x-payments would be better than the hosted solution but looking through the manuals and videos it appears that installation, configuration and maintenance of X-Payments would be one big headache. On the other hand, the hosted solution would only require setting up a link to the hosted site, correct? We have 3 stores.

cflsystems · #2 03-28-2013, 07:45 PM

The hosted solution will put you in the mercy f the host being up and running 110% of the time. Imagine you have a customer checking out and the hosted server goes down....
I personally would get my own XC recommended host....

gb2world · #3 03-28-2013, 08:03 PM

Quote:

it appears that installation, configuration and maintenance of X-Payments would be one big headache.

Try and have a realistic assessment of your own skills and time available. I think your observation is correct - it is not a simple installation. If you don't have time or motivation for the challenge, consider hiring someone to do the installation for you and give you a lesson on maintaining it. Once it is installed, it should not be too much of a hassle for you.

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ambal · #4 03-28-2013, 11:27 PM

We recommend using hosted version rather than downloadable unless you can have a separate PCI compliant hosting space for your X-Payments downloadable license and skills to install it properly. If you have separate PCI compliant hosting space - we can do installation and integration with your shops for an extra fee. Contact us using your HelpDesk account for details.

Btw, hosted version is hosted with EWD, so I don't think there will be any serious downtime.

Mike SSI · #5 03-29-2013, 05:26 AM

If we went with the hosted solution, in terms of cost, since we have 3 stores, the basic hosted solution would be the better option vs the multistore option. We would purchase the basic plan for each of our stores and each store would have it's own domain name for the checkout page. What exactly would that url address be?

What exactly needs to be done on our end to connect our store to the hosted plan?

ambal · #6 03-29-2013, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike SSI

If we went with the hosted solution, in terms of cost, since we have 3 stores, the basic hosted solution would be the better option vs the multistore option. We would purchase the basic plan for each of our stores and each store would have it's own domain name for the checkout page. What exactly would that url address be?

By default we open accounts at yourdomainname.x-checkout.com, but you can have your own domain name, too. E.g. checkout.yourdomainname.com
You can change anytime, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike SSI

What exactly needs to be done on our end to connect our store to the hosted plan?

I see you use X-Cart 4.4.5 though I am not sure about your other X-Cart shops. Anyways, for X-Cart 4.4.x and 4.5.x you need to follow these instructions:
http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:X-Payments_Connector#Configuring_X-Payments_Connector

Mike SSI · #7 03-29-2013, 06:00 AM

Our x-cart stores our 4.4.3 to 4.4.5.

Looked over the instructions from the link you provided. Linking our store to hosted x-payments would be the same procedure that we'd use if we had installed x-payments on our own server?

Our server has PHP 5.2.14 installed. So would we upgrade to PHP 5.3 for the hosted solution too?

The X-Payment instructions say that running cron.php is necessary for correct operation of X-Payments. What does that script do exactly and would that still be required on the hosted solution.

ambal · #8 03-29-2013, 06:03 AM

> Linking our store to hosted x-payments would be the same procedure that we'd use
> if we had installed x-payments on our own server?

Yes, but with downloadable X-Payments you need to install it properly first. With hosted plan - it gets pre-installed for you and ready for integration with your X-Cart shop.

> So would we upgrade to PHP 5.3 for the hosted solution too?
and about cron

You do not need to upgrade PHP and deal with cron at your X-Cart server if you go with hosted plans.
X-Payments hosted plans are already pre-configured and running on 100% compatible and PCI-compliant servers so you do not need to worry about X-Payments side of server questions.

Mike SSI · #9 03-29-2013, 06:35 AM

What exactly does the cron job do?

Mike SSI · #10 03-29-2013, 07:31 AM

If we chose to install x-Payments on our own server, I'm also a bit confused about what the url of the payment page would be when connecting multiple stores to x-payments. Would the url of the payment page be the same for each store or could each store have it's own url for the payment page?