Calling web services from host server

[gsmith]

I've started work on developing a Web site based on Amazon web services. I can develop most of the pages on my own PC by means of downloading and creating a local database containing data received from their web service. The issue is that in order to allow viewers to purchase items, they must create an Amazon shopping cart on my site, which means that I would have call their Web services from the hosts' server. Would the requirement that I would have to call web services from the host server cause the need for special arrangements (other than the required bandwith), or can I just assume that I will be able to do so without even mentioning it when signing on with the host?

Thanks,
gsmith

[raywood]

It depends on what kind of support your host provides for web application programming. Most web hosts offer packages that support scripting or programming languages. Things like perl, php, asp, and asp.net. They all have the ability to issue http requests to retrieve xml files from Amazon web services. What language are you using to develop your site? If your application puts the data in a database you'll also need a host that offers some kind of database such as mySQL or Access, or MS SQL.

[gsmith]

I'm developing with asp.net. I thought that perhaps the host might object to my sites' calling out to other services for whatever reason, but you seem to imply that this is not a concern. Thanks for answering!

[raywood]

ASP.Net has built in classes for making external requests. I think if a host offers ASP.Net support they know it is one of the attractive features for taking advantage of web services.
I have several sites hosted on a very inexpensive host, and they makes lots of web service requests for xml files.(to Amazon) The bandwidth useage is very small, and the host doesn't prohibit the calls. When you run a site that makes real time calls to Amazon, the files are very small. I use a local shopping cart for my sites, and dump the contents to the Amazon cart all at once when the user goes to checkout. I'm working on a new site, and I'm thinking about using the Amazon ECS 4.0 shopping cart.