This is a comprehensive guide to setting up a Web site based on Microsoft Merchant Server.
February 1, 1998
What is Microsoft Merchant Server, anyway? Like Microsoft Office, Merchant Server is not really a program, but a suite of programs. It allows you to create and administer a commerce-enabled Web site. Components of Merchant Server include a page generator, order processing module, sample stores, and various administrative tools.
The Microsoft Merchant Server Book mercifully skips the standard "what is the Web?" section that so many other books use to fill pages, and gets straight to the business of designing a commerce-enabled Web site. The authors buy into the very dubious theory that everyone needs to host their site in-house, but they don't belabor the point, or waste too many pages telling you how to set up in business as an ISP. Unlike so many other computer books, the 516 pages stick pretty closely to the subject matter at hand. There is a chapter-long overview of NT Server (the operating system required to run Merchant Server), including discussion of some of the administrative and diagnostic tools that NT offers, and a chapter about DNS servers.
Security is a critical set of issues for commerce-enabled sites, and the authors go over the basics, with some sound tips on how to set up a reasonably secure site. No site can ever be totally secure, but by taking the proper precautions, one can ensure that security problems will be highly unlikely.
A chapter on Internet Information Server follows. IIS, included in NT Server 4.0, is the Web server software needed to run Merchant Server. Merchant Server supports most ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) compliant databases, but the authors recommend Microsoft's SQL Server 6.0 or 6.5, and devote a chapter to explaining how it works with Merchant Server. This is one of the lengthier chapters, and goes into a good bit of technical detail.
Dynamic page generation is one of the main features of Merchant Server, and the next chapter explains templates, directives, actions, and such critters. There are several good HTML examples of forms, with scripts that can catch errors before they get submitted to the server, saving valuable bandwidth.
So, how do you set up a Merchant Server site? Well, apparently the best way to do it is to start with one of the included starter stores, and customize it to your needs. According to the authors, building a totally custom site would be a waste of time and effort, as the starter stores have predefined scripts, data fields, and other needed elements, which can be customized in any way you like.
So, how to get hold of the money? Virtual Point of Sale (VPOS) software is used to validate credit cards and process payments over the Web. Merchant Server has bundled VeriFone VPOS software for testing purposes, but for an actual working site, you'll need to use whatever VPOS package is supported by your bank.
Order processing is one of the main features of Merchant Server, and it follows a 14-step process (gee, it only takes 12 to kick alcohol!). In addition to the obvious steps, Merchant Server can adjust prices to reflect user-defined promotional offers (discounts), check inventory before finalizing an order, and add shipping, handling and tax. Although Merchant Server provides a tax component for testing purposes, it isn't meant for a production environment. Taxware, among others, offers a proper tax component that can extend Merchant Server's capabilities.
After some useful tips on how to market and administer your site, The Microsoft Merchant Server Book winds up with several case studies of succesful sites that use Merchant Server.
This book is detailed, comprehensive and well-written. I recommend it for anyone considering using Merchant Server to develop a commerce-enabled Web site.
The Microsoft Merchant Server Book
By Barry S. Wadman, Brad Miser and Marta Partington
Price: $49.99
1997
516 Pages
Includes CD-ROM
ISBN# 1-56604-610-6
Published by:
Ventana Communications Group
PO Box 13964
Research Triangle Park NC 27709-3964
