New Web Application - Advise request

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Hekktor

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# 208548 16-Feb-2017 14:06

Hi Team,

I have just returned from 7 1/2 years in the UK and not exactly up to speed with NZ life and companies so am looking for some basic advice around service providers specific to NZ.

I am currently working with a web developer to build a Web Application. It will be built in ASP.NET, and we will require a Windows Web Server and a separate MS-SQL Server.

So..

First point of order.. does anyone have any recommendation as to which provider for Virtual Server hosting I should go with?

https://www.net24.co.nz/ (good but it looks a bit expensive for startup)

or MS Azure? (an one used this yet?)

Any other NZ company hosting recommended?

Second point of order.. A big part of my application will be based around people being able to look up their address based off the postal register. I need to create a database with all the up to date postal addresses in it so that people can type their or any other address and have it auto fill in to select the correct address e.g. Like on Sparks Outage page:

http://www.spark.co.nz/help/servicealert/outage-map/

Anyone know a company that provides a plugin to support this? Or do I need to have my own developed? So far looking this up its going to cost $1000 P/A to have the information feed from NZ Post.

https://www.nzpost.co.nz/business/direct-marketing/direct-marketing-products-services/quality-addressing/postal-address-file-paf

Cheers guys!

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128 posts

Master Geek
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# 1721275 16-Feb-2017 14:14

We use Experian QAS for address checking for our registry system. http://www.experian.co.nz/data-management/address-verification.html I'm not sure on the cost and whether it would be the right solution for your purposes. It seems to be a reasonably quick tool.

jnimmo

What does this tag do
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# 1721277 16-Feb-2017 14:16

SiteHost would be highly recommended by me for NZ hosting, or as you say just straight onto Azure

Will have a think about the address autocompletion, did a little bit of this years ago but not up to speed with the options here at the moment. I'm sure someone else is doing it rather than having to pay $1000/year to NZ Post

EDIT:

http://www.addressable.co.nz/ looks good

as does

https://www.addy.co.nz/

with transparent pricing online, both pick up a new address which has only been issued for about a 10 months.

slingynz

152 posts

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# 1721360 16-Feb-2017 15:29

Might be useful to look into Google Places API.

edit:

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/places-autocomplete-addressform

https://developers.google.com/places/web-service/autocomplete

If you need an actual list of addresses to put in a database rather than just allowing a user to pick an address you can get the info from LINZ for free.

I'm looking at a list of ~2 million addresses right now.

Hekktor

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# 1721364 16-Feb-2017 15:34

@gkjb Thanks gkjb, added to the (very) short list :) I will check that one out!

@Slingynz Cheers! Any chance you can share the link for the list of addresses? I have also found these guys but not sure if I need my own address database first.

http://www.rightaddress.co.nz/right-address/rapid-cleaning.aspx

frankv

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# 1721409 16-Feb-2017 16:08

Check out the LINZ Data Service... they may have an address database?

slingynz

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# 1721451 16-Feb-2017 17:16

Hekktor:

@Slingynz Cheers! Any chance you can share the link for the list of addresses? I have also found these guys but not sure if I need my own address database first.

http://www.rightaddress.co.nz/right-address/rapid-cleaning.aspx

https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/3353-nz-street-address/data/

Download as a csv.

Hekktor

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# 1721608 16-Feb-2017 22:31

Awesome thanks guys. Lots of options here then.. can use an address search API or develop our own now :D See how much work the developer wants to do

gkjb

128 posts

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# 1721836 17-Feb-2017 13:50

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slingynz:

https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/3353-nz-street-address/data/

Download as a csv.

The difference between the LINZ Street Address and the NZPost PAF is, or at least was, that LINZ's listing isn't the postal address. The address they use is the official street address of the property. For corner sections or those on a long driveway accessed from another street, the letter box isn't necessarily for the correct address of the property. If you're asking someone to enter an address then they may not find the address they think they live at in the LINZ dataset. Now that may not actually be an issue for you but it is worth keeping in mind.

Hekktor

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# 1722762 19-Feb-2017 18:33

@gkjb

Thanks very much. I appreciated that note... it is quite important to me actually, and its the LINZ information that is better suited to what I want it for. Lucky for me that's the free one!! :D :D :D

The next thing ill be facing is verifying users to prevent identity fraud.. I am very big on making sure I get this right as I know it could be disastrous if someone was to fraudulently use the site. Anyone know if there is an automated government system to verify someone? I.E. Using passport information or IRD number etc? Anyone got any use cases where they have had to verify new people signing up to a services identify to prevent identity fraud?

Cheers!

gkjb

128 posts

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# 1722766 19-Feb-2017 18:41

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There's RealMe which is a govt backed identity verification/single signon. I don't know how widely used it is so it may be a barrier to use for your users. https://www.realme.govt.nz/realme-business/

Your best bet may be using something along the lines of AML/CFT checks where you would have to verify the user. There are some cloud check services available which may suit.

mattwnz

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# 1722769 19-Feb-2017 18:56

gkjb:

There's RealMe which is a govt backed identity verification/single signon. I don't know how widely used it is so it may be a barrier to use for your users. https://www.realme.govt.nz/realme-business/

Your best bet may be using something along the lines of AML/CFT checks where you would have to verify the user. There are some cloud check services available which may suit.

I really do wonder about realme, and why it doesn't seem to be widely used. It doesn't seem to be even used by kiwibank, even though they are the ones that process the realme transactions and take the photos!. Yet it appears BNZ use it? I wonder if it has a really high cost to use it? I think it should be free, which would then enable all companies to use it, which ends up being a good thing for NZers.

gkjb

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# 1722785 19-Feb-2017 20:15

In one of my previous roles we were early adopters of it. It was a pain in the arse but it was early days so some of the processes weren't perfected. There were some process and system audits from memory as well. The intent was that banks would pick it up and make it commonplace.

nigelramsay

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# 1722801 19-Feb-2017 20:52

Hi @Hekktor

One more option for the address lookup service - it's https://AddressFinder.nz

I work for Abletech who are behind the service, so I'll keep this brief.

It's an auto-complete service based on a merger of LINZ addresses with NZ Post's PAF database. All the details are on the website. Please let me know if I can help with any questions.

Cheers

Nigel

Hekktor

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# 1722825 19-Feb-2017 22:11

@nigelramsay

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for that, I will let you know which way I go. I am providing these options to my developer.. at the end of the day its really his call which service will best fit his app design :D

toyonut

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# 1722880 20-Feb-2017 09:01

Do you need/want to manage a server? I would suggest if you can, something like an Azure SQL DB and an Azure webapp. If things take off, it is easy to scale and easy to manage rather than needing to either vertically or horizontally scale a server or set of servers. You could also sign up for a free 5 user VSTS account which makes the delivery pipeline into Azure really simple and fast. You also get 240 free minutes of build time before you need to pay for more. The webapp could start on the free F1 tier during development with a low tier SQL DB and then as you start seeing load, scale them vertically and the webservers to a standart tier, then horizontally.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

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