Practical Use of Open Source Code Software
As we started the project of our web site, we knew that the proprietary software costs would be too high for our financial resources. Our only option then was to make use of Open Source Code softwares.
However, within the Open Source Code there are lots of softwares to choose from, and itīs up to the system analyst/programmer to pick the ones that best suit the project goals.
In our case, we picked Linux as our operating system. However we faced a big question: Which Linux distribution ? There are dozens of linux distributions, each one with specific advantages, sometimes with or without paid services.
We chose linux Slackware because we thought that it would suit better our needs, in terms of stability and reliability. Slackware is a conservative distribution, meaning that it only offers in its distribution package kernel versions and third party libraries, once itīs been proved to be stable and reliable. As a result, Slackware is one the most stable Linux operating system on the market. If the user wishes the most recent Linux kernel and libraries, we recommend to look for a different distribution.
Another reason for us picking Slackware, was because of its text interface, which at the beginning may become a bit difficult, in the long run however it offers a better understanding of the Linux environment. This way most of Slackware configurations are done thru text scripts.
Once it was set the operating system, we picked Apache as our web server. Apache is one of the most popular web server in the internet. For server programming language, we chose PHP. Also, a very popular programming language. Our experience with Apache/PHP proves that this setup is very reliable, working extremely well in our production environment. For workstation programming language, we chose javascript, which besides of having a simple syntax, it offers lots of resources.
Apache web server is really a complete web server. Also, it can become very complex with many configuration setups.
For our database, we picked Postgresql. This database has been made available to the public for more than 15 years, and besides of being well debugged, it offers so many resources that it has become one of the best database options from Open Source Code softwares. Extremely reliable, Postgresql has reported cases where there have been databases in production with over 4 terabytes. Besides all of that, Postresql is not the most popular Open Source Code database. A matter of marketing ? Probably.
As for the programming language PHP, we had to use an object oriented application structure. There are many PHP application structures being offered with Open Source Code license. Object oriented application is very important, because it makes programming very easy and scalable up to the point where the system may grow without many problems. Also, it helps to keep PHP code separated from HTML, with the help of some specific libraries, such as Smarty. We make use of Smarty library and we believe that it is a very important resource, which can even make web pages faster thru the use of its cache functions.
Also a very important set of libraries worth mentioning for PHP systems, is the PEAR libraries. In PEAR web site, among the many libraries being offered, there are the database interface DB and the MAIL_QUEUE, which sends emails thru the use of database.
As we came to the end of our project, we had to use some sort of real time database replication. For that we chose the DRBD and Heartbeat libraries. The use of database replication is very important and should not be postponed. Just after 3 months our system got into production, our server hard disk became bad. Thru the use of DRBD/Heartbeat we were able to put the system back into production within seconds, without loosing any data. DRBD/Heartbeat replication is done thru the use of a lan network between the server and slave nodes.
Our project also makes use of ImageMagick (enlarge and reduce images), Iptables (firewall), Tsearch2(text search in portgresql) and Mon (linux monitoring tasks).
Also a very important library worth mentioning is the pseudo APC compiler for PHP. Speed is always a critical factor for internet sites.
Our web site is already in production and based upon our experience we can say that the Open Source Code softwares we picked, proved to be extremely reliable and stable. Open Source Code softwares can certainly be an excellent option for developing web sites.
Author Bio
Roberto Sedycias - IT Consultant
This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the authorīs name and all the URLīs (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page PoloMercantil
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for polomercantil.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exitingMore Software Information:
- Group 1
- Group 2
- Group 3
- Group 4
- Group 5
- Group 6
- Group 7
- Group 8
- Group 9
- Group 10
- Group 11
- Group 12
- Group 13
- Group 14
- Group 15
- Group 16
- Group 17
- Group 18
- Group 19
- Group 20
- Group 21
- Group 22
- Group 23
- Group 24
- Group 25
- Group 26
- Group 27
- Group 28
- Group 29
- Group 30
- Group 31
- Group 32
- Group 33
- Group 34
- Group 35
- Group 36
- Group 37
- Group 38
- Group 39
- Group 40
- Group 41
- Group 42
- Group 43
Related Articles
Antivirus Software - Get The Bugs Before They Get You!
You turn on your computer, and it doesn't look quite right. Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is wrong.
Alien Intruders!
You probably didn't casually invite, or extend a formal attendance requestto, these undesirables known as viruses.Regardless of your opinions, such cyber-nomads may call on you, complete andactive, with their destructive payloads.
Great Plains Accounting Migration to Microsoft Great Plains - Overview for IT Specialist
This is a short article, written in question/answer/FAQ style to give IT Specialist/developer/programmer balanced top level information on Great Plains Accounting migration to Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains. If you have Great Plains Accounting as main accounting and ERP system you need to know some technical details on the migration to Great Plains and what is going on behind the scenes.
Microsoft Great Plains eCommerce - Stored Procedures Approach
Since Version 8.0 Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains & Great Plains Standard are available on Microsoft SQL Server and MSDE (which is in fact MS SQL with database size limit of 2GB).
ERP Software Financing: the Future? - Overview for Company Owner
In our case - we serve Microsoft Business Solutions ERP and CRM products: Microsoft Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Navision, Microsoft RMS, as well as we do customization and integration to these products. We would like to share with you our experience with financing through Microsoft Financial Corporation, the entity handling software financing for Great Plains, CRM, Solomon, Navision & Axapta.
Screenshots Vista Windows
FeaturesAdditionally, Vista will include many other new features.AeroVista will include a completely re-designed user interface, code-named Aero.
Free Software: How Not To Get More Than You Bargained For!
I completed an experiment recently. I wanted to find out exactly what software I could get free on the Internet.
A Simple Guide To Wikis
A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don't need to understand any complex HTML, or anything like that to use a wiki.
Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Axapta - Selection Considerations
During the years of our consulting practice, which comes back to East Europe in mid 1990th and then continues in the USA, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Oceania, Germany, Canada - we would like to orient you - business owner, IT director or software programmer. Selection process can take several months and you may end up with non-Microsoft solution.
Reporting for Microsoft Great Plains/Dynamics/eEnterprise: RW - ReportWriter - Tips for Developer
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is written in Great Plains Software programming tool: Great Plains Dexterity. Dexterity in turn was built with conception of graphical cross-platform transferability (in time - 1992 - mostly Mac and MS Windows).
Behave, Word, Behave!
If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere..
Five Tips For A Great Software Demo
Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product.Over the years, I've had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes.
Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Microsoft Access - Overview for Developer
Microsoft Business Solutions stakes on Microsoft Great Plains as main Accounting/ERP application for US market. At the same time it seems to be staking on Navision in Europe and has Axapta as high end large corporation market competitor to Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, IBM.
How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition
Your computer cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the computer itself is not the most valuable part. The data on the hard disk is the most valuable part.
Lotus Domino: Application Integration - A Programmer View
There are two approaches for application integration:? Programmer's approach - for applications integration it is necessary to create some program codes;? Integrator's approach - in this case special software products are to be used and the integration process set up by those software settings.The following tools may be used for the first approach:? ODBC.
Anti-Spyware Protection - Holes in the Shining Armor
Looking at all the ads which promise to get rid of all spy programs, one may wonder why there is still plenty of them everywhere and the situation is by no means getting better. So let me spoil the advertisers' mood and show some of the "holes" in the majority of software products we expect to protect our data.
The Tools and Features of Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is one of the world's leading graphics editing programs, developed by Adobe Systems. Available on Mac OS or PC, Photoshop is used as one of the leading image design programs for the World Wide Web.
Great Plains Bill of Materials Setup & Customization for Process Manufacturing - Overview
Microsoft Great Plains has full-featured Manufacturing suite of modules: Capacity Requirements Planning, Job Costing, Master Production Scheduling, Materials Requirements Planning, etc. However Microsoft Great Manufacturing serves so-called discrete manufacturing market niche.
Microsoft Great Plains Accounting/ERP Implementation - Finance Industry Customization Example
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very generic accounting application out of the box and has multiple modules to address specific horizontal or vertical market requirements. At the same time Great Plains, now being moved on MS SQL Server platform allows you to deploy standard tools to customize and fit to these requirements, when you don't need rich custom functionality, just few touches.
Microsoft CRM Implementation & Remote Support
We would like to give you pluses and minuses of Microsoft CRM.Web and MS Outlook based client - this means that you don't need additional installations or training - everyone is using Outlook if you are on Windows XP/2000/2003SQL Server database - just to mentionIntegration with Microsoft Exchange 2003/2000 - this means that replies to CRM originated emails will be captured and store in CRM as activities for the Contact, Account or Lead.