| As we started the project of the electronic auction | | | | Besides all of that, Postresql is not the most popular |
| PoloMercantil.com, we knew that the proprietary | | | | Open Source Code database. A matter of marketing |
| software costs would be too high for our financial | | | | ? Probably. |
| resources. Our only option then was to make use of | | | | As for the programming language PHP, we had to use |
| Open Source Code softwares. | | | | an object oriented application structure. There are |
| However, within the Open Source Code there are lots | | | | many PHP application structures being offered with |
| of softwares to choose from, and it´s up to the | | | | Open Source Code license. Object oriented application |
| system analyst/programmer to pick the ones that best | | | | is very important, because it makes programming very |
| suit the project goals. | | | | easy and scalable up to the point where the system |
| In our case, we picked Linux as our operating system. | | | | may grow without many problems. Also, it helps to |
| However we faced a big question: Which Linux | | | | keep PHP code separated from HTML, with the help |
| distribution ? There are dozens of linux distributions, | | | | of some specific libraries, such as Smarty. We make |
| each one with specific advantages, sometimes with or | | | | use of Smarty library and we believe that it is a very |
| without paid services. | | | | important resource, which can even make web pages |
| We chose linux Slackware because we thought that it | | | | faster thru the use of its cache functions. |
| would suit better our needs, in terms of stability and | | | | Also a very important set of libraries worth mentioning |
| reliability. Slackware is a conservative distribution, | | | | for PHP systems, is the PEAR libraries. In PEAR web |
| meaning that it only offers in its distribution package | | | | site, among the many libraries being offered, there are |
| kernel versions and third party libraries, once it´s | | | | the database interface DB and the MAIL_QUEUE, |
| been proved to be stable and reliable. As a result, | | | | which sends emails thru the use of database. |
| Slackware is one the most stable Linux operating | | | | As we came to the end of the project PoloMercantil, |
| system on the market. If the user wishes the most | | | | we had to use some sort of real time database |
| recent Linux kernel and libraries, we recommend to | | | | replication. For that we chose the DRBD and |
| look for a different distribution. | | | | Heartbeat libraries. The use of database replication is |
| Another reason for us picking Slackware, was | | | | very important and should not be postponed. Just after |
| because of its text interface, which at the beginning | | | | 3 months our system got into production, our server |
| may become a bit difficult, in the long run however it | | | | hard disk became bad. Thru the use of DRBD |
| offers a better understanding of the Linux environment. | | | | Heartbeat we were able to put the system back into |
| This way most of Slackware configurations are done | | | | production within seconds, without loosing any data. |
| thru text scripts. | | | | DRBD/Heartbeat replication is done thru the use of a |
| Once it was set the operating system, we picked | | | | lan network between the server and slave nodes. |
| Apache as our web server. Apache is one of the | | | | Our project also makes use of ImageMagick (enlarge |
| most popular web server in the internet. For server | | | | and reduce images), Iptables (firewall), Tsearch2(text |
| programming language, we chose PHP. Also, a very | | | | search in portgresql) and Mon (linux monitoring tasks). |
| popular programming language. Our experience with | | | | Also a very important library worth mentioning is the |
| Apache/PHP proves that this setup is very reliable, | | | | pseudo APC compiler for PHP. Speed is always a |
| working extremely well in our production environment. | | | | critical factor for internet sites. |
| For workstation programming language, we chose | | | | PoloMercantil is already in production and based upon |
| javascript, which besides of having a simple syntax, it | | | | our experience we can say that the Open Source |
| offers lots of resources. | | | | Code softwares we picked, proved to be extremely |
| Apache web server is really a complete web server. | | | | reliable and stable. Open Source Code softwares can |
| Also, it can become very complex with many | | | | certainly be an excellent option for developing web |
| configuration setups. | | | | sites. |
| For our database, we picked Postgresql. This | | | | Roberto Sedycias |
| database has been made available to the public for | | | | IT Consultant for PoloMercantil |
| more than 15 years, and besides of being well | | | | This article is under GNU FDL license and can be |
| debugged, it offers so many resources that it has | | | | distributed without any previous authorization from the |
| become one of the best database options from Open | | | | author. However the author´s name and all the |
| Source Code softwares. Extremely reliable, Postgresql | | | | URL´s (links) mentioned in the article & biography |
| has reported cases where there have been | | | | must be kept. |
| databases in production with over 4 terabytes. | | | | |