[ncolug] Re: Hosting a Mixed Environment
- From: <cstickelman@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ncolug: freelists.org" <ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:52:09 -0500
A WAMP stack MUST be a viable option... it's what NC State teaches!
---- "M. Knisely" <charon79m@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Oh, I agree on the hosting side. What I was talking about was more their
> experiences with other clients that were self hosted and running this same
> sort of Wordpress setup. Did they all spin up Linux environments? I'm
> betting not. I be others ran it in their existing IIS environment.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM, Rob Gibson <nosbig@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > I will ask about their recommendations for hosting, although their project
> > scope specifically states that they are not responsible for hosting; we'll
> > have to see about their competence with a mixed environment.
> >
> > I recall Wordpress being available for IIS, but I will have to investigate
> > the database situation; did Microsoft throw in MS SQL Server support or is
> > there a Windows distribution of MySQL available that is production-ready.
> > I will have to research Magento; I have not yet seen any documentation
> > indicating that it can be run from within IIS, but it is definitely a 4th
> > option.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Rob
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:18 AM, M. Knisely <charon79m@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> UGH! Ok, a couple dumb questions first.
> >>
> >> Have you asked the outside firm what they would recommend? They have
> >> probably worked with others in your shoes, perhaps even homogenous MS
> >> environments that ran a LAMP stack for their solution.
> >>
> >> Another question I would have is why are you not considering putting
> >> Wordpress and Magento in IIS directly? Yes, yes... flog me all you want
> >> about FOSS, but it's a viable option 4.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 9:48 AM, Rob Gibson <nosbig@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Gentlemen,
> >>>
> >>> I am looking for some guidance as to the advantages and disadvantages of
> >>> hosting a website in a heterogenous environment.
> >>>
> >>> At Rego, we have a physical server running Microsoft Windows Server 2008
> >>> with IIS 7 and ASP.net. This has hosted our primary website and some
> >>> miscellaneous web applications, including some reporting for our remote
> >>> sales reps and executive team. This server is currently directly attached
> >>> to a Time Warner cable modem (with the Windows Firewall turned on and
> >>> heavily filtered). The Internet connection is 5 IP addresses, of which,
> >>> all 5 are currently consumed.
> >>>
> >>> Without my prior knowledge or guidance, a project was initiated by our
> >>> CEO to revamp our website. The site needs updating; it was coded by hand
> >>> by our previous IT guy and provides a catalog of our current merchandise
> >>> and pricing to dealers, while consumers get very out-of-date catalog pages
> >>> where 50-80% of the styles shown are discontinued. Unfortunately, those
> >>> pages are simply a series of images of our actual catalog pages from the
> >>> time the site was created (i.e. un-maintanable). I digress, but needless
> >>> to say, our site could use a HUGE redesign, and I don't have the time with
> >>> all of the other projects to be handled.
> >>>
> >>> So, our CEO contacted an outside design firm who we use for other
> >>> marketing/social media/graphic design needs. He agreed to a project
> >>> proposal which was very nebulous but contained the basic objectives we
> >>> were
> >>> looking for. We need a catalog for our dealers and consumers (with
> >>> pricing
> >>> withheld for consumers); we need a CMS to allow our marketing and sales
> >>> teams to manage their own content instead of waiting on my schedule to
> >>> accommodate their needs.
> >>>
> >>> Through a conference call and some specific questions, I have discovered
> >>> the tools which they plan to use for our site: Wordpress and Magento (for
> >>> the eCommerce). I think you see my dilemma...
> >>>
> >>> I thought about how we might accomplish hosting this site internally
> >>> (which is a must, by Rego's current mindset). I have come up with three
> >>> major options:
> >>>
> >>> 1. Install a Linux distribution (probably Debian stable) on a VirtualBox
> >>> VM on the existing web server and use IIS to reverse-proxy all incoming
> >>> requests which are destined for our primary website while delivering the
> >>> existing ASP.net web applications using the existing configuration.
> >>>
> >>> 2. The same strategy as #1, except that the Hyper-V hypervisor would be
> >>> used.
> >>>
> >>> 3. Install a WAMP stack, such as Bitnami's product, to provide the tools
> >>> which Wordpress and Magento utilize directly to the existing OS. In this
> >>> case, the reverse proxy will still be needed.
> >>>
> >>> I really like the idea of using a complete open-source stack
> >>> (VirtualBox, Debian, and LAMP), but I have not used VirtualBox in a public
> >>> production environment like this before. I have also heard some reports
> >>> that VirtualBox is not suitable for such environments, either. Hyper-V
> >>> seems like a logical fit, but I have never used it, nor am I aware yet of
> >>> the licensing requirements for it. The WAMP stack seems like the simplest
> >>> to implement, but I worry about running Apache, PHP, and MySQL on a
> >>> Windows
> >>> machine. Last time I looked into the individual components, they were all
> >>> recommending that they not be run on Windows (although I don't know about
> >>> PHP and MySQL with IIS).
> >>>
> >>> One thing we cannot do is replace the Windows web server with a Linux
> >>> server en-masse. I can, over time, reprogram many of our tools to use PHP
> >>> and some database (perhaps MS SQL via FreeTDS), but we currently use an
> >>> ASP-based CRM platform for our sales reps to submit orders while on the
> >>> road. This has a synchronization component to replicate order information
> >>> into our ERP solution and vice-versa.
> >>>
> >>> What thoughts do you have about each of these strategies? Are there
> >>> possibilities that I have missed?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Rob
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
To unsubscribe send to ncolug-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the
Subject field.
Other related posts:
