[Zope3-Users] Infrastructure Requirements?

[Doyon, Jean-Francois]

We use Dell servers exclusively and a combination of CentOS (free) and
Red Hat Enterprise (commerically supported).

I suppose it depends on whether you're really attached to Ubuntu.  We've
had a good experience with Red Hat's commercial offerings and support
ourselves.

I believe Dell & Red Hat play nice with each other on a certification
level also.  We haven't had any problems anyways.

You should be able to find many options to support your Linux
installations, regardless of the chosen hardware.

This page suggests the Canonical support isn't bound to Sun platforms:

http://www.ubuntu.com/support/paid

It just so happens Ubuntu is certified for Sun hardware, that's all.

All in all, it's understandable, if using Sun hardware with Ubuntu
appeases the powers that be, go ahead.  Another option is Dell + Red
Hat.  There are other combinations I'm sure that could give you the same
kind of "formal confidence".

And they should all run Zope just fine too, of course! (Just to stay on
topic ...)

J.F. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Buch [mailto:dbuch at teachsmart.org] 
Sent: February 19, 2007 2:10 PM
To: Chris Withers
Cc: zope3-users at zope.org; Doyon, Jean-Francois
Subject: Re: [Zope3-Users] Infrastructure Requirements?

> > Let's say that we take HA out of the equation
> Well, okay, but I thought that was the point of this discussion? ;-)

Perhaps it will be in a few years ... I have to get the thing working
first and, as I'm sure it's obvious by now, I am an absolute noob.

> > and that our supposed
> > infrastructure already has storage and web covered.  
> How so? Are you storing all your data in a relational database? Is 
> someone else running a caching web proxy in front of you?

What we're trying to build is a Zope3 app that will help us track and
document various workflows throughout the company.  The plan is to have
most of the data stored in *other* systems (MSSQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL...
with significantly less (administrative stuff mostly) kept in the ZODB.

There will already be an Apache server in place on another machine
through which all Zope3 traffic will flow... (is that the right answer?)
H.A. and such wasn't really the road I was expecting to go down ... not
until later on, at least.  I'm sorry if my original inquiry seemed to
indicate this. 

> > The app will be
> > used by *maybe* 50 concurrent users.  
> What kind of usage are they each up to? Just reading? Lots of
modifying 
> objects? Are they authenticated? If so, how? Again, where you store
your 
> data makes a difference here...

I'll try to address this, but it's just speculation at this stage.  If
the app works and we decide to keep moving ahead with Zope3, the answer
could be radically different in as little as 6 months.  Here's my guess,
for 50 concurrent users:

security:
100% authenticated, all the time (TLS/SSL?)

activities:
90% reading
10% modifying objects

> > I'm already pretty confident in
> > the answer, but would I do okay with something like "Config 1" shown
> > here:  (please forgive the HUGE URL)
> Why the obsession with Sun? What's their brand getting you?

It took me long enough to convince my bosses that Ubuntu, Zope, Python,
<everything FOSS>, were safe alternatives to going 100% MS.  If my
company can purchase a Sun server, then we can purchase support from
Canonical: http://www.ubuntu.com/sun

Please let me know if I'm totally off-base with my logic here ;-)  The
IT infrastructure consultant (the company pres.'s son) would prefer to
buy everything through Dell, so if I'd be better off abandoning my
obsession with Sun, well... that's what I'll have to do :)


Thanks again for all the great feedback! :D
-- 
Dan Buch
SmartEd Services