We are currently planning to scale our current digital platforms to support a small number of number franchised businesses operating in different international locations.
Would appreciate a bit of help sense checking.
We are thinking about eventually effectively rebuilding our existing Drupal 7 website as a Drupal 8 site multisite installation -one installation for each business location (assuming that is the logical thing to do considering it is expected to release in the fall??).
We also have a separate Drupal 7 installation that is used as a system for accepting public submissions. I would like to upgrade to Drupal 8 rather than redevelop.
We will also be developing a smart phone app that gives users a view of their account and provides rewards etc... Currently these systems are all effectively disconnected.
We have two groups of existing users (currently residing in the two separate Drupal installations) that we need to migrate to our new system and somehow centralise.
We want to connect all of our systems (Drupal multisite installation, Drupal submission system, smart phone app and a CRM) and implement a single sign on mechanism
The thinking I am currently being sold is that we need to place the CRM system as a kind of central repository of account information that all systems can defer/sync to?
Does this seem logical/possible?
Could anyone provide any thoughts on all that?
Yes this is logically possible.
You should manitain one json api to communicate with all your systems.
that api should managed by your core system to create & update data in different platforms.
Related
I am working on a system on GAE that includes app server, Datastore, a mobile app and a web client.
My each customer will need to have a customized (separate) app server, datastore, mobile app and a web client. I am not able to find any information on how I should design my system:
[Option A]:-Separate project for each customer, hence app server and datastore will be available exclusively for that customer. In the sense, do I need to clone my base project for each of my customers and then customize to have separate datastore and appservers ?
OR
[Option B]:-Same project with different versions of application for each customer. In this case, can I have individual (exclusive) data store and app server for each customer? In the sense, I want a separate datastore and app server for each customers. I am not sure if I can take advantage of using different datastore buckets for different customers for my requirement.
I could not find any reference link addressing my problem.
Any help will greatly be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
You should consider App Engine's native support of multitenancy. If this is not good enough for your requirements, then you will have to create a separate project for each customer. The Datastore for a single project is shared across all versions, so you will not be able to segment it (unless you are ok using namespaces as described in the linked doc).
I would also recommend making sure that you actually need to have separate applications running for each customer. Unless you sign up for a premier account, you have a limited number of projects that you can create. Besides that, it will most likely make management of those apps much more difficult for you.
I am currently creating a quiz application, which will send data between two different applications on the iPad. Is there a way to connect two Flash CS6 applications together via a local database? These flash applications will be used on iPads.
It is very important that the information is not accessible online.
As I recall iOS is very much sand-boxed to where you can't share a local database between 2 Apps.
You could look into assigning your apps different URL prefixes / schemes, but I am unsure how well Flash supports setting those up. If you get it to work though, then you could theoretically maintain one local database per app and communicate between the apps using the URL prefixes. Of course maintaining and syncing 2 separate database may turn out to a pain.
Really the solution I would lean toward is to store the common database on a server that does not have a front end to it, just a simple API. This would prevent users from accessing the data online while allowing any number of apps to access it at will. If you ever expand into Android or other mobile platforms this would allow the same data to be readily sharable as well.
firstly I apologise if this is a ridiculously simple question to answer but it has been bothering me for a while.
I am trying to understand what salesforce actually is, I mean in technical terms. I have read the websites documentation and the wikipedia page but I am trying to understand what's behind all this fluffy terminology.
My understanding is that salesforce is a cloud based database which stores a very high volume of information and all salesforce apps consists of scripts that query this database and model them in different ways depending on the intended application, is this correct?
Thanks !
Software as a Service (SaaS)
To get program you need to download it, install, configure and so on. If your system have a lot of users it's very hard to configure ans support single user installation.
Imagine that you improved application, new release for example. You need update every instance.
With SaaS model you have a shared web application, that do the same thing as old downloadable one. But it's much easier to support it, because ideally there is just one instance of it.
Salesforce is a company that provides its own system by SaaS model, but not only. It is also a platform for developing new applications.
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I am at the first experience of releasing my windows application and I don't have a cue how I should move on. Here my question:
I have my own website running on hosting. I would like to implement a customer
portal so after receiving an order I will provide a username and password via email
where users can download the activation code. I know that this is a big question...How to protect my application against duplication? Do you know what is the "best" solution to apply license system to my software?
How I can force the application to be excuted just on specific pc? Is it complex to achive?
In this scenario should I create a new build for each user so the activation key will
unblock just the right build?
If so I understand that each profile will have its own build file along with activation code and a sort of service agreement information (i.e. 1 year of free updateds).
Again I see it to complex to manage, for every changes in the application I need to compile, build and upload new version...? Ok... my application right now is a simple exe file with some folders and xml configuration files but what in future...?
Is it possible just to share among all user a single application file which can be activated by using the user activation code (in this scenario user will have his own profile just for activation key and SA information). what about security? if someone share the activation code I guess the application can be unblocked anywhere.
Should I implement the customer portal on a dedicated server (i.e) ? I don't have possibility to install my own server. What do you think about virtual server on ISP?
What about invoicing and ordering process? You think that an ecommerce commercial solution is a good choice? For istance I was thinking to get order via email or fax and then process the license (still don't know how) and send invoice whith information for payment (i.e wire tranfer). What do you think?
If the software it would cost (still don't know the price) let's say less then 30 dollars does it make sense to use as payment method a wire tranfer? What about share-it.com? Is it safe? Do they also handle customer portal?
Thanks a lot.
The usual way to prevent users from just replicating your application on many machines is 'node-locking' - at runtime the application checks that certain machine parameters match the values recorded in an encrypted license key or activation record. The Ethernet MAC address is a popular locking parameter, but this is not a good choice as on some systems the MAC address can be set or spoofed. A combination of parameters such as Windows ID, machine name, perhaps user log-in name etc. is more secure.
To issue a license you either request these details from the user or have them run a small utility that writes them to a file they send to you. You can then encrypt them in the license key, which can also contain other information such as a trial or subscription time limit, feature configuration info etc.
Alternatively, all this can be done automatically using [product activation][2]. When your application first runs it connects to a hosted license server, checks it is a valid license, and automatically reads the names of the locking parameters on its host, so it can then encrypt them and persist them in a local file it then reads each time it runs after that (so the app does not need to connect to the server again after the initial validation). If you go the activation route it is much more convenient for you and your users.
Whatever route you go, you need to think about:
- Integration with your chosen ecommerce provider/payment processor?
- How to handle users who don't have an Internet connection?
- How to support users who want to relocate their license, perhaps because they bought a new system? Can you ensure they have only one copy active at any one time? (and you may also want to limit how often they can relocate their license).
- If you lock to several machine parameters, can your locking system accommodate the user upgrading part of their system, so potentially causing one of the node-locking parameters to change?
- If the user's system crashes, how can they get their license running again on another machine?
- How do you issue trial licenses?
- How do you protect against people who try to hack your license protection?
- Might you in future want to configure features in your product e.g. offer different price points, or different combinations of features to different types of users. Can your licensing system handle this?
All these issues and more have of course already been considered and resolved by competent commercial licensing systems.
i would go with similar system to what i have seen used by Nod32 ( which is why i don't use it anymore, but still suggest to buy for everyone else ).
Application has two states: demo and full.
You can use the demo version for time period of 30 month.
And each application has a product key, which is daily verified against remote server. If verification fails, application slips back into demo mode.
If the verification server is unreachable, you show user a message that "verification server unreachable, check your connection or verify manually". Then try again in an hour. If for .. lets say .. 3 days application hasn't been verified. It does into demo mode.
If user, which has connection issues clicks on notification bubble, he sees a view containing information about how to verify manual or button for "try again".
For manual verification you have a generated code (based on his hardware data), which he can enter in your website together with his product key. And get a number for manual verification.
my 2 cents.
How I can force the application to be excuted just on specific pc? Is
it complex to achive?
You can store his computer ID/Key pair in your database.
In this scenario should I create a new build for each user so the
activation key will unblock just the right build?
No. Definitely you do not want to create 1000 builds for 1000users.
If so I understand that each profile will have its own build file
along with activation code and a sort of service agreement information
(i.e. 1 year of free updated).
It is easy to manage it with a right tool. You can ‘bind’ each key to a specific version range of your product (say v1.0.00 – v2.0.00) or specify the validity period of the key ( SaaS scheme)
Is it possible just to share among all user a single application file
which can be activated by using the user activation code ..?
Yes. It’s called floating or network licenses.LAN license server allows to run some limited number of product’s instances in corporate network. This approach is widely used by corporate customers.
Should I implement the customer portal on a dedicated server (i.e) ? I
don't have possibility to install my own server. What do you think
about virtual server on ISP?
It depends on what you mean under ‘own server’. You can’t run separate daemon/process on shared hosting, you need VPS or dedicated server. But you can use the solutions that are present on the market already.
Why do you need to implement activation system yourself? And run servers yourself? It may appear a far more complicated and costly as it seems.
ActivationCloud https://activation-cloud.com provides a good set of features that can fit needs of ISVs that is selling software to home and corporate user. Consider to use it.
Read my question "A licensing system for my (WinForms) application. Would this be secure enough? (Within reason)"
I listed a few possibilities.
Mainly, I noticed that you wanted the program to be only runnable on a specific PC, for which I used a function which returns a unique code for each PC, and required it to be the last 5 characters of the Product Key.
Hope this helped. :)
What are the strategies you employ to let multiple people work on an access database?
Is it possible to host it online and have its features still functional without having to develop a custom frontend?
MS Access as a software has a few nice features that don't require any programming to configure:
Drop down lists - choose one
Multi Checkbox lists - choose multiple
Is it possible to get all of these features available even when hosted online? I'm basically thinking of an alternate way to quickly get people to work with data using GUI features like the above without going the webapp<>MySQL way.
You have some good comments here. Keep in mind that things have changed quite a bit for access 2010.
Access 2010 allows you to build web applications. The development process is very much the same as it’s been for years, but you can’t use VBA in forms for these web applications (you use a new macro language). This new feature set allows you to publish applications you build to a website. Here is an video of an application of mine running in access 2010, and at the halfway point in the video I switch to running the access application 100% in a web browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4mH0jPntI
The above is for access 2010…due out this year. The above will require you to be running SharePoint services, or use an hosting service that supports "access web" services.
For previous versions of access, for all intents and purposes, it’s not a web based system at all. Now when you say multiple users, you have to clarify what kind of users and where they plan to be. If your users are on a local office network, then MS access can be used as a multi user system right out of a box with no additional coding and programming required. It is recommended however that you split your application into a front end part that’s deployed on each user’s computer. This Concept as outlined in the following article of mine.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/split/index.htm
Now, perhaps the users are going to be on notebooks and in different locations all over the country? In this type of case you are attempting to connect over a wide area network, or have users connect to the application over the Internet. This is a different problem. In this type of scenario, a good solution is to use something like SQL server for the backend, and you continue to deploy the Access front ends to each user’s computer. This application tends to be about the most cost affordable also. And using sql server + ms-access means you get to continue developing in Access for the most part like you always done. Another way to accomplish wide area use without resorting to sql server is to use something called terminal services. I outline these possibilities in the following article:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal//Wan/Wans.html
As mentioned, a few others here posted links to some of the new SharePoint features that you can consider using, but they not out untill later this year.
Multi-user Access apps are pretty easy to do for small workgroup user populations in the 15-25 ranger or smaller. Above that, a developer should consider upsizing to a server back end, with the trade-off being greater administrative overhead for the server vs. having to program the app more carefully if you retain the Jet/ACE back end.
As to online access, you this isn't possible over HTTP, but if you have a Windows Terminal Server available, you can host your app there and give users access to that. This is actually an extremely easy and efficient and inexpensive way to support remote users of an app, though the larger the user population, the more problematic it becomes. But by the time an Access app has a user population that would strain a Windows Terminal Server setup, you're no longer going to be using a Jet/ACE back end.
And with a server back end, you could give access to a SQL Server on a VPN over the Internet, and if you write your Access app really efficiently, even over a standard broadband connection, your users could still work productively.
Then there's the future of Access: in Access 2010, a great deal of work has been done to integrate with a host of new features in Sharepoint 2010. If you create your A2010 app using the new type of Access web forms and reports, your app can be uploaded to a Sharepoint server running the new Access Services, and it can then be used running in a web browser (not limited to IE and not dependent on any plugins or web controls, as was the case in the past with the completely worthless Access Data Access Pages). The data store can either be a SQL Server, or you could keep it Jet/ACE for users not accessing it via the web browser, and have the data stored in Sharepoint for the online users. Also, you can have an app integrated with Sharepoint running locally in Access that uses Sharepoint when connected to the Internet, and still be able to work offline when disconnected. When connected again, you synch your local changes with the Sharepoint server, resolve any differences and continue working.
The features are really quite remarkable, and according to what I've heard and seen, if the Access app is built entirely of web forms and reports, it will look and function identically when run in Access and when run in the web browser via Sharepoint. And if you need to have client-side features that you don't expose to the users running the app in the browser, you can still use traditional Access objects!
The Access development team's blog has a number of posts on what's coming in A2010, and there's a good video posted there demonstrating how A2010 integrates with Sharepoint 2010's new Access Services.
This constitutes a quantum leap in Access's web capabilities, which were previously almost non-existent, and I'm quite excited about this. I was formerly quite wary of the changes being made to Access that seemed entirely to make it a servant of Sharepoint, but now I can see that the benefit to Access users and Access developers will be huge.
One way i've heard of, is to import the access database into a SQL Server database.
(Almost any version will do.).
Then link to the SQL Server database with Access and let users use it as they did before.
Look at this link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA010345991033.aspx
If you want an online solution i'd recommend going with a normal web application architecture. (Talking to a proper database.).
I have never needed to support it myself, but from what I heard so far, performance dramatically breaks down as soon as you need to support multiple users writing simultaneously. I think this is because Access uses simple file locking to implement isolation, and this just is not the right technique for a concurrent database system.
Hosted on-line? Do you mean on the network? Technically it will work on a network but there is a reason MS-Access in not in Visual Studio - it is not considered a development platform - it is a desktop application. When MS-Access first hit the scene many people built applications using it. The multiuser functionality just is not there. Upto four or five users is ok. But I would not go for more.