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Forum Infrastructure Committee
Dynamic Content Survey
Fall 2005

Introduction, Purpose, and InstructionsTOP

The Web Forum Infrastructure committee has received numerous requests for a service for dynamic content on web servers. By "dynamic content" we mean the ability to run server-based applications. Following up with requestors, we found it useful to separate requestors into three different levels of experience:

High experience:
These are groups already running web servers with dynamic content. They tend to have substantial infrastructure in place, with anywhere from a few to a several dozen servers in production. Staff generally number three or more technology professionals.
Medium experience:
These groups have some experience with dynamic content. They may have a few servers in production. They generally have one or two technology professionals on staff.
Low experience:
These groups have experience with static content in production. They may have experimented with dynamic content but generally have none in production. These groups often have only part-time employees or students on their technical staff.

There are four components to any solution in this area:

Application Server:
PHP, Java (servlets, JSP, JSF, etc), Perl cgi, Python, ColdFusion, hahtSITE, etc.
Database:
MySQL, PostGres, Oracle, SQL Server, Access, FileMaker, etc.
Operating System:
Unix/Linux, Mac OSX, Windows
Web Server:
Apache, IIS
Obviously, it is not possible to support every possible combination of technologies. After evaluating the scalability, security, and supportability of the technologies at hand and the needs of campus, in particular the needs of the Medium and Low experience groups (those most in need), Computing Services proposes the following program for dynamic content.

Phase One: PHP with MySQL or Oracle under Apache on linux/unix/Mac OSX available on the core web infrastructure at http://www.cmu.edu and associated virtual hosts. This combination may also be made available on the portal following initial deployment.

Phase Two: JSP/JSF with Oracle under Apache on linux/unix/Mac OSX. This combination would be made available on the core web infrastructure some time after the PHP deployment.

Questions, particularly for campus technology teams that fit the medium or low experience descriptions above:

  • Are these technology combinations you would use if centrally provided?
  • What would you pay for this service? This service is resource-intensive and cannot be provided for free. Computing Services expects to be able to provide this service at a cost comparable to commercial ISPs.
  • Would you prefer a different application server? If so, please tell us your preference, and the reason for it.
  • Would you prefer a different selection of database servers? If so, please tell us your preference, and the reason for it.
  • Other questions or comments on this plan?

Please note that the Web Forum Infrastructure committee is exploring this issue in cooperation with Computing Services. Please do not construe this survey as a commitment to providing the service.

Thanks in advance for your help with this very important effort.

If you have any questions about the survey, please send email to dkennedy@andrew.cmu.edu.

When you have completed the survey, please click the "Submit" button and your responses will be emailed to the committee.

Part I: Contact InformationTOP

It is important that we have accurate contact information for you. This information will not be distributed to anyone, but will be used only to contact you if we need to follow up for clarification.

1. Name
2. Email Address
3. Work phone
4. What is your organizational affiliation within Carnegie Mellon? Are you:
A Carnegie Mellon employee (please specify your branch, division, and/or office)
A Carnegie Mellon student employee (please specify your branch, division, and/or office)
A contractor with Carnegie Mellon (please specify your company’s name)
other affiliation (please specify)

Part II: Dynamic ContentTOP

1. Do you currently publish, or desire the ability to publish dynamic Web content (such as multimedia, CGI-scripted, or database- or program-generated pages)?

yes
no

If no, survey skips to end

2. If not you, who is primarily responsible for providing scripting or programming support for this content?

Name
Title
Contact Info*
  Don’t know
*Phone number or email address

3. To help us better understand your usage, please provide us with URLs that lead to the dynamic Web content you publish.

4. Would you be interested in using a centrally provided dynamic content program as provided above?:

yes
no

If yes, would you use PHP or would you wait until JSP/JSF was offered?

I would begin using with PHP.

If no, please help us understand why:

I am not using and do not plan to migrate to either PHP or JSP/JSF.
What server are you currently using?:
Please help us understand the unique issue/problem set this selection resolves:
I am using a database other than Oracle.
What database are you currently using?:
Help us understand the unique issue/problem set that this database resolves:
I would wait until the JSP/JSF option were offered.
I would utilize both options.

5. If you are currently providing dynamic content on your site, please estimate your annual cost(s) for:

Hardware
Software
Human Resource (FTE/Hours/$$)

6. If you are providing dynamic content or not providing dynamic content but considering it in the future, if there were a nominal cost associated with this service, how would that impact any decision to participate?

Costs would not be a factor.
Reasonable costs would not be a limiting factor.
Any additional cost would be a negative factor.
Any other comments.
Please explain:
7. What are any additional thoughts/comments about this potential service offering?:

Part III: Conclusion

This concludes our survey. We appreciate your participation.

1. If you have comments about this survey, including matters related to its content, structure, or intent, please enter them in the box below.

2. If you know any other staff who you think should complete this survey, please provide their names, titles, email addresses and/or phone numbers.

Name
Title
Contact Info*
Name
Title
Contact Info*
Name
Title
Contact Info*
*Phone number or email address


Please click the submit button to send us your responses. Thank you!

Carnegie Mellon University, Web Forum Infrastructure Committee, version 1.2, revised 06-nov-2005.