Posted by Rick Emery on 06/29/05 06:12

Quoting Jochem Maas <jochem@iamjochem.com>:

> what is special about the MSSQL2K servers? do you have a lot of stored
> procedures in it? stuff like that?

Exactly; the past mentality has been "do everything through stored
procedures", so we have a *lot*. Also, my manager's boss (who has since
retired) had a very Microsoft-centric outlook. My manager is gradually
overcoming that, but everything we do is data collection, storage, and
retrieval, so MSSQL2K is pretty entrenched in the organization.

> if the MSSQL servers are so important/complex/big/etc then maybe ASP.not
> is the right way to go? given that moving 'everything' from
> client-server to web-baseed interfaces isn't really a short-term
> operation. (assuming some level of complexity in the existing software.)

Good point. But ASP.Net is definitely out (even my Microsoft-centric
manager wants to stay away from the Framework for now). Only new
applications and smaller existing utilities will be done web-based,
with an eye on porting existing applications gradually at some later
time as our schedule permits. And you hit the nail right on the head;
our existing apps are very complex (heavy COM+, MSMQ, and some of those
other nasty bits :-); those won't even be considered for some time.

A funny thing about this; I wrote a php application as a
proof-of-concept (to show that it would work for us). The big-wigs in
the organization fell in love with the app, and it was placed into
production. It was initially placed on a W2K server with IIS 5, but we
had some problems. It was moved to a W2K3 server with IIS 6, and the
problem remained. I moved the app to a Linux server (well, it's really
just a PC) with Apache2, and it's run for a few weeks without any
problems. I think my manager's new boss wants to use this success to
use a production Linux server (which would be our first) to host our
web apps.

> like marcromedia tools are required to run CF, they 'tie you in' to
> the technology. buying Zend products is optional, if the Zend IDE is judge to
> be a moneysaving tool for working with PHP then you buy it. But you
> don't have to. the essential tools are with out cost and open to inspection
> and modification. Purchasing Zend Accelerator/Encoder maybe a good move
> for you company but again its not a requirement.

Absolutely. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm used to developing
through ssh with vi :-) Any code we write would have to run on a server
without any Zend products, but those of us who have evaluated them
believe there is enough added value in some of the Zend products to
consider them.

> from a strategic point of view it might also not be wise to make a
> substanstial investment in technology from a company thats just been
> bought out by the competion (adobe)?

That will definitely be discussed; I read an article the other day that
the acquisition has now put Adobe/Macromedia in Microsoft's
cross-hairs. Of course, I also read an article that Microsoft is trying
to extinguish LAMP, but I actually chuckled when I read that one.

Thanks for your input!
Rick

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