Comments on: External Network Unification Part 1: Research and Development http://systemsboy.com/2006/03/external-network-unification-part-1-research-and-development.html Big, Honkin' Systems Stuff Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:19:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: systemsboy http://systemsboy.com/2006/03/external-network-unification-part-1-research-and-development.html/comment-page-1#comment-221 systemsboy Sat, 01 Apr 2006 18:11:00 +0000 http://systemsboy.com/2006/03/external-network-unification-part-1-research-and-development/#comment-221 Anonymous,<br/><br/>Thanks for all the advice. I noticed postgres on my BSD machine and wondered about it. Based on your comments, I will definitely look into it, though folks in my lab seem to be more comfortable with MySQL. Still, I want to check it out and see what I can see. Java is something I didn't even really think about. Like I said, our current system (or lack thereof) has been built very gradually over the years, and I guess I've been thinking about the new structure in terms of the technology we're already using. Your comments have made me curious to investigate other ways of doing things.<br/><br/>It's great to hear from other lab admins. Nice to know others are going through (or have gone through) the same things I'm dealing with. Much appreciated!<br/><br/>-systemsboy Anonymous,

Thanks for all the advice. I noticed postgres on my BSD machine and wondered about it. Based on your comments, I will definitely look into it, though folks in my lab seem to be more comfortable with MySQL. Still, I want to check it out and see what I can see. Java is something I didn’t even really think about. Like I said, our current system (or lack thereof) has been built very gradually over the years, and I guess I’ve been thinking about the new structure in terms of the technology we’re already using. Your comments have made me curious to investigate other ways of doing things.

It’s great to hear from other lab admins. Nice to know others are going through (or have gone through) the same things I’m dealing with. Much appreciated!

-systemsboy

]]> By: Anonymous http://systemsboy.com/2006/03/external-network-unification-part-1-research-and-development.html/comment-page-1#comment-220 Anonymous Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:35:00 +0000 http://systemsboy.com/2006/03/external-network-unification-part-1-research-and-development/#comment-220 In my opinion, you are on the right track with OpenLDAP for your user repository and authentication. LDAP is generally the first external mechanism to be supported when developers realize that yet another local account scheme isn't going to fly with admins.<br/><br/>FWIW, I had a lot of grief with MySQL and found PostgreSQL to be a much more robust database solution. I would recommend Postgres over MySQL if you have a choice. Obviously, you'll want to do your own research on this.<br/><br/>And while I'm dishing out random anonymous advice, PHP is a bit of a mess. Great flexibility and certainly had its day, but if you look at how it works and the security/scalability limitations in its architecture, it probably won't leave you with warm fuzzies. Finding Java based web apps to plop into Tomcat (and point at Postgres) is generally warm and fuzzy.<br/><br/>Anyway... I'm responsible for a campus lab myself, so I can appreciate the thrill of digging into a whole new pile of technology and doing practical problem solving. Fun fun! Good luck with your plans. In my opinion, you are on the right track with OpenLDAP for your user repository and authentication. LDAP is generally the first external mechanism to be supported when developers realize that yet another local account scheme isn’t going to fly with admins.

FWIW, I had a lot of grief with MySQL and found PostgreSQL to be a much more robust database solution. I would recommend Postgres over MySQL if you have a choice. Obviously, you’ll want to do your own research on this.

And while I’m dishing out random anonymous advice, PHP is a bit of a mess. Great flexibility and certainly had its day, but if you look at how it works and the security/scalability limitations in its architecture, it probably won’t leave you with warm fuzzies. Finding Java based web apps to plop into Tomcat (and point at Postgres) is generally warm and fuzzy.

Anyway… I’m responsible for a campus lab myself, so I can appreciate the thrill of digging into a whole new pile of technology and doing practical problem solving. Fun fun! Good luck with your plans.

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