Need broad brush guidance on web approach
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DISCLOSURE: I am not a web developer, but I've heard a lot of buzz words about web development I have a client with small data needs for some very confidential information for his clients, which number around 3,500. For the past 20 years we have done everything on a small server located on-premises, to which only a handful of people have access. Much of the information we have been getting and storing has come from paper forms the clients complete and send in by snail mail, whereupon the data is keyed in to our WPF-based/SQL Server-backed system. Times change and we now find it necessary to give his clients access to their own information via the web. They'll also be expected to provide updates via the web, rather than the paper forms of old. My client is paranoid about public web hosting and the thought of letting his data go off-site, but DOES NOT have the ability and/or resources to administer a web site locally on his own server. So, down to the questions: How feasible is it to use a public host for a web site to handle all the login/authorization stuff, and have that site retrieve the data from, and update the data on, our on-premises server? How does one manage the tasks of 1) setting up several thousand users with secure login credentials, and 2) managing account lockouts/forgotten passwords/etc.? What technologies would you advise using? ASP.Net & Azure, for example? What about SharePoint? Non-MS technologies? What important questions am I not asking here? Perhaps the biggest question: What important questions do I need to ask my client? Thanks
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DISCLOSURE: I am not a web developer, but I've heard a lot of buzz words about web development I have a client with small data needs for some very confidential information for his clients, which number around 3,500. For the past 20 years we have done everything on a small server located on-premises, to which only a handful of people have access. Much of the information we have been getting and storing has come from paper forms the clients complete and send in by snail mail, whereupon the data is keyed in to our WPF-based/SQL Server-backed system. Times change and we now find it necessary to give his clients access to their own information via the web. They'll also be expected to provide updates via the web, rather than the paper forms of old. My client is paranoid about public web hosting and the thought of letting his data go off-site, but DOES NOT have the ability and/or resources to administer a web site locally on his own server. So, down to the questions: How feasible is it to use a public host for a web site to handle all the login/authorization stuff, and have that site retrieve the data from, and update the data on, our on-premises server? How does one manage the tasks of 1) setting up several thousand users with secure login credentials, and 2) managing account lockouts/forgotten passwords/etc.? What technologies would you advise using? ASP.Net & Azure, for example? What about SharePoint? Non-MS technologies? What important questions am I not asking here? Perhaps the biggest question: What important questions do I need to ask my client? Thanks
My 2 cents here, Your going to need a couple of decent web servers like a Dell T110 II to design your system on, build your web app and test it. There pretty cheap to acquire, and have nice speed, but it is up to date for current OS and supports virtualization and AES Encryption for SSL. Or one heck of a workstation like a 6 core Xeon to develop on, and build your virtual machines. We have test servers in house that we spent months on for the design. We created a design in which we can just copy the stuff to a Public Web Hosting facility that supports our design. So we went with server 2012 standard, created a hyper-visor server core, and created 3 virtual machines using server core, no GUI and partial GUI. One virtual runs the database server, the other the web server, and a backup server. You can use VMWare in which I like, or the stock Hyper-V virtual machines. Once you dial in your virtual machine, you can copy the machine like a file copy, and upload the machine to a public web hosting facility. So for the Public Hosting, we choose our internet provider, that has facilities in Las Vegas and Texas, in which they run blade servers with Hyper-V or VMWare. So we get a firewall, a blade server, and access to let's say 6 virtual machines that we can upload. So we upload and download virtual machines, back them up every couple of hours using something like Veeam, and can restore them in minutes if needed. Regardless of what technology you choose, I think this is the way to go for 2014 and is the current way of the future. I'm not that worried about being hacked by the neighbor, because you can really fine tune the firewall in server 2012, and limit access to domain members only.
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DISCLOSURE: I am not a web developer, but I've heard a lot of buzz words about web development I have a client with small data needs for some very confidential information for his clients, which number around 3,500. For the past 20 years we have done everything on a small server located on-premises, to which only a handful of people have access. Much of the information we have been getting and storing has come from paper forms the clients complete and send in by snail mail, whereupon the data is keyed in to our WPF-based/SQL Server-backed system. Times change and we now find it necessary to give his clients access to their own information via the web. They'll also be expected to provide updates via the web, rather than the paper forms of old. My client is paranoid about public web hosting and the thought of letting his data go off-site, but DOES NOT have the ability and/or resources to administer a web site locally on his own server. So, down to the questions: How feasible is it to use a public host for a web site to handle all the login/authorization stuff, and have that site retrieve the data from, and update the data on, our on-premises server? How does one manage the tasks of 1) setting up several thousand users with secure login credentials, and 2) managing account lockouts/forgotten passwords/etc.? What technologies would you advise using? ASP.Net & Azure, for example? What about SharePoint? Non-MS technologies? What important questions am I not asking here? Perhaps the biggest question: What important questions do I need to ask my client? Thanks
Don't take this the wrong way as I mean no offence, but my advice is that you either find someone who knows what they are doing and sub-contract this out yourself to them, or advise your client do so directly. If their data is sensitive and confidential then you are asking for trouble (for yourself and your client) by taking on this task without already having the appropriate skills.
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My 2 cents here, Your going to need a couple of decent web servers like a Dell T110 II to design your system on, build your web app and test it. There pretty cheap to acquire, and have nice speed, but it is up to date for current OS and supports virtualization and AES Encryption for SSL. Or one heck of a workstation like a 6 core Xeon to develop on, and build your virtual machines. We have test servers in house that we spent months on for the design. We created a design in which we can just copy the stuff to a Public Web Hosting facility that supports our design. So we went with server 2012 standard, created a hyper-visor server core, and created 3 virtual machines using server core, no GUI and partial GUI. One virtual runs the database server, the other the web server, and a backup server. You can use VMWare in which I like, or the stock Hyper-V virtual machines. Once you dial in your virtual machine, you can copy the machine like a file copy, and upload the machine to a public web hosting facility. So for the Public Hosting, we choose our internet provider, that has facilities in Las Vegas and Texas, in which they run blade servers with Hyper-V or VMWare. So we get a firewall, a blade server, and access to let's say 6 virtual machines that we can upload. So we upload and download virtual machines, back them up every couple of hours using something like Veeam, and can restore them in minutes if needed. Regardless of what technology you choose, I think this is the way to go for 2014 and is the current way of the future. I'm not that worried about being hacked by the neighbor, because you can really fine tune the firewall in server 2012, and limit access to domain members only.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your design and thought process. What isn't clear to me is whether you're putting the db server on the public host or keeping that local. If local, how responsive is you overall set up? Also, how did you, or how would you, manage the tasks of setting up and administering all the logins?
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Don't take this the wrong way as I mean no offence, but my advice is that you either find someone who knows what they are doing and sub-contract this out yourself to them, or advise your client do so directly. If their data is sensitive and confidential then you are asking for trouble (for yourself and your client) by taking on this task without already having the appropriate skills.
No offense taken. It's obvious to me that this task requires knowledge and skills that I don't have. However, my ignorance is vast and I need to get SOME education about recommended approaches to this problem so that I can help my client get the appropriate help.
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No offense taken. It's obvious to me that this task requires knowledge and skills that I don't have. However, my ignorance is vast and I need to get SOME education about recommended approaches to this problem so that I can help my client get the appropriate help.
OK - well, what you/they want to achieve is perfectly possible. However, I'd be wary about anyone telling what is the "best" approach. There are dozens of technologies and approaches one could take. and the best one for any developer is that with which he or she is most familiar! Just one technical point: if you want to keep the database in the office, rather than host it elsewhere, you should ensure that both the web application and the office database have their own unique IP addresses - this will enable you (or your developer) to set firewall and database access rules that will greatly enhance the system's security.
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Thanks for taking the time to explain your design and thought process. What isn't clear to me is whether you're putting the db server on the public host or keeping that local. If local, how responsive is you overall set up? Also, how did you, or how would you, manage the tasks of setting up and administering all the logins?
Oh its on the public host. The difference is that because your control the virtual servers, you can narrow the scope of conversation between the virtual web server and virtual database server by fine tuning the firewalls in the OS. You just run all the virtual servers on 1 or 2 physical boxes.