Page 24 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 1: Library Automation: An Overview

SECOND STAGE: MYSQL/PHP Notes
Before embarking on the project, various technologies, programming languages, candidate
platforms and software were studied in order to be able to select which were the most
appropriate choices for the proposed system. This was done by reading books on each
subject, surfing the internet for information and seeking the expert opinion of experienced
people in the IT industry.

1. Platforms: Three possible candidate platforms for the server were available:
Unix or Linux based: Linux or Unix Operating System; Apache Web Server; PHP
script, CGI programming with Perl, etc.
Microsoft – Windows NT based: Windows NT server 4 Operating System; Internet
Information Server and Active Server Pages

Servlet Based: Either Windows NT Server or Linux Operating System; Java
Web Server and Java Servlets

The application for the entire library system is to be implemented over a client
server setup having one server and five clients. The server and clients are to be
implemented on Pentium machines running Linux or Windows NTTM Server.
Reasons why above technologies were selected:

1. All Software Packages Are Free: The principal software packages used are Linux,
PHP, MySql, Apache Web Server. Most of these packages are distributed with the
GNU public license, which means that they are free. Some of these packages are also
open source software, which means that their source code is also freely available.

2. Compatibility: PHP (scripting language), MySql (database), Apache Web Server are
native Linux based software. They were originally created for Linux or Unix based
systems. The integration between them is totally seamless.
3. Documentation and Support Easily Available: All the above mentioned software
has tremendous resources on the Internet. Documentation is provided at all the
respective sites. Since the software is free, support is also available freely with no
time limits or extra charges for providing support. In addition there are many other
sites offering forums for discussion and mailing lists.
4. Security: Linux operating system was created for building a system that would have
security even in a multi-user environment. Security comes in-built with Linux so no
additional software is required for providing security. Till today there are almost
no viruses for a Linux based system.

Apache provides security through its client server interface. Automatic data
encryption can be provided through use of SSL. PHP can also be used to provide
security by verifying a user’s access that is stored in a database.
5. Stability: Linux is built to ignore breakdowns in parts of its operating system and
continue to run without a system shutdown. Also bugs can be fixed while the
operating system is running, this is required in server. Linux’s inherent stability
along the seamless integration of all other software on it makes the entire system
very stable.

Contd...

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