R|com Creative Blog

We’re continuing to make changes to our suite of web tools, including our content management system. The key for us is to keep our software both evolving and in line with current server solutions. To that end, we’ve added some additional security features, and have upgraded the system software capabilities (database, Apache, etc.) to ensure ease of installation or upgrading.

One of the things that always concerns me is the constant nature of web evolution. It always seems to be a matter of tossing what you had in favor of what’s new, and the relative costs that go along with that. We would prefer that our customers evolve as their needs to – but also based on their usage of the tools they’ve engaged us to provide. The net result is that upgrading with our team is painless, fast, and often involved additional capabilities as well.

On multiple occasions each year, we go through all of our servers, review the software being used, and work to ensure there is a solid solution in place to meet the needs of our clients. While we charge our clients for annual maintenance support for their installed applications, there is no requirement for us to maintain the latest versions (or most stable versions) of software for each box. But, as a matter of course, we keep that issue on the table and review our systems on a quarterly basis. It keeps us busy, but it also provides our clients with some confidence that we’re involved in their success.

The new LAFD Museum website uses the Rcom CMS solution.

The Los Angeles Fire Department Museum and Memorial has launched a new website, created using the R|com Web Manager Pro solution that we provide. This was a big step forward for the LAFDHS, which previously had relied on a combined Moveable Type and static-page solution.

We developed the site so that minimal engineering effort would be required when working with news and updates for the museum. Many of the volunteers are not computer-savvy, so giving them a solution that permits easy access and word-processor simple content creation was key. In addition, the organization hosts a number of events, has photo galleries, and is eager to promote history related to the fire service. The Rcom CMS solution gives them the ability to quickly and easily implement any event details or other content they might like to publish.

Every time an organization takes advantage of a solution like this, it makes me smile, as the ability to clearly take charge of Internet-based communication is so important in today’s hectic social environment. And, since the introduction of the system last month, the museum’s website has had more traffic than it had in the previous ten months. A good step forward.

Our team provided design, engineering, installation and now supports the site with hosting and content publishing. We enjoy supporting the organization and hope you get a chance to check them out: www.lafdmuseum.org

We host a variety of web applications for our clients, ranging from simple websites to multiple database-driven content management solutions across load-balanced sets of servers. As a component of managing and supporting our clients, we often advise them regarding upgrading server software – and on occasion, the advice is, “don’t do it.”

There are several different types of upgrades to server software: bug fixes, incremental upgrades (including features of compatibility), and new versions of software. Each of these has a potential impact on a website or more often, on a web application.

Bug fixes are typically the easiest to address. They resolve problems (or are supposed to). Typically, when such a release is made available, we’ll wait a week or ten days, read the various forums related to the operating system in question and evaluate if the bug fix update makes things better or worse. If better, we’ll implement the upgrade. We never want to be the first kid on the block making the change.

Incremental upgrades are iffy. On occasion, these upgrades can change the performance characteristics of software installed on a box. However, typically by reading through forums or developer blogs, you can establish if there are issues to be concerned with. If, however, we cannot get any relevant information, we’ll hold off for a short while, unless the version of software we’re working with has significant problems (and we haven’t experienced that since 2001). The biggest change we typically see is a user experience (layout) changes.

Many of our servers run operating system software that is one version back. As an example, Mac OS X Server 10.5 is the current version of the OS offered by Apple. Yet, most of our boxes run the latest updated versions of 10.4.x. The reason is that we can better manage the stability of the box for our client. We do have at least one box running the latest 10.5, but on that box is test software, not live apps for clients. If, however, a client requests something specific, we work to accomodate that client’s needs. Usually, however, we strive to keep all boxes running similar versions, updates, etc. It makes ensuring up-time a bit easier and with servers, every time you say “easier” – it’s a good idea to tap wood.