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System requirements

Since the Portalsuite 2002 is a web-based client-server application, system requirements on the side of the client are very low - almost negligible - and are already fulfilled with a current browser and network resp. internet access. In contrast it looks a little different on the side of the server: A web server with PHP, a SQL server to save data as well as several details we will cater to in the following, are requirements and have to be considered as such.

Server-sided on the web server:

• A running web server - the Portalsuite 2002 has been developed and tested for and with the Apache under Linux. Preferably this environment should be used as well.
  
• PHP version 4.04 or higher with the modules MySQL, GD, IMAP4 and XML. The sub modules for JPEG, PNG as well as Truetype should be available in the GD library.
  
• Zend Optimizer for PHP version 4.04 resp. for the PHP version you use (The Zend Optimizer is required to execute the PHP binaries. The Zend Optimizer is downloadable for free at http://www.zend.com).
  
• Transmission of e-mails through PHP4 (it should be possible to send e-mails through PHP.)
  
• The Linux programme „convert “ to use the media archive (Normally included in Linux or right here: http://www.imagemagick.org) - or alternatively in PHP the GD library.
  
• Optional a domain or a sub domain§ Enough authorizations to apply directories, to execute the necessary changes in the web server configuration etc...

Server-sided on the SQL server: 

• The Portalsuite 2002 requires MySQL as server. Other SQL server are scheduled for the following versions and partly already rudimentary considered.
  
• Enough authorizations to add a new data base and tables a. s. o. ...

Client-sided:
On the side of the client, ergo for the editor and administrator, you merely need a web browser that is capable of interpreting HTML4 with CSS, Java script, Layer and DHTML (Microsoft Internet Explorer from version 5 on or Netscape from version 6 on have been successfully tested regarding compatibility under Windows)

Internet/TCP/IP-network access to the web server. Minimum 30 KBit bandwidth should be available ;)

Miscellaneous Hints on Performance and Overall Environment
Of course web and SQL server can also run on a physical server. We recommend to use dedicated server for the operation of several portals resp. websites or of single portals resp. websites with very large traffic load.

For the first trial and error one naturally could install the server routines also onto the client and thus operate everything on one physical machine. But we recommend one or more dedicated server for earnest use.

Regarding hardware requirements we did not specify data intentionally, since the preconditions and the resulting recommendations of customers are too different. Some do only operate a small website or an intranet with only a few hits per day, others operate portals and websites known worldwide, with hundreds of thousands of daily hits and again others operate whole portal landscapes with hundreds or thousands of different domains and websites. Some only administer 1000 articles in total, other Portunity customers administer alone more than 100.000 articles in one data base. Some customers work alone in administration, other customers have editorial departments with 20 and more employees, for which alone one own dedicated Content Manager-server is worth the effort. The spectrum of application ranges and demands is simply too large to give a formula regarding server environments that fits for everybody.

A single portal with a few hits can surely be run on a small Pentium at 400 MHz and 128 MB RAM and a few hundreds of MByte of free space on the hard disk. Of course we recommend the use of high-performance servers for bigger portals or websites with larger traffic loads, as the case may be with two or more processors. Naturally also data security plays a role: If the website is very important and the existence and weal of a company depends on the availability, one has to fancy systems build with raid and cluster structures, which however also affect the price of the hardware.

We recommend Unix, especially Linux as operating system. Portunity has made best experiences with SuSE Linux and the Apache web server. Since the Portalsuite 2002 is based on PHP as middleware, of course also other operating systems like Windows can be used. Also an asynchronous balanced mode like – for instance - the MySQL server under Linux and the Apache server under Windows or vice versa is possible, but quite uncommon. A uniformly environment is advisable.Portunity and its certified partners and retailers have already realized quite different scenarios successfully.

Both, experienced Portunity consultants and our partners and retailers would be happy to advise you concerning your projects as well as to define your demands, to plan, realize and to oversee your projects. You find a list of qualified partners and retailers on the web pages of the Portunity GmbH.

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