Three technical considerations were paramount in the development of the GoZone, the new 24-hour trusted online trading environment launched by OmniLink and The Internet Solution (IS).
It had to be based on proven, widely deployed, industry-standard products; and extensive scalability and total security were essential.
"In addition to building an environment which provides seamless integration to the OmniLink virtual private network (VPN) and The Internet Solution communities, it had to be compatible with the technologies utilised by the majority of potential users," says Christo Venter, technical development manager.
"We also had to ensure the GoZone - both hardware and software - could scale quickly and accommodate projected tenfold growth with member users expanding from an initial 100 000 to [an expected] 1.2 million in the short-term," he says.
Based on these considerations, GoZone incorporates three main technologies: Microsoft software, Compaq servers and Cisco 7140 VPN routers.
The GoZone is developed around a suite of Microsoft server and e-business solutions including Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition, Microsoft SQL 7.0 databases and the Microsoft Commercial Internet System including Mail, News and Chat systems.
The GoZone was developed prior to the launch of Windows 2000. It will be upgraded to the DNA 2000 suite of technologies at a later date. This includes Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Commerce 2000, Microsoft Exchange 2000, Microsoft AppCenter Server 2000 and Microsoft Biztalk Server 2000.
Core to the whole environment is Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) - the Web platform in Windows NT 4.0. This is the engine driving the entire GoZone.
The Compaq 5500R servers are 500MHz Xeon-based systems each with 512Mb RAM with each allocated different tasks within the GoZone.
According to Venter, basing the whole software environment on Microsoft will mean tight integration between the different components and easier ongoing, cost-effective development and expansion.
"Our choice of Microsoft as the GoZone platform went beyond it meeting all our key environment needs. It was also because programming and development resources are far more readily available for the Microsoft environment than other solutions.
"It will make a major difference in time to market, day-to-day system administration, and future development, and will help us respond quickly to changing customer needs," he adds.
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