Community Manager Technical Overview |
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Community Manager for the Geeks!
The following article covers the technical requirements and recommendations for installing, hosting and administering CommunityManager.NET |
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Software requirements
CommunityManager.NET is built on the Microsoft stack, including Server operating system, .NET Framework and SQL Server. The specific Microsoft licensing requirements will depend on your specific scenario.
Server requirements
- Windows 2003 Server or Windows 2008 Server
- .NET 3.5 Framework
- SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008
Client requirements
- Web browser (Internet Explorer 5+, Firefox 2+, Safari, Chrome, Opera)
- (No other software is required)
The following provides more details:
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Microsoft 2003/2008 Server
Community Manager requires Internet Information Server IIS5 or higher, and will operate on Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 Servers.
The highest performance is achieved when running on Windows 2008 Server, using IIS7 (Internet Information Server). Tests conducted in January 2008 demonstrated that running on Windows Server 2008 can result in up to 16 times faster performance (>1600%) than an identically configured system running on Windows Server 2003 R2.
It is possible to operate on Windows 2000 also, however it is not recommended.
Community Manager requires Anonymous email relaying to be allowed on your server in order for the web site to send email. |
Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008
Community Manager fully supports Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008.
Most modules will also run on SQL Server 2000 with SP3 or SP4 (there are some exceptions - please check with your Elcom Business Development Manager for details specific to your scenario).
In general Elcom recommends using SQL Server 2005. |
Microsoft .NET 3.5 Framework
Community Manager requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5.
(Depending on the specifics of your scenario a slightly cut down version requiring only the .NET 2.0 Framework can be supplied.) | |
Hardware requirements
CommunityManager.NET is usually installed on separate web and database servers, however in small scenarios a single combined server will suffice (depending on any web facing security concerns).
Requirements (minimum)
- Web server - Pentium Xeon 2GHz, 512MB, 100Mbps, >500MB HD
- Database server - Pentium Xeon 2ghz, 1024MB, 100Mbps, >300MB HD
The following list provides more details:
Web server
Minimum
- Processor: Pentium Xeon, 2GHz
- Memory: 512 MB
- Network: 100 Mbps
- Hard disk: >500 MB
Recommended
- Processor: Pentium Xeon Dual Core, 2.4GHz
- Memory: 2 GB
- Network: 100 Mbps
- Hard disk: >1 GB
Actual space required will vary depending on the quantity and type of content hosted by Community Manager. All uploaded images and files reside on the web server hard drive. |
Database server
Minimum
- Processor: Pentium Xeon, 2GHz
- Memory: 1024 MB
- Network: 100 Mbps
- Hard disk: >300 MB
Recommended
- Processor: Pentium Xeon Dual Core, 2.4GHz
- Memory: 4 GB
- Network: 100 Mbps
- Hard disk: >600 MB
Actual space required will vary depending on the quantity and type of content hosted by Community Manager. All article content (everything except uploaded images and files) reside on the database server hard drive. | |
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How does Community Manager work?
Community Manager is an ASP.NET web application.
Microsoft SQL Server is used to manage all data (except for user uploaded files).
- Community Manager requires the latest version of the Microsoft .NET Framework, version 3.5.
- The .NET Framework 3.5 must be installed on the Web server.
- The latest .NET Framework service pack SP1 is recommended but not required.
- The database server requires the .NET Framework to be installed (but this is automatically performed as part of the SQL Server installation process).
- End users require only a browser to interact with the site (Internet Explorer 5+, Firefox 2+, Safari, Chrome are all supported)
Security access control
- Web server access is controlled via IIS (Internet Information Server) on the web server.
- File access on the web server is controlled via NTFS (part of Microsoft Windows Server).
- Database access is controlled via SQL Authentication (part of Microsoft SQL Server).
- User permissions are controlled via the built in security engine in Community Manager.
Standard Internet Architecture
The following is the standard internet facing deployment
Standard Intranet Architecture
The following is the standard Intranet deployment
Publishing model
Community Manager uses a dynamic publishing model. All content is stored in the database and generated dynamically upon request (caching and database optimisation ensures this is highly performant).
Web Standards
Community Manager is currently targeting HTML 4.01, WCAG 1.0 Level AA and CSS 2 compliance. [Learn more about Community Manager and Web Standards]
Usability
Community Manager is installed via a single installer file and administered via an intuitive web based interface.
Administrators can easily assign user and group permissions, audit and report on usage as well as monitor site performance.
Extensibility
Community Manager provides a range of integration and development interfaces.
- Web services provide an easy way to consume articles and other content.
- The CM API provides developers with the means to build custom web applications that intereact directly with Community Manager.
- An the CM Application Framework allows developers to easily build new web pages right on top of their existing Community Manager based site.
Access to the entire SQL Server database can be controlled via normal SQL Server configuration, providing further integration options for users withe the correct credentials.
Backup and Restore
Community Manager content is backed up via two processes. All non-file related content (eg articles, forms, workflow, business data, etc) is backedup via a database backup. All file related content (eg documents, audio, video) are backed up via directory backup.
Web Standards
Community Manager is currently targeting HTML 4.01, WCAG 1.0 Level AA and CSS 2 compliance [Find out more about Community Manager and support for Web Standards]
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