Now that browsing the Web is second nature to most of us, corporate America is revisiting these collaboration concepts. The goal is to strengthen communication and cut costs. Most of the implemented mechanisms, however, revolve around Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and similar intranet-based solutions. Although all these solutions are trying to leverage the Web by providing some form of browser integration, they remain at heart LAN-based. For the most part they require specialized client software. Unless you are connected directly to the corporate LAN or have some sort of functional VPN solution, you won't be able to use these solutions seamlessly. An intranet solution is typically easier to secure, but browser-based solutions can handle secure access with SSL if need be.
One way around these limitations is to set up a Web-based discussion server. You can leverage the familiar browser interface and allow access from anywhere on the Internet. Previewing old discussion threads is a snap, and search functionality can save your co-workers considerable time in hunting for content.
With some creativity, you can let users upload documents, extending the functionality of the server. The discussion server can be used for both internal workgroup communication and communicating with and supporting customers.
The Architecture of a Discussion Server
Three components make up a discussion server: a database server, an application server and a Web browser. Typically, the complete discussion-server code resides on the application server. In some instances, some of the code resides in the database in the form of a stored procedure. Depending on the size of the configuration and the policies implemented in your organization, the database and the application server can be the same machine or two separate machines.
Almost every discussion server lets you choose one of several database engines. This choice can affect performance, scalability and maintainability. If your discussion server is part of a larger CRM (customer-relationship management) setup, sharing the database engine
with other components can be critical. Thus, even if you are not implementing the discussion server from scratch, you will need to know how the back-end database is set up. The database engine supporting the discussion server can be a basic database, such as Unix's dbm or Microsoft Access. Alternatively, it can be a modern relational database system, such as DB2, Informix, Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Microsoft Access and dbm are fine options; they are easy to use, with low maintenance requirements. They are also cheap in terms of initial start-up and running costs. In general, however, they do not scale as well as full-fledged database servers, and you will have to go through some hoops to enable multiuser access. Setup can also be tricky if your database server and your Web server are not the same machine.
Using proven relational databases is the best approach. But even here there are drawbacks -- most notably, cost and complexity. All the commercial databases have a considerable license expense, and they require a good deal of administration experience to set up and maintain.
The good news is that if your corporation is large enough, you may already own a site license for one of the commercial databases. If so, chances are good that you have the required expertise in-house.
Finally, several open-source databases rival the big players in terms of performance, yet come at the cheap price of nothing. At the forefront are MySQL and PostgreSQL.
MySQL is a blazing-fast, extremely popular database engine that is virtually maintenance free. It has some shortcomings, however. It does not support some of the complex features, such as stored procedures and foreign key constraints, available in most mature relational database engines. But you don't need those to implement a decent discussion server.
MySQL runs on almost any platform that you require. PostgreSQL is a more complete and complex database system. It has all the functionality you would need from a mature relational database, but it is much more difficult to set up and administer than MySQL.
The application server comprises your Web server and the code for the discussion server. The choice of a Web server is usually made at the corporate level. Unlike the database server, the Web server most likely will have to reside outside your corporate firewall so people can access the discussion server over the Internet. Or it can reside inside the firewall and a hole will be punched through the firewall for Port 80 and any other supporting ports. Either way, your IS department should be more stringent with the requirements for the Web server.
If yours is a Microsoft shop, the Web server is likely Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Server) 4.0 or 5.0. If yours is a Linux shop, Apache will probably be the server of choice. But alternatives exist. Unless the choice of the Web server affects the operations of the discussion server, don't worry about it too much. Go with the corporate standard Apache, which is free, works well and is popular.
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