I'm developing an iOS social networking application that will involve users sharing and rating photos. I've spent about the last year or so on and off teaching myself how to develop in cocoa touch and now I'm ready to get started with the networking aspect of the app. Unfortunately, I have 0 networking / database experience and was wondering if anyone had any good advice on what things to consider and where / how to get started. In all likelihood I'm probably not going to build my own server and instead will go with something like rack space. Any advice would be appreciated.
Getting started to iOS Networking application. Here are the required things:-
You really need good backend developing experience in MySQL and complex database queries Plus experience in developing web services. At the root you need server host for backend and Admin module as you mentioned in question like race space or any other. You need to spend some months with mysql backend,web service and admin module implementation.
For fully functional social networking app your first task will be to manage users. Log in/Sign up will be there. Every user can post his status and can comment to other user's status.All status posts or comments will have their unique id and relationships to userid's table. May be image uploading and comments on photo will also be there So there will be lots of tables and relationships between them on backend side.
For Social Networking app, amount of work will be bigger on both backend/web service side and iOS side.
This is a pretty abstract question.
Eventually, you're going to have to focus on a particular architecture ( which database, which network technology), but before you do that, you need to get an outline idea of what the available options are and what the strengths and weaknesses of each are.
The server database is probably the easiest, as it doesn't make such a big difference. The choices are an sql database ( mysql, sqllite ....), not an sql database ( nosql, in memory tables) or some higher level abstraction where you can hide the differences and decide later ( core data for example). This may be constrained by your deployment decisions, you'll have more choices of rack options if you go for LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP) for example. If you stick with apple kit and use a MacOS X back end, you may have additional options for network architecture ( DistributedObjects for instance.
The network architecture is also a difficult choice from a wide range of choices. There are really dozens of options with lots of different pros and cons. As this is your first foray into this area, I'd count ease of use and availability of help high among your priorities. Here are a few popular technologies you might want to investigate ( in alphabetical order to minimise flammability :) ). DistributedObjects ( apple), JAXP, JSON, RPC, SOAP, XML ( bare, without the soapy bits).
One more question you should ask yourself is "Can you get away with just a database connection, or do you need to do processing on the back end?". If you can, you might be able to get away with just using a remote database and then you only need to learn core data ( which will still keep you busy for a long time).
Once you've decided what technologies you want to use, then you can start learning.
You mentioned using a hosted server. You'll want to be able to run a test server locally. Fortunately almost all the worthwhile options for both database and network technology will run on any unix-like machine, so you can probably use your regular dev machine.
Also bear in mind that some of these choices are religious, so everyone you read will have strong biases ( myself definitely included).
Related
I currently have a few apps that I provide to clients by setting them up on their own website. The app uses their own SQL database to record any transactions.
Recently, the number of customers I supply the app to has increased, leading to a higher maintenance work load as each installation must be managed separately.
I'm ready to move to the next level and want to host the app in a single cloud based environment so that I only have to maintain one instance. I would then provide access to that app to each client site, for example embed it in an iframe or perhaps deliver it via a sub-domain. I am not sure about where the DB would sit?
However, this is new territory for me and I'm not sure where to begin. The app is very small and quite simple. I've read a lot of stuff about SAAS but most of it seems quite enterprise level, I'm really looking for a simple and easy to use starting point.
What's the current best practice for this kind of setup and what might be a good guide to read or platform to use?
I have a business idea which I want to materialize for sometime .. I recently shared my idea with 2 close friends who also found it very interesting, new and doable plus the cost included for the project to start is reasonable and they have planned to invest in it. Much of the success of this project app depends on the proper marketing element out of which most of the time, you have to personally meet up with clients/vendor and make them use your application.
The idea is to connect local ecommerce (retail shops, businesses, vendors, etc.) with users/customers through a messaging app mostly similar to whatsapp. I have already started to look for a xmpp/jabber developer who can accomplish our requirements. We are expecting him to develop the app and also set-up the server requirements. Our budget lies within $3000-4000 range for the project to initiate.
I want the app to have the following aspects:
a) user friendly GUI
b) highly scalable (planning to start within my city located in south asia)
c) location sharing (want users to navigate nearby shops/vendor offering their type of goods/services)
d) have a user review feedback against vendors and an additional page for vendor profile/rating system
e) only customer - vendor chats with functionalities like camera snaps, audio recording (just like whatsapp).
f) both for ios and android
Now the whole idea outlaid, after reading lots of articles, discussion and tutorials, I have some questions (I am a non-technical person btw):
1- I believe ejabberd is the best option as compared to tigase or prosody due to high scability. Is this ok to go with or should I look at other xmpp servers?
2- Currently, I am planning to launch this application within my city (rated as worldwide no.2 as per population stats of above 25m people), should I set-up a local server with high internet bandwith and a powerful machine or should I outsource it to some xmpp hosted server in the US (as their technological infrastructure has always provided quality service).
3- Should I be worried about the developer stealing the source code or is there any effective way to minimize this risk?
4- Any ideas what other things I am missing. This is dead serious for me and I am willing to do anything to get this project on the road.
(P.S.: The idea for this app is similar to the existing app called Lookup but I am planning to add some variations to it)
Thanks and sorry for being a bit lengthy ..
Regards,
Ahmed
ejabberd is indeed likely your best bet. However, be careful about the budget. To launch a quality service in an highly competitive area you have to have a significant budget, both development and marketing, if you expect your project to succeed.
We're launching an iPhone app soon, and if everything goes well, we might reach up to tens of millions of user each day.
What server solution would you use for this? I guess a small VPS isn't enough. Is dedicated server a better choice? Is there any good hosting provider that can provide such servers?
I'm a newbie when It comes to servers, and would like some basic info about how to handle this.
Thanks in advance
Unfortunately, you are not really going to know the apps requirements until the app is launched. It all depends on how much the app needs to communicate with the server, and how often users are using the app. Depending on those variables and even more, a VPS might be enough, or you may need a dedicated box, or several. It also depends a lot on the performance of the VPS and dedicated boxes, furthermore it depends on how much access to the system you need.
Ultimately, it seems you may not even know how well the app is going to do, so I suggest you take the cheap/efficient route of using cloud computing. That way you will limit your expenses initially when you app has a small user base. Then your performance can amp up as quickly as your app requires (of course so will the price). That is the benefit of cloud computing, you will not be losing money in the beginning until you have the user base to use your server to its limit. Furthermore, you do not have downtime, etc when/if your server is no longer enough.
Check out Google's Cloud Computing to get a hint of what is possible. I personally like Google's cloud experience, but you have many more options with varying degrees of freedom that you will have to check out. Amazon of course is another possibility.
I'm trying to figure out how to make an iPhone application allow multiple users (that have it installed) share data among them. Now, the tricky part is that I don't want to host a server at my place (very poor ISP services), so I would opt for an online hosting solution. Next, by data I understand them to be able to, let's say, post a comment that would become readable to all the other users and to see what other users have said.
So, in my mind, I'm thinking of either having a file remotely hosted that could be accessed by multiple users at the same time, or a database of some sort or anything like that.
You haven't given us much to go on -- it's not even clear what your question is. If you're just asking how to go about this, I'd suggest the following steps:
Figure out what, specifically, you want the app to do, what data it will share, and who the data will be shared with. Is this an app that you're going to distribute publicly? Will all users share the same data, or will groups of users share with each other but not outside the group? How big is the data, and how is it structured? Can any part of the data change at any time (like a shared document) or will the data just be updated (like a SMS conversation)?
Decide how you want to host the data. If you'll need to serve a lot of users, you'll want some sort of database. If you'll need to serve a LOT of users, you'll want to make sure that your solution will scale easily. There are lots of hosting companies that provide access to databases like Oracle or MySQL, and that may be enough for your purposes. Or, you might want to look into some of the web services options, such as those offered by Google and Amazon. These can be fairly easy to use and have the advantage that they'll scale very well.
Get to work. You'll probably want to build a very basic version of your app around the same time that you're getting the server side working, so that it's easier to test. Once the server side is working and reliable, you can shift the focus back to building out the rest of your app.
Related question: What is the most efficient way to break up a centralised database?
I'm going to try and make this question fairly general so it will benefit others.
About 3 years ago, I implemented an integrated CRM and website. Because I wanted to impress the customer, I implemented the cheapest architecture I could think of, which was to host the central database and website on the web server. I created a desktop application which communicates with the web server via a web service (this application runs from their main office).
In hindsight this was rather foolish, as now that the company has grown, their internet connection becomes slower and slower each month. Now, because of the speed issues, the desktop software times out on a regular basis, the customer is left with 3 options:
Purchase a faster internet connection.
Move the database (and website) to an in-house server.
Re-design the architecture so that the CRM and web databases are separate.
The first option is the "easiest", but certainly not the cheapest long term. Second option; if we move the website to in-house hosting, the client has to combat issues like overloaded/poor/offline internet connection, loss of power, etc. And the final option; the client is loathed to pay a whole whack of cash for me to re-design and re-code the architecture, and I can't afford to do this for free (I need to eat).
Is there any way to recover from when you've screwed up the design of a distributed system so bad, that none of the options work? Or is it a case of cutting your losses and just learning from the mistake? I feel terrible that there's no quick fix for this problem.
You didn't screw up. The customer wanted the cheapest option, you gave it to them, this is the cost that they put off. I hope you haven't assumed blame with your customer. If they're blaming you, it's a classic case of them paying for a Chevy while wanting a Mercedes.
Pursuant to that:
Your customer needs to make a business decision about what to do. Your job is to explain to them the consequences of each of the choices in as honest and professional a way as possible and leave the choice up to them.
Just remember, you didn't screw up! You provided for them a solution that served their needs for years, and they were happy with it until they exceeded the system's design basis. If they don't want to have to maintain the system's scalability again three years from now, they're going to have to be willing to pay for it now. Software isn't magic.
I wouldn't call it a screw up unless:
It was known how much traffic or performance requirements would grow. And
You deliberately designed the system to under-perform. And
You deliberately designed the system to be rigid and non adaptable to change.
A screw up would have been to over-engineer a highly complex system costing more than what the scale at the time demanded.
In fact it is good practice to only invest as much as can currently be leveraged by the business, using growth to fund further investment in scalability, should it be required. It is simple risk management.
Surely as the business has grown over time, presumably with the help of your software, they have also set aside something for the next level up. They should be thanking you for helping grow their business beyond expectations, and throwing money at you so you can help them carry through to the next level of growth.
All of those three options could be good. Which one is the best depends on cost benefits analysis, ROI etc. It is partially a technical decision but mostly a business one.
Congratulations on helping build a growing business up til now, and on to the future.
Are you sure that the cause of the timeouts is the internet connection, and not some performance issues in the web service / CRM system? By timeout I'm going to assume you mean something like ~30 seconds, in which case:
Either the internet connection is to blame and so you would see these sorts of timeouts to other websites (e.g. google), which is clearly unacceptable and so sorting the internet is your only real option.
Or the timeout is caused either by the desktop application, the web serice, or due to exessively large amounts of information being passed backwards and forwards, in which case you should either address the performance issue how you might any other bug, or look into ways of optimising the Desktop application so that less information is passed backwards and forwards.
In sort: the architecture that you currently have seems (fundamentally) fine to me, on the basis that (performance problems aside) access for the company to the CRM system should be comparable to accesss for the public to the system - as long as your customers have reasonable response times, so should the company.
Install a copy of the database on the local network. Then let the client software communicate with the local copy and let the database software do the synchronization between the local database server and the database on the webserver. It depends on which database you use, but some of them have tools to make that work. In MSSQL it is called replication.
First things first how much of the code do you really have to throw away? What language did you use for the Desktop client? Something .NET and you may be able to salvage a good chuck of the logic of the system and only need to redo the UI and some of the connections.
My thoughts are that 1 and 2 are out of the question, while 1 might be a good idea it doesn't solve the real problem. And we as engineers should try and build solutions not dependent on the client when ever possible. And 2 makes them get into something they aren't experts at and it is better to keep the hosting else where.
Also since you mention a web service is all you are really losing the UI? You can alway reuse the webservices for the web server interface.
Lastly you could look at using a framework to help provide a simple web based CRUD to start and then expand from there.
Are you sure the connection is saturated? You could be hitting all sorts of network, I/O and database problems... Unless you've already done so, use wireshark to analyze the traffic; measure the throughput and share the results with us.