Case Study Social Networking Site for Music Lovers, Leisure Advocates and Party Connoisseurs
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Client Requirement Client expected to develop a Community Portal which would be an online service that allows members to set up unique personal profiles that can be linked together through networks of friends. Community members can view each other’s profiles, communicate with old friends and meet new friends on the service, share photos, post comments and describe their interests. Community members can change their profile information at any time and can control how other members and the service communicates with them. Members can add Place & Events related to those places which will be reviewed by the administrator and it will be simultaneously published on the front end. The application is designed as a guide for music lovers, leisure advocates and party connoisseurs in major cities around the country. It offers city wisdom, event guides, exclusive deals and more to social people living in - or traveling to - San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and beyond. Each week the registered members would receive a rundown of the best in music, food, drinks and culture. It would also allow the selected invitations to client’s private parties held around the US Region. Also, it allows searching for the best hookups to restaurants, bars, nightlife, music, party destinations and city life all on the application.
Project
The application is a guide for music lovers, leisure advocates and party connoisseurs in major cities around the country. It offers city wisdom, event guides, exclusive deals and more to social people living in - or traveling to - San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and beyond.
Challenges
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Developing a robust framework for the site which is capable of managing millions of users at the same time without slowing the site down.
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Developing and incorporating an extensive list of profile customization options, complex ranking systems and voting contests designed for enhancing users' active participation.
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Synchronizing the integrated features like blogs, messenger and mail to function smoothly while being executed simultaneously.
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Ensuring easy navigation through the implementation of web usability principles in the website design.
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Enabling the site to operate at top speed even in peak traffic hours and maintaining good load balance.
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Ensuring safe and secure transfer of data.
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Technologies Used Operating System & Server Management
Development Tools & Environments Database
Red Hat Linux OS, Multi-Server Architecture with Staging & Production Environment through Version Controlling releases, Server Optimization, Security & SSL Implementation, Scheduler for Back-ups, Alert Monitoring System Integration, Server Performance Tuning at regular intervals, Software Firewall Configuration & Maintenance PHP5+, Apache Web Server, Symfony Framework, AJAX, Java Script, HTML5, CSS3 etc. MYSQL Database Server, DB Clustering, DB Optimization, Master Slave Replication, Query Optimization, Scheduler for Backups
Manpower Project Manager
1
Project Leader
1
Developers
3
Designers
1
Quality Assurance Testers
1
Planning Keeping in mind the enormous structure of the website and the challenges involved a four-tier development approach was adopted consisting of: • The Database layer containing MySQL Server Database, Tables, Stored Procedures and so on. • The Interface layer and Database Abstraction layer for converting data between incompatible type systems in databases and accessing data from the database respectively.
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• The Business Logic layer consisting of all the business logic procedures for modules like User Profiles, Invitations, Forums, Blogs etc. • The User Interface layer which forms the Graphical User Interface of the website.
Architecture The online networking characteristic of the website called for the design approach to be built around PHP and MySQL Server. Modules like User Profiles, Invitations, Forums and Blogs were developed in PHP such that they can be executed directly from the UI layer. These PHP files consisted of all the business logics used for respective modules like Save (Add/Update), Delete, Get Single Object, Get Multiple Objects for Listing and were designed to be capable of handling many more logics which were not related to the database. In order to most effectively access the database in an object-oriented context, an interface translating the object logic to the relational logic was used to communicate with the relational databases in an object-oriented manner. An intermediary abstraction layer was created for accessing data from the database. Stored procedures were used only for complex retrieval of data from multiple tables and were entirely avoided with conditional syntax to ensure smooth performance of the website. The UI layer was kept free of any business logic with images, applications and data being called from their respective servers. Sub-domains were used for the different areas of the website to guarantee scalability.
Development
Highlights
The site was equipped with a robust architecture to offer centralized access to multiple users using blogs, groups, chat and other tools under one roof. Customizable viewing options were designed to enhance user experience and allow for extensive personalization of the site. Extensive pre-development research was carried out to create a robust application in minimum time while dealing with extensive customizations. SEO activities performed ensured high visibility for the site over the internet. Web usability guidelines were strictly followed during development and the interface was made easily navigable through judicious use of AJAX, CSS and HTML controls. The site was developed and fully functional within a span of 8 months.
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