Web Service Under Linux

[mimai]

Can Web Service be run on a Linux Server? We have MySQL and Samba ( for image folder) running under Linux and they are working extremely well. We wish to replace chain replication some day with Web service as the solution to Multiple Offices. It would be nice if we don't have to invoke a Windows Server to run web service.

[jordansparks]

Only on Windows Server. But that's really not so bad. A web server license is only a few hundred dollars and has no connection limits or CALs to deal with. Windows security has gotten better, so viruses should not be a problem. You won't be able to put your image folder on the Windows computer due to 10 connection limit. But you can just leave it on your Linux server or on a NAS device running Linux embedded.

I totally agree that this solution would be better than daisy chain replication. We're going to use the web service internally full-time so that we can be very sure it's always as stable as the direct connection option. It's still untested at this point.

[mimai]

In a Linux MySQL server and Windows Web Service setup which computer need more processing power? Can multiple Web Service servers run simultaneously for load distribution and redundancy? How do we handle billing for multiple offices with different addresses on one database? Can we choose office address when sending e-claims?
A weak link for web service setup for multiple offices is its dependency on solid VPN. Satellite office will be paralyzed if VPN is broken. Is there any problem of running a daisy chain also as a backup in such a situation?

[jordansparks]

Our application was built under the assumption that there would be only one web server, not multiple. However, I think there are tools to make multiple computers behave like one virtual web server, and then our application should work fine.

A couple of posts were lost here. I remember that you were not replicating some tables. If I were you, I would not continue like that. All tables should be replicated so that there is one virtual database. You can use our Clinics feature to easily show different addresses on different claims. You can also send e-claims for just one clinic at a time, so each clinic can have its own clearinghouse account. For billing, the same return address will always show at the top. There is no separation of billing by clinic. Yet.

Our web service does not depend on VPN. You can use HTTPS instead. We're very excited about the possibilities.

[mimai]

I thought the model was that a MySQL database capable of being connected directly from any Windows workstation as well as ANY web service server. Then, any work station can connect to any Web Service Server. Am I mistaken?

[jordansparks]

Not quite. It's a MySQL database capable of being connected directly from any Windows workstation as well as any web service CLIENT. I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to extend it to the model you are asking about, but that's not the current model. I think the only place where there's that limitation right now is in the Update window. We restrict users so that they can only perform updates from the "server" where the web service is running. That field is in the Misc Setup page. The presence of a server name in that field lets the program know that a web service is running and that updates can only be performed from the server. The reason why you can only do updates from the server is because the web service itself must be updated. And it must be updated before any client. We could allow multiple values in that field separated by commas, but that's not a feature yet.