Providing web and database services to the Austin metropolitan area.

Database Austin Case Study – Local Austin Laboratory (page 7)

Cost Considerations

Managing costs was an important consideration for the management at this local laboratory. With about fifteen employees, they were not in a position to keep IT and networking employees on their staff. Therefore, network administration needed to be straightforward. All workstations were initially configured with Windows 2000 Professional in a peer-to-peer configuration. This arrangement has allowed our customer to avoid the expense, overhead, pain, and suffering associated with Windows 2000/2003 Server. Although Linux is a powerful, stable, and open source operating system used in many HTTP server applications, it was not considered for the Wildcat database.

The original router is still in place, but the network has been expanded via about a half-dozen low-cost four-port network switches.

When deciding on the database and HTTP server, cost (as well as the high quality) of open source tools was an attractive incentive. The mySQL relational database management system, the php programming language, and the Apache HTML server are all open source and available without cost.

Note that Database Austin does not sell any third-party software products. Customers should be aware that many businesses that provide programming services also sell software products, or have business relationships with Microsoft (such as the “Microsoft Certified Partner”) or other software vendors. You should be skeptical if your programming vendor insist on certain proprietary technologies or recommends that you purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of third-party software.