posted on August 18, 2004
On June 30, 2004, Academic Services and Emerging Technologies (ASET), a unit of Information Technology Services (ITS), announced Phase I of its Dynamic Web Application Engines service (see below), which introduced the PHP application engine. On August 24, ASET will continue this rollout with Phase II updates. The updates include:
- an upgrade from PHP version 4.x to PHP version 5.x;
- files ending in .php on http://www.personal.psu.edu/, http://www.psu.edu/dept/, http://www.clubs.psu.edu/ and http://www.courses.psu.edu/ will be automatically
redirected to the corresponding URL on php.scripts.psu.edu (as of August 25);
- SQLite database support will be introduced as part of PHP 5.x; and,
- SSL and WebAccess support will be available, per request, for select sites.
At this time, a fully-featured database service is not provided; however, one is planned for a later release. Developers and Web content providers are welcome to use independently-operated database servers. Additionally, because of the way PHP is implemented in this service, developers should not use this for sensitive or confidential data. The plan is to improve access methods with subsequent implementations, enabling developers to consider the management of more sensitive information.
For additional details and resources, please refer to the original announcement below.
Phase I
posted on June 24, 2004
University Park, PA -- In an effort to provide the Penn State community of computing users with additional Web service options, Academic Services and Emerging Technologies (ASET), a unit of Information Technology Services (ITS), will begin the first phase of a multi-phase rollout of Penn State Web Application Engines. This service will provide several application engines, beginning with PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), php.scripts.psu.edu. Other dynamic content application engines such as ASP and JSP may be available in the future as part of future-phase rollouts.
This service is designed for all Penn State students, staff and faculty with Personal Web space; student organizations with Web space on the Student Organizations Web Server; colleges; other Penn State locations and departments with ITS Departmental Web space; and, courses with Course Online Accounts (COLA).
Please note that a database server is not provided for this service with Phase I; however, one is planned for a later release. Developers and Web content providers are welcome to use independently operated database servers. Also note that at this time, this service is not designed for use
with authentication via the Penn State Access Account or Friends of
Penn State Account.
Getting Started
Information, guidelines and resources for using this service are found via the Penn State Web Application Engines Web site.
Getting Help
Questions specific to this service may be directed to dbadmin@aset.psu.edu. Requests for assistance may be directed to the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@psu.edu.
Future Directions
Please check ASET's Web site during the summer for updates and announcements. Likewise, announcements will be posted via the appropriate media avenues.
