Build a online compression system.

[AlanCC]

We want to build a online compress system:

1. It has a form, in which the user can select the file to be compressed on the local computer, and then click "Start Compress" button to upload the file to our server, and our server will try compress it. There are no limitations on the size of the file to be compressed.

2. During the compress process, there should be a progress bar indicating the progress of the whole compression process.

3. We have a Windows 32bit DLL and we want to use it to performs the actual compression in the background.

4. We don't want the server performance to be impacted greatly during the compression process.

5. After the compression is completed, a link is generated so that the customer can download the compressed file.

6. Currently we have a Linux web server hosting our website. And we need to integrate the compress form in the website.

Therefore, we are seeking for a good solution for our system:

1. Which script language should we use for such a system? Php, Asp, Jsp, Perl, or other languages?

2. Should we use two servers, one for foreground website hosting, and one for background compression?

3. It seems that we must use Windows server for the background compression, as we use a Windows 32bit DLL for the actual compression, is that true?

Thank all of you.

[Twey]

3. It seems that we must use Windows server for the background compression, as we use a Windows 32bit DLL for the actual compression, is that true?

Pretty much. You can't load a Win32 PE DLL into a Linux application, although you may be able to run a Windows application to perform the compression under wine. This would be needlessly inefficient, however: it would be much better to compile the library as an ELF binary. If you're attempting to implement a compression algorithm already used elsewhere, chances are there's already a Linux program/library that can do it for you; if you're not, chances are one of those will be more efficient.

2. Should we use two servers, one for foreground website hosting, and one for background compression?

Depends how much traffic you get, and how resource-hungry the compression process is.

1. Which script language should we use for such a system? Php, Asp, Jsp, Perl, or other languages?

To load a binary library, I would think you'd have to write it in a native language: C, C++, &c.