Jan/110
mp4 – A Practical Use Of Open Source Code Softwares by Roberto Sedycias
As we started the project of our web site, we knew that the proprietary software costs would be too high for our financial resources. Our only option then was to make use of Open Source Code softwares.
However, within the Open Source Code there are lots of softwares to choose from, and it´s up to the system analyst/programmer to pick the ones that best suit the project goals.
In our case, we picked Linux as our operating system. However we faced a big question: Which Linux distribution ? There are dozens of linux distributions, each one with specific advantages, sometimes with or without paid services.
We chose linux Slackware because we thought that it would suit better our needs, in terms of stability and reliability. Slackware is a conservative distribution, meaning that it only offers in its distribution package kernel versions and third party libraries, once it´s been proved to be stable and reliable. As a result, Slackware is one the most stable Linux operating system on the market. If the user wishes the most recent Linux kernel and libraries, we recommend to look for a different distribution.
Another reason for us picking Slackware, was because of its text interface, which at the beginning may become a bit difficult, in the long run however it offers a better understanding of the Linux environment. This way most of Slackware configurations are done thru text scripts.
Once it was set the operating system, we picked Apache as our web server. Apache is one of the most popular web server in the internet. For server programming language, we chose PHP. Also, a very popular programming language. Our experience with Apache/PHP proves that this setup is very reliable, working extremely well in our production environment. For workstation programming language, we chose javascript, which besides of having a simple syntax, it offers lots of resources.
Apache web server is really a complete web server. Also, it can become very complex with many configuration setups.
For our database, we picked Postgresql. This database has been made available to the public for more than 15 years, and besides of being well debugged, it offers so many resources that it has become one of the best database options from Open Source Code softwares. Extremely reliable, Postgresql has reported cases where there have been databases in production with over 4 terabytes. Besides all of that, Postresql is not the most popular Open Source Code database. A matter of marketing ? Probably.
As for the programming language PHP, we had to use an object oriented application structure. There are many PHP application structures being offered with Open Source Code license. Object oriented application is very important, because it makes programming very easy and scalable up to the point where the system may grow without many problems. Also, it helps to keep PHP code separated from HTML, with the help of some specific libraries, such as Smarty. We make use of Smarty library and we believe that it is a very important resource, which can even make web pages faster thru the use of its cache functions.
Also a very important set of libraries worth mentioning for PHP systems, is the PEAR libraries. In PEAR web site, among the many libraries being offered, there are the database interface DB and the MAIL_QUEUE, which sends emails thru the use of database.
As we came to the end of our project, we had to use some sort of real time database replication. For that we chose the DRBD and Heartbeat libraries. The use of database replication is very important and should not be postponed. Just after 3 months our system got into production, our server hard disk became bad. Thru the use of DRBD/Heartbeat we were able to put the system back into production within seconds, without loosing any data. DRBD/Heartbeat replication is done thru the use of a lan network between the server and slave nodes.
Our project also makes use of ImageMagick (enlarge and reduce images), Iptables (firewall), Tsearch2(text search in portgresql) and Mon (linux monitoring tasks).
Also a very important library worth mentioning is the pseudo APC compiler for PHP. Speed is always a critical factor for internet sites.
Our web site is already in production and based upon our experience we can say that the Open Source Code softwares we picked, proved to be extremely reliable and stable. Open Source Code softwares can certainly be an excellent option for developing web sites.
This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author´s name and all the URL´s (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.
About The Author
Roberto Sedycias has a bachelor degree in Business Administration and over 20 years experience in systems analysis and computer programming. Currently working as IT consultant/chief software engineer for http://www.polomercantil.com.br
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page http://www.polomercantil.com.br/mp3-mp4-audio-portatil.php
You can find three letters immediately after the dot of a file name. These three letters present the extension. The computer makes use of these extensions to match a file with appropriate program on it.
The M4P extension is used for the protected audio file that is encoded with Advanced Audio Codec (AAC). AAC is a lossy compression that is normally intended to be the successor to MP3 files. It was not designed for audio, only initially however was Layer 3 in a MPEG 1 or 2 video. M4P stands for MPEG 4 protected audio. The extension M4P can be seen in songs bought from Apple iTunes that use Apple's "Fairplay" DRM (Digital Rights Management). The unprotected AAC files have M4A extension. The M4P are only audio files.
MP4 is also used for files with MPEG-4 format. Long form of MPEG is Moving Pictures Experts Group. These files support speech, general audio, natural and synthesized sounds along with the videos which mix the natural images with the synthesized ones. QuickTime products from Apple can be used to play MP4 files. They are a new generation of video/audio files that are replacing the older MP3 due to a better sound quality for an equal file size. But the programmers are not keen on a change, so a lot of video and music programs still cannot play MP4 files. Actually very few programs can utilize them. They include ITunes, VLC and QuickTime 7.
The quality of AAC or M4P files is better than of MP4 and their size is also smaller. The sound created by M4V is superior to MP4 files that are encoded at the similar bit rate.
Please, click here to find out more about file extension MP4 and file extension M4P.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_N._Murrey
Files converted to .mp4 not syncing to iPod?
I have the movie Rip! a Remix Manifesto which I downloaded off of the movies website. Unfortunately, the main movie downloaded in a weird format and when I converted it to .mp4, it, along with Opeth's Roundhouse Tapes which...is very important to have on the go. Can anyone help?
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