FocusOPEN - ASP.NET, SQL Server Windows Open Source DAM

This section contains technical information about FocusOPEN Digital Asset Manager ™. Information applies to both the Open Source (AGPL) and Commercial editions. In addition to this overview, please refer to the Developer Wiki for further technical information.

System Requirements: Server

FocusOPEN is based on Windows server technology. The main requirements are:

Windows Server 2003 or 2008
IIS 6,7 or 7.5
SQL Server 2005 or 2008
ASP.NET 3.5

It is possible to run FocusOPEN on PWS or IIS7 on Vista/Windows 7 and SQL Server Express 2005 or 2008 may also be used. Note: Full text indexing is not available on SQL Server Express and full text search cannot be enabled when using the Express editions.

System Requirements: Client

FocusOPEN is fully web-based and will operate on any of the following browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 6,7,8
Mozilla Firefox 2,3
Apple Safari 3,4,5
Goolge Chrome 3,4,5

Other browsers (e.g. Opera) may also work with FocusOPEN, however, these browsers are not formally supported. The FocusOPEN web application can be accessed by all computers that support the above listed browsers, including Windows XP/Vista/7 and Apple OS X.

Plugins and Other Client-Side Dependencies

Built for use in corporate IT environments, FocusOPEN has few client-side dependencies and is designed to be fully operational on browsers that are still in widespread use in businesses, such as IE6. The following are required:

Flash 8 plugin for previewing audio and FLV video*
Flash 9 plugin for H.264 video*
Client-side JavaScript enabled

* An HTML5 video player is due for release in Q3 2010 (for those browsers that will support it). A QuickTime video player for H.264 content is also available on request for viewing video on devices that do not support Flash (e.g. Apple iPod/iPhone/iPad).

Interoperability With Firewalls And Other Security Devices

FocusOPEN has been tested with a variety of firewalls, proxy servers, packet inspectors and other intrusive security devices and should operate effectively without modification. For maximum stability and security we advise using an SSL encrypted connection and a valid SSL certificate - especially when using proxy connections.

System Architecture

FocusOPEN is delivered using a multi-tier architecture that can be distributed across one or more hosts:

Web Application: The core ASP.NET Digital Asset Management system where most of the business logic is contained
Database: SQL Server RDBMS
Filesystem: Assets are stored in the file system so any accessible file storage device can be used
Media Processing: A dedicated Asset Processing Server (APS) is provided as a Windows service

Scaling

FocusOPEN supports servers farms, clustering, redundancy, and other High Availability (HA) technology. For storing digital assets, FocusOPEN supports multiple storage points and it is possible to store assets in multiple locations simultaneously without consolidating them. Only a single host can be used with the APS (Asset Processing Server) on the Open Source (AGPL) and Commercial editions, however, our enterprise-class solutions have included high scalability options to allow multiple APS instances to distribute the processing workload. Please contact us for further information.

Media Processing & Dependent Components

The APS (Asset Processing Server) is a Windows service and uses WCF (Windows Communication Framework) to exchange messages with the FocusOPEN web application via a designated TCP port. It is a self-contained sub-system and can also be used independently with other WCF compliant applications. FocusOPEN has a number of unmodified free and open source dependencies that are used for media processing and extracting metadata:

Streaming Servers and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

All editions have been integrated with Wowza Media Pro Streaming Server and also a number of third party CDN providers such as Highwinds. Please contact us for further information.

Client-Side Components

FocusOPEN uses the following free and open source client-side components:

FlowPlayer (video)
MP3 Player (audio)

Development Technologies

FocusOPEN is an ASP.NET 3.5 web application authored in C#. All editions include copies of the source code. For more technical information, consult the Developer Wiki.

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