Forum Moderators: buckworks
You replied to an earlier post of mine about magazine subsciptions etc. and mentioned for me to set up a secure database to obtain the information and for my client to do the processing offline.
My question now is...
How hard is that to do for me, who is only used to dealing with frontend?
What do I need, is there any easy solution as far as 3rd party or any software that can ease the set up process of a secure database to store client information?
Thanks again
a secure database means, that the database is secure itself and is placed in a secure environment.
for example, if you're using a database at your webhost, this database is not secure, because your webhost has the ability to obtain all the data. he even needs to, to make a backup of it.
security is anything else then cheap and if you want to manage this on your own, keep in mind that you're responsible for all the data.
the database in your project is for storing the customers information (order, adresses and billing information) and to display it to the backend user, who processes the orders. this is a relativly simple application. but it has to be secure and error free not to loose any data or to give these information out to a hacker.
since you have no experiences on this, i think you can't handle it and your client will need a software engeneer for this.
for a third party product, there are many webshops available in the public. checkthemout, if they can handle your 3 or 4 type of products and they have an interface to tell your website that someone has now successfully ordered and payed for it.
How hard is that to do for me, who is only used to dealing with frontend?
It really depends upon you. If you're the type that likes to work with code - then you might do ok with it. If you're not, I strongly recommend you hire this part out. If you want to be sure you get it right then follow my earlier suggestion and hire someone to do it this time and learn from them.
What do I need, is there any easy solution as far as 3rd party or any software that can ease the set up process of a secure database to store client information?
You could buy a cart package off the shelf - one which allows you to do off-line transactions. Be very careful before you buy something though and make sure it does what you want. Simply put, create an itemized list of your needs before you go shopping.
You could also download one of the freebie shopping carts available at any of the website which offer free scripts. Hotscripts comes to mind but there are others.
And when I say secure db I mean security on three different levels.
First secure the interfaces, both the public and the private admin, with SSL.
Second, secure the data by encryption including unames, pwds, and CC#s.
Third - and this is where I differ from some conventional thinking, convince your client to keep the account information off-line. In other words, have them either print out the customer info or download it for thier use within their office but delete it out of the database as soon as possible. This practice will keep the database light, reduces the risk of liability should the db get hacked, and should help establish good business practices of organizing data where it is needed most.
Now, can you do all of this? Only you can answer this question. ;)
