This article explores the general workflow and provides simple recommendations when outsourcing system setup to professional teams or enterprises.
1. Before System Setup
Determine the purpose of the system, whether it is for e-commerce, forums, corporate websites, etc. Next, consider the peak traffic volume expected after the website goes live. Most importantly, determine how long you can tolerate system or server downtime.
2. Selecting a Professional Team
If your company has existing resources, utilize them. However, if you lack professional system engineers, consider outsourcing to a specialized team. You may start by requesting quotes from several system integrators or server maintenance companies for comparison. This process will help you understand the cost structure of system construction, and communication with them will deepen your understanding of the system.
3. System Setup
Based on the requirements you provide (such as PV per minute, system availability, data integrity, etc.), the system integrator or server maintenance company will begin the setup process.
4. Testing
You need to conduct testing in two areas for the completed system: functional testing and performance testing. For example:
- Functional aspects: FTP access, disabling root login, database master-slave switching, fault recovery, etc.
- Performance aspects: Use tools like JMeter to perform stress tests on the system to evaluate its overall capacity.
When your website or application experiences high traffic, this performance test is essential. It is a critical component for future system expansion and annual system budgeting.
5. Go Live
If both functional and performance tests pass without issues, congratulations! The system is ready to go live.
6. Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
O&M can be divided into two categories: proactive measures and defensive measures.
Proactive O&M
Monitor system resource usage, such as CPU, memory, and disk space. Based on increases in business volume, timely add servers or disk resources as needed.
Defensive O&M
The core of defense lies in backup. This includes important server configuration files, applications, database data, and more.
While we understand the urgency to restore the system quickly after a complete crash, this should only happen under prepared conditions.
Summary
In my opinion, while the technical capabilities of system integrators are crucial, what is even more important is the team’s attitude toward thinking from the customer’s perspective.
The IT industry is not just about providing technology; it should primarily be a service-oriented industry that delivers excellent service.