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Best way of implementing mp3 file upload/download site ?

Thread began 4/20/2013 2:40 am by CraigR | Last modified 4/26/2013 3:35 am by CraigR | 3840 views | 5 replies |

CraigRBeta Tester

Best way of implementing mp3 file upload/download site ?

I have been asked to develop a site for a group of choirs, with each choir wanting to be able to upload mp3 files of their performances into their own folder, (which is only accessible to members of that particular choir or the admin team above them), so here is the hierarchy...
Top level admin, upload to / download from any folder
Individual choir admin, upload to own folder only
Individual choir member, download from own folder only

Creating the admin and file manipulation isn't an issue, but as some files may be 10mb or so in size and am conscious that server timeout may be a potential problem, especially with shared hosting space.

Should I be thinking of using their web host - as I have experienced problems in the past with server timeouts, or am I better considering cloud storage (such as dropbox and their api )?

Previously, I have had issues with a site I created trying to send only a couple of hundred emails at once, and I had to go the mailchimp api route (which works well), but I don't want to develop something which works locally but fails on the host.

A second consideration is that their host does not allow files to be stored outside the root folder, so I may be compromising on file security.
If I password protect a folder (using htaccess?) within the site root, can I automatically provide the password within my php page so the web user does not see the protection ?

Grateful for any advice, experience

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Jason ByrnesWebAssist

  Should I be thinking of using their web host - as I have experienced problems in the past with server timeouts, or am I better considering cloud storage (such as dropbox and their api )?  


If there are limitations with the server timeouts, i would think you would encounter those using the drop box API or using server uploads, the script that is going to time out is still running on their server.

You can reset the time limit on a script bases using:

php:
set_time_limit(0);




other file upload settings can be set using ini_set().

  A second consideration is that their host does not allow files to be stored outside the root folder, so I may be compromising on file security.
If I password protect a folder (using htaccess?) within the site root, can I automatically provide the password within my php page so the web user does not see the protection ?  



the php download page wont be able to pass the login credentials for folder level htaccess security, You best bet would be to hide the files using a complex folder structure. Or perhaps this is the argument for using the drop box api.

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CraigRBeta Tester

Thanks for the feedback Jason.

After some tests, even with fibre broadband, uploading a 8mb file is slow, so the hosting server seems to be the bottleneck, (though no timeout issues as yet)

I think the main issue could be their current choice of host. Hosts who advertise unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space are relying on most clients to have little traffic, I think I just need them to be realistic as to their true resource requirements and budget accordingly ?

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Jason ByrnesWebAssist

Yeah, it sounds like this project needs a more robust server.

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mrs

Craig, out of interest, who is the host you have concerns over?

Have you thought of Virtual servers rather than shared? I am sure you can upload to higher level folder than the root on a virtual server as you control the entire thing. It can be pricey though depending upon the requirement of processor, disk space, ram...

I'm using fasthosts who have excellent tech support and happened to be one of the most cost effective virtual server providers.

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CraigRBeta Tester

My client has registered with ipage, which is a sister company of fatcow I believe, one of the many 'unlimited' providers which work fine for low traffic sites

I set up another site for them with fatcow a couple of years ago and this has been entirely adequate for their needs.

There is another host I use in the UK, soho-uk.com who allow you to store files above the root directory, still shared hosting, but good suport in my experience, for only slightly more than the others I mentioned.

I will take a look at fasthosts too, thanks for the tip.

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