Development of a native content web system

Abstract

The development of a custom system running on two servers requires a high degree of customization to update its various services. Consequently, a challenge arises when updating both servers: the main one, which can only be accessed via a local network and requires only updates to multimedia files and specific tables for its operation; and the secondary, which hosts the system that functions as the website and presents the user interface to the public. To implement this, two options were considered: the WordPress content management system or native PHP code. This project adopted the latter approach. In consequence of this decision, numerous activities (such as security, which fell under the responsibility of the Content Manager) were absorbed and placed under the developer's purview. To ensure compliance with security standards, it was decided to use Apache Firewall, which offers protection against common attacks.

Among the challenges to be resolved was the need to synchronize communication between both servers. To achieve this, the libssh2 library was utilized, which features functions for remote command execution, secure file transfer, authentication, and port forwarding for safe communications. This tool, which allows the execution of remote commands, bypassed the need to import and export the entire database from one server to another. It successfully enabled direct queries to the secondary server to update, insert, or delete specific records, as well as transfer multimedia files without overloading the servers with repeated and unnecessary processes.  As a result, this communication technique allowed a fast connection between the servers, and also helped to protect the sensitive information on the main server, since it did not compromise access at any time. This proved to be a safe alternative for projects that require selective and secure synchronization.