Drupal Enterprise-wide

Session Notes

Using Drupal as a web application framework for enterprise-wide application development and deployment led by Chris Johnson

Primary Topics

1. Authentication
   - Single Signon - !! key
   - LDAP Usage:
   -- Existing LDAP module, written by Moshe, modified by Bryght
   --- questions about module quality and robustness (maybe only does auth yes/no and does not import any user data, for instance)
   --- import into Profile
   -- Another module which does something similar? [research]
   - Import or use Roles from another authentication service or database (e.g. LDAP)
   - "shut off" default Drupal auth -- make login / acct creation / acct editing screens go away, and don't let user edit their data in Dupal's database, as it comes from central location.
   - account synchronization with external database?
2. Multi-Database support
   - current ability to share one or more tables between sites
   -- Kieran / Amazon working on documentation - get with him to help
   - ability to use other non-Drupal databases in applications built on top of Drupal.
3. Inter-release / backward compatibility, and upgrade/update path support.
   - 4.7 has .install files which tell automation how to upgrade the specific module the .install file is associated with.
4. Performance - fast page generation for each user
   - Kieran / Amazon working on documentation - get with him to help
   - there is a performance/scalability forum at drupal.org
5. Scalability - ability to support large numbers of users and ability to use conventional scaling techniques, e.g. load-balancing, database clusters, etc.
   - list of modules which don't scale well now.
   -- autopath (auto path alias urls)
   -- flexinode
   - caching for logged in users
   - optimize / pursue the lowest hanging fruit first
   - good system admin / system architecture tuning for generic application scaling, e.g. tuning the database, the server, etc. first.
   - Kieran / Amazon working on documentation - get with him to help.
6. Document existing tools and techniques to make Drupal function as such an enterprise web application framework. Much can already be done, but it's not obvious or clear just what all the pieces of the puzzle are.
   - Controlling various features, turning off, etc.
   - How to scale.
7. Content Domain Models, e.g. ERP vs. hospital, etc.
8. Shared Content
   - see John Van Dyke's Publication and Subscription matched-pair of modules. It needs a defined, documented API.
   - Aggregator 2 can do much of it for ordinary nodes (not events, e.g.)
9. Human Resources -- finding an adequate number of qualified Drupal developers.