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Test Pilot Enterprise Manual |
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Web Server or Personal Computer Test Pilot requires a web server. The server can be a dedicated machine OR it can be a personal computer running some server software. Test Pilot comes in distributions for most common web server platforms as well as distributions for use on a networked personal computer. Most commercial web servers can run or be be extended to run Test Pilot. Server software which can run Test Pilot includes, but is not limited to:
A Relational Database Server Test Pilot version 4 requires that the web server be able to connect to a relational database server. This server may, but is not required to, be installed on the same computer as the web server. Such servers can include, but are not limited to:
MySQL is a free, open source database for MacOS X, UNIX, and Windows. It represent the most cost effective solution for providing SQL database services. OpenBase is a commercial database for MacOS X, UNIX and Windows. Microsoft's SQL Server 2K is a commercial database only available for Windows. Version 3 of Test Pilot does not require a database server and may be appropriate for small to medium installations which may not have a database server or wish to devote the administrative overhead to maintaining one. Java - on the web server machine alone As Test Pilot's web server component is written in Java, the server must have a 100% Java compliant virtual machine (VM) installed upon it. Such VM's include but are not limited to:
Java is free software! Servlet Runner - on the web server machine alone Finally, the web server software must be able to run Java programs like Test Pilot's web server extension. Some web server software (e.g Netscape v3.6, Sun Java Web Server, Lotus Domino 4.6) support this capability out of the box. Others (e.g. Apple and Microsoft web servers) require third party software, called a servlet runner, to connect the web server software with the Java VM. You'll need to consult your web server's documentation to see if it supports Java servlets natively or with the assistance of a plug-in. Common servlet runners include:
Hardware Requirements Memory Usage Test Pilot typically consumes no more than an additional 64 megabytes of main memory on your web server. This includes the memory consumed by the Java VM. At today's prices, 64 megabytes of memory represents an investment of $50. Disk Usage Test Pilot tests consume roughly 2K of disk space per question; thus a 50 question test should consume 100K of disk space. User responses typically consume 2K per question answered; thus the data from 50 students responding to a 50 question test could consume 10 megabytes of disk space. Thus, to host 100 such tests a gigabyte of disk space is required. At today's prices such space represents an investment of $10. This resource consumption usually represents such a small impact to most web servers that there is no need to purchase additional hardware in order to support Test Pilot. Performance Issues The performance of Test Pilot is dependent on a variety of factors. Some of these include:
Test Pilot's web server extension performs its job as transactions. A typical assessment session consists of two transactions: the request for an assessment and the submission of responses to the assessment. Performance on web servers is impacted most by multiple simultaneous transactions. You will have to estimate the usage in your environment and make sure that sufficient server horsepower is available to handle the task. Typical installations include, but are not limited to:
Installation We have included some information on how Test Pilot is typically installed on a number of platforms. Remember that since Test Pilot's web server extension is platform independent, it is also very scalable. That is, you can start out serving hundreds of users with a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-manage MacOS X server and if your needs grow, you can move up to serving thousands of users with a powerful UNIX server. It is capabilities like this that makes Java software in general, and Test Pilot in particular, so very attractive to the computing industry today. Web Server Installation Information
Database Server Installation Information |
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