The Technical Stuff (or “How it Works”)
Most websites do not disclose what software ‘makes them run’, or the details of performance and security. We at FotoFora take a different view—that information empowers the choices people make, and their perception of all things dependable and desirable. We further believe that by sharing our resources, we support the practice of transparency.
Diverging from the current trend of forum development to provide hosting along with forum software management (brand hosting), we have taken the traditional approach of self-hosting. Unlike brand hosting, self-hosting provides us full control over the server environment, as well as the core forum software package.
This allows FotoFora to uniquely craft its environment—from server to webpage, without any untoward constraints. In this manner, we can deliver a custom space for the unique needs of photographers, shaped by knowledgeable photographic & web development visionaries.
FotoFora is a new web ‘property’, and as such has no prior reputation for performance or character. Often small sites are launched on a shared hosting account—and upgraded as needed by site usage and demand. Our approach is to provide proactive ‘enterprise-level’ performance from the very beginning. This strategy will deliver stellar response times and performance—without the need to trouble the community with surprises or disruptive server migrations in the future.
Like virtually any other forum-based internet community, FotoFora operates on a
Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP environment (LAMP) stack.
Linux is a basic operating system, akin to Windows or OSX which provides the foundation for all other things to run.
Apache Server is a multi-architecture free and open-source cross-platform web server software, written specifically to facilitate hosted activities. It provides the functions required of websites; system tasks, pages, mail, security, performance, operational environment functions, site environment code format (e.g., PHP, Python, Ruby, etcetera), and many others.
MySQL is a form of the MySQL database engine. Databases store all of the information contained in the FotoFora site, except for images. The DB keeps track of their location, owner, and EXIF information. Every time a page is created or requested, an image is posted, or someone registers an account—all of this material is stored in records and fields within the database. Our servers use MariaDB over MySQL for its faster performance, scriptability, and control over mixed DB character sets and format types (such as InnoDB).
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward website applications and development. It is multi-paradigm, and object-oriented, meaning it can display things on a browser written in many formats. It is what enables and presents the web response when one requests any page or resource that delivers an HTTP response. A platform such as XenForo or WordPress are built using this language and server interpreters to deliver the pages you see.
Server Platform
InMotion Hosting Small-Enterprise VPS hosting, with servers located in Washington, D.C.
LAMP Stack Core provisioned as:
- AlmaLinux 8.7.0
- Apache v2.4.56
- MySQL Version: 10.6.12-MariaDB
- PHP Version: 8.1 >> 8.2
- UltraStack Caching & NVMe SSD system/platform file delivery. (20X faster than conventional HDD storage)
- Brotli/PHP-FPM & Gzip compression & acceleration to deliver nearly instant page results.
- 99.99% Guaranteed Server Uptime.
- Dedicated, fixed IP address: 23.235.207.212
- File (image) storage via Amazon S3 Flexible Tier, with glacial S3 archival retrieval.
- Site acceleration via CloudFlare Proxy, with assigned distribution servers in Los Angeles, CA, and Newark, NJ.
- Xenforo 2.2.12 Forum Software Platform
- Dimension theme framework by Xenfocus
Our appreciation to the numerous developers, coders, and other site administrators who have assisted & contributed to the FotoFora experience.
Security
Security is paramount, whether you simply have an account with personally identifying information (PII), are purchasing or renewing a subscription, or to feel safe in the knowledge that your accounts will not be ‘hacked’ or otherwise manipulated by unauthorized individuals.
These are the standard security policies and protocols in place for FotoFora:
- SSL Certificate via a trusted Certificate Authority (CA)
- RSA/AES 256-bit encryption security for registrations and subscription payments.
- Payment processor assumes additional encryption and security on their site to finalize transactions.
- Domain Identifying key (DKIM) assurance that any emails from us are genuine and not spoofed.
- A comprehensive set of security features & tools to identify and protect against spammers, bots, or malicious accounts--before they become an issue.
- Anti-virus & malware protection at the server and proxy levels.
Security also means that FotoFora and its member content are never lost due to any circumstances. This requires automated, scheduled backups to protect content and the site framework itself. We honor this promise by:
- Weekly Full backup of the entire fotofora.net container package (LAMP, all domain root files & directories, MariaDB databases.
- Bi-Weekly Backups of all core system files.
- Twice daily backups of the MariaDB databases.
- Snapshots to restore system state taken prior to any FotoFora updates.
- Low-resolution proxy images are generated and stored in S3 glacial archive if needed to prevent “link rot” in the event the link no longer functions in the future.
FotoFora is a social community of photographers representing all interests who seek to build relationships with others, explore member images, actively discuss photography, and critique images. Through this open exchange, we will grow as a community and in our own craft.