Security
A business software that flexibly adapts to customer needs, grows and is always reliable, has to have a clear structure - Upline does.
Upline uses a webbrowser as the environment for distribution partners and end customers. The company's employees work with a Windows application that is able to cope with the specific conditions and requirements of mass data processing.
The central component for all environments is the central Upline database. Upline uses a Microsoft SQL Server™ platform for this purpose as it is resilient and can be scaled to individual needs. It was developed with 24/7-operation in mind; on top of that it is extremely easy to maintain. Choosing such a widely used software that fulfils all these parameters serves to protect our clients' investment for the future.
We use PHP and Zend-Framework™ as widely used platforms for the interactive areas of the website. They enable us to upload contents without any offline times to ensure an uninterrupted, fast and system-independent use for our customers.
Some providers focus on web applications only and work with MySQL databases. MySQL is an excellent "lightweight" SQL database. However, stable mechanism to protect system integrity, e.g. "stored procedures" or "triggers" have only recently been implemented. Moreover, predictions for MySQL's future are uncertain at this point in time.
Other providers work with Foxpro. It is based on the database dBase which was released in 1980. It is a file-orientated database which is not relational and does not include a client-server architecture. It is probably sufficient for a small number of users in a company network, but will surely not be able to manage larger installations with web applications.
Even if this is just a side-topic and not directly related to database issues: please ask one of our competitors offering only "web-based solutions" to display a long list of, let's say, 10.000 orders. Then ask them to re-sort it and subsequently export it into Excel. We would gladly demonstrate to you how Upline handles this task: all three steps take just under 20 seconds. In total. For way more than 20.000 orders.
The technical architecture of a software application also determines the growth limits of your enterprise! Therefore be sure to make detailed comparisons and ask about the architecture and the database deployed.
All systems used for operating Upline have multiple redundancy, high performance and high operational availability. When necessary, they can be scaled to your needs without interruption of running applications.
Each connection and communication between client and server as well as website and web browser is TLS-protected against unauthorized access - a must, especially when credit card payment is offered.