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server dilemma

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by bgcr 1 view

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I look after a small company using a server and 8 PCs running Windows 7. The server has run the company's main business program for many years but is dying. A decision has been made to go web based using the same main program and to make the server obsolete, which I welcome.

However, on deploying the new web based trial software I have been asked to load an 18 month old version of Firefox onto the PCs running windows 7 as the web based software cannot run with modern browsers such as IE9. The software developer says that no upgrade to IE 9 will be available for some months due to their server upgrade requirements and as long as old Firefox is used only to run this software and connects to no other internet sites there are will be no security issues.

I would appreciate any comments or advice you care to send my way.

Many thanks.

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by hal 9000

Try reposting this in the 'Q&A' forum. The 'Discussion' forum is for matters of general discussion, not specific problems in search of a solution. The 'Water Cooler' is for non-technical discussions. You can submit a question to 'Q&A' here:

https://www.techrepublic.com/forum/questions/post?tag=mantle_skin;content

There are TR members who specifically seek out problems in need of a solution. Although there is some overlap between the forums, you'll find more of those members in 'Q&A' than in 'Discussions' or 'Water Cooler'.

Be sure to use the voting buttons to provide your feedback. Voting a '+' does not necessarily mean that a given response contained the complete solution to your problem, but that it served to guide you toward it. This is intended to serve as an aid to those who may in the future have a problem similar to yours. If they have a ready source of reference available, perhaps won't need to repeat questions previously asked and answered. If a post did contain the solution to your problem, you can also close the question by marking the helpful post as "The Answer". .

[b]What you have to understand[/b] is that all smaller Software Developers do not have the Newest Latest Greatest Software Patches written till after the software that they work with is written.

Even then depending on what the business actually is the software that they have to use may very well dictate what other software or OS's that they can use.

So I would imagine in a Cost Cutting Attempt this business is going to the Cloud and then wonders why they have a Big Security Hole in their System. I have yet to see any Cost Savings from moving to the Cloud other than in a Startup where Hardware costs are included but even in those cases the Cloud has always turned into a much more expensive option that has been very difficult to escape from once that company had the resources to.

If the chosen provider requires you to use whatever then there is no option you have to use that and live with it. You also accept the risks of the chosen solution not just the costs. ;)

Col

by bgcr

noted that should have gone to Q&A thanks. Thanks also for balanced reply. Interesting that you seem to infer that the firefox type solution leaves a big security hole in the system - that's what I think!

by hal 9000

Which I'm sure isn't the best but I think you'll also find other things which may leave a lot to be desired.

For instance I support several Doctors Surgeries here and their software has not been rewritten to run on anything newer than Server 03 till very recently.

Like 2 months ago so I had to try to keep a Obsolete System Secure that at the same time needs to log onto Government Sites and different Test Sites and have several Pathology Companies directly send it results.

While the OS's had been replaced the actual software that runs the business and [b]"Supposedly"[/b] keeps the Patients Well had not been updated. The supplier even went as far to say that there where Known Compatibility Issues between Allegories and Server 2008 which I took to mean that the Allergy Reporting part of their Software was unreliable when run on anything newer than 2003 and probably wasn't such a good idea to try. ;)

Anyway it's very rarely just one thing when it comes to Specialized Software/Solutions as way too many places try the One Size Fits All with only Minor Tweaking, while it may for the Software/Solution Provider it very rarely works out quite so well for the person/business who is using it.

Col

by charliespencer

If it won't run with IE 9, will it run with IE 8?

Will it run with a newer version of Firefox? That browser has been updated at least four times in the last year.

If it won't run with newer versions of either IE or FF, when do they expect it to? What's their development timeline? Are they always behind current browsers by two or more versions?

One of the big advantages of a web-based app is the ability to run it on multiple platforms. You don't say if remote connectivity or mobile access are requirements, but those can be seriously hampered by a restriction on compatible browsers.

You might check with other customers to see how happy they are with the web-based app.

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