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TECH TALK
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5 GOOD REASONS TO
MOVE TO MYSQL
#1 Your database is growing As your database grows, the demands on it increase as more jobs, more tasks, more costs, and more billings are added. Things move slower if the server hardware hasn’t been upgraded to handle the volume, especially when a database grows beyond one segment. Because MySQL is a dedicated database server, it is scaled for high volumes of work by dozens of users without straining.
#2 Your database is slowing down or, even worse, crashing The built-in Clients & Profits database was designed for simplicity and low maintenance . That’s why you don’t need an expensive server or an experienced database expert to run it. But the downside is that it’s vulnerable to network interruptions and hardware problems. Since MySQL actively manages the database, it is fault tolerant and self-correcting. This means a large database is more reliable.
#3 You’re concerned about reliability MySQL is an industry-standard open source database, so it is widely used and well documented. There are many tools to monitor the database and optimize its performance that aren’t possible with the built-in C&P database.
#4 Moving to MySQL is not painful Once your MySQL server is configured, converting your database is easy. C&P X will automatically convert your database into MySQL tables. Then, when each user opens C&P X, they’ll connect to MySQL using its IP address and database name— that’s all. Everything runs the same as before, except the performance is much faster.
#5 It’s free—and it runs on Mac OS X Server MySQL is open source, so there are no license fees. And its available for Mac OS X, so you don’t need a Windows box to run it—a big advantage if you have an all-Mac shop.
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By Chris
Lawrence
My Clients & Profits! X 10.2 is a brand-new version of the widely-used add-on web server for Clients & Profits X — and a free upgrade, too. There’s a lot to like:
Dramatically faster performance The new upgrade runs 2-5X faster than My C&P! 5. The server engine has been completely reengineered around Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., slimmer HTML/CSS2 and enhanced Javascript) for improved cross-platform compatibility. And the Mac OS X version uses gzip encoding to greatly reduce network traffic.
C&P X-like user interface The My C&P! X web pages were redesigned to look and feel just like the Clients & Profits X desktop application. This means there’s virtually no learning curve for web users who know the desktop software.
Creative dashboard home page A C&P ASAP-inspired “creative dashboard” home page that displays the user’s daily time card, the day’s deadlines, their job hot sheet, and the company’s in/out board. So they’re in the loop even when off-site.
Online approvals Use the web to approve A/P invoices, time sheets, and expense reports as well as vendor invoices for payment and client approvals for job content when used with the C&P X approval manager. (See pages 4-5 for an illustrated example of how this works.)
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Online proposals, change orders Add, edit, approve, print and kill proposals as well as add and edit change orders anywhere you have internet access.
Pre-billing estimates Pre-bill job estimates and review unposted client billings from your iPhone (how cool is that?).
Snapshot reports Print selected Snapshot production, work in progress, and job reports like the Job Summary.
Improved compatibility My Clients & Profits X 10.2 is designed especially for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Windows Vista and fully supports MySQL 5, Microsoft SQL Server and the latest versions of Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer without plug-ins of any kind.
These performance improvements require no additional server hardware, so My C&P! X 10.2 has the same server requirements as before. While we recommend using a dedicated server for My C&P! X, it doesn’t have to be a brand-new server.
Upgrading is easy: it is a simple reinstall. If your users are running Clients & Profits X 10.2, then no data conversion is needed.
Chris Lawrence is Clients & Profits’ CIO. He edits the System Manager News page and finds the best deals on hardware and software for the Deals page. |
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