A guy sent me a message using the jcCommerce contact form asking me what tools I use to create Secure Delivery, and what tools I use for development in general. The tools we used to build our Internet based company might be of interest to other people, so I thought I would make a blog post here:

Server Environment:

While I am not going to give server specifications here for security reasons, I will say that we lease dedicated Linux boxes for Secure Delivery. The #1 reason for having a dedicated server is that we completely control the web server environment and no other shared hosts on the same server can compromise the integrity of our service.

We access the server using sFTP (SSL enabled FTP) and SSH mostly. I use SmartFTP (or the built in FTP in Dreamweaver) for the sFTP and Putty for the SSH. As opposed to telnet and regular FTP, the SSL enabled methods are secure and someone can’t see the information we are transmitting over the Internet between our development computers and the web server in plain text like the non-SSL counterparts. A little more of a pain in the ass to set up, but worth it fo the security benefits.

We also enjoy root access via SSH so that we can configure every aspect of the server including the linux kernel used, apache and php versions, etc. This is critical for maintaining your own web service that does more than just serve HTML pages, but is more complicated than simple $5 shared hosting (after all, you have to learn Linux and how to actually administer a web server).

Backups:

We also have a stand-alone solution in the same data center that we run daily backups of Secure Delivery to at night. In the event of complete hardware failure on one of the production Secure Delivery boxes, we can re-image a new server using backup data over a private NIC within minutes and be 100% operational again within hours.

Version Control:

We use Subversion for version control on the server. On my windows machine I use TortoiseSVN to browse repositories, and it integrates well with Dreamweaver.

The basic premise of version control is this: My business partner Jacob has his own working copy, as do I. We make changes to our working copies, check them in to the “main” repository. Code conflicts are resolved here (if say, both Jacob and I work on the same page). SVN automatically emails both of us when a check in is made and tells us whats changed. When a feature is complete, we “publish” the main repository to the live site.

This basically allows us to work on projects for days or weeks without it affecting the live site. When we do publish the site is down for about 12 seconds while the new pages are written and the new features are instantly available to subscribers.

Writing Code:

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: I started using Dreamweaver back when it was owned by Macromedia and called UltraDev back in 1998ish. I like dreamweaver for its integrated FTP, handy code browser, good CSS display, layout, and editing support, and its Live Data / development server functions.

Its also probably the most expensive editor on the market, but its the choice of pros everywhere.

If I’m making a quick edit on the web server, I’ll use Vi, a built in editor in most every Linux version.

Image Editing:

Photoshop CS3: I don’t really think I need to explain Photoshop as its the gold standard for image editing, period. I will say that it is difficult to learn for beginners because of the 2,000,000 different features, but there are also 50,000,000 tutorials online to show you how to do just about anything. Couple that with free resource sites like BittBox who give away brushes and link great content and you’ll be ’shoppin with the best of them.

Vector Editing:

I use Illustrator CS3 for vector editing. I would rather make buttons, logos, etc. in Illustrator because vector graphics scale without losing quality. Illustrator CS3 is expensive, and I would call it optional for most people if you are not buying it in an Adobe package like we did.

Tutorials:

For screen-casts and tutorials I use a pretty old version of Macromedia Captivate. This lets you record screenshots and animations and annotate or voice over your presentation, showing how to do complex tasks on your screen. It outputs a Flash version of your video to embed in web pages.

Web Video:

I use Sorenson Squeeze to encode web video formats. It does just about everything from WMV to Flash video.

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In conclusion, my toolbox is not the most affordable out there. For those just starting out online there are may free resources that will do most of the functions of the software above, but at a much more approachable price tag. The reason I use the expensive stuff is this- I am used to it. I hate nothing more than learning new software, so I tend to stick with the expensive stuff I know.

I hope that answers your message mystery contact person, and I hope it was at least interesting to read.