R – Architecture ideas for static resource (images) web server

asp.netiisweb services

We're looking at removing all of the static resources (mainly images) in our ASP.NET 2.0 web app, and moving them to their own separate server. The main design requirements are for speed (so caching will be important) and a minimal level of security (so that people can't just directly download or rip off the images). Using a plain .net 2.0 web service immediately sprints to mind, but I'm worried about possible performance issues, and caching? Is this a valid concern?

So what kind of architectural setups would fit this bill?

Some other points to consider:

WCF is not really an option yet as we're not moving to .net3.5 for a few months yet
Development time is limited to 2 weeks

Edit – To further clarify our position:

I don't really need a mission-critical, super high load, asynchronous RPC server dishing out vast amounts of data. All I need is some sort of facade to dish out requests (and take advantage of IIS caching) from our main site for images on a separate web server, and be able to simply authenticate the request to prevent basic cases of theft.

Best Answer

Just use static folder configured as virtual folder in IIS. This will give everything you need. Caching, speed and so on.

Minimal pseudo-security could be achievend with random folder/file names. Or injected pipline handlers. Of course, you should disable folder listings and so on.

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Rest – Patterns for handling batch operations in REST web services

A simple RESTful pattern for batches is to make use of a collection resource. For example, to delete several messages at once.

DELETE /mail?&id=0&id=1&id=2

It's a little more complicated to batch update partial resources, or resource attributes. That is, update each markedAsRead attribute. Basically, instead of treating the attribute as part of each resource, you treat it as a bucket into which to put resources. One example was already posted. I adjusted it a little.

POST /mail?markAsRead=true
POSTDATA: ids=[0,1,2]

Basically, you are updating the list of mail marked as read.

You can also use this for assigning several items to the same category.

POST /mail?category=junk
POSTDATA: ids=[0,1,2]

It's obviously much more complicated to do iTunes-style batch partial updates (e.g., artist+albumTitle but not trackTitle). The bucket analogy starts to break down.

POST /mail?markAsRead=true&category=junk
POSTDATA: ids=[0,1,2]

In the long run, it's much easier to update a single partial resource, or resource attributes. Just make use of a subresource.

POST /mail/0/markAsRead
POSTDATA: true

Alternatively, you could use parameterized resources. This is less common in REST patterns, but is allowed in the URI and HTTP specs. A semicolon divides horizontally related parameters within a resource.

Update several attributes, several resources:

POST /mail/0;1;2/markAsRead;category
POSTDATA: markAsRead=true,category=junk

Update several resources, just one attribute:

POST /mail/0;1;2/markAsRead
POSTDATA: true

Update several attributes, just one resource:

POST /mail/0/markAsRead;category
POSTDATA: markAsRead=true,category=junk

The RESTful creativity abounds.

How to find corresponding log files folder for a web site

Ok, I've found this property - it's called "site id" and resides in "Advanced Properties" of the website.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Rest – Patterns for handling batch operations in REST web services

How to find corresponding log files folder for a web site

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