Technical History

Since 1996 CampusBookstore.Com has been the brainchild of Campus Bookstore General Manager Chris Tabor, and student Webmasters: J. Moodie, J. Cordiner and C. Sinkinson.

The site was launched September 1996. The site was engineered to run exclusively in an HPe3000 environment to take advantage of the stability of the MPE/ix operating system and the integrity of its Image/SQL Database. At the time the site used Open Market server software on an HPe3000 928. In August 1999 HPe 60 NT servers were introduced to accommodate the intra/extranet design features of the site.

The current configuration includes the original HPe3000 and continues to rely on the Image/SQL database. Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Cold Fusion were selected to replace the Open Market server software in the new configuration.

Cold Fusion / Image database solutions, employing Minisoft's ODBC/32, performance tuning and load balancing, were designed and implemented by Easy Does It Technologies. This site can handle over 300,000 textbook requests (not hits!) per day.

Most of the site features were self-authored by bookstore staff and students at Queen's using Cold Fusion products from Allaire. Finally, Webtropolis of Toronto Ontario developed specific features including the On-line Text Survey and Publisher Extra net to meet Bookstore specifications.

HPe3000s play a central role in the Bookstores computing environment. Carleton Technologies of Nepean Ontario provides over 600 programs collectively known as BookWare, which are used to control Retail POS, Inventory Management and Accounting on a HPe3000.

The bookstore internal customer kiosks, staff computers and print stations operate on a series of HP eVectras and Laserjet Printers controlled and monitored using HP Top Tools.

Site performance monitoring is made possible with products from WebTrends.

The Online Retail aspect of the site provides information, services and products to members of the Queen's Community. The site uses Verisign products to ensure complete security.

The Faculty and Staff section permits faculty to adopt books and materials securely on-line and to access site resources that assist in the course material adoption process.

The Bookstore Staff Intranet houses the tools for expediting orders, reporting, site administration and communicating with university administration.

The Publisher's Extranet allows selected Publishers to communicate with the Bookstore and Faculty regarding the selection of course materials and accommodates the integration of supplier databases.