Kgroup Publish Qoob Content management to the cloud through Windows Azure

Kgroup develops and implements content management and distribution solutions for corporate and public Web sites and for network TV. Kgroup is headquartered in Milan, has been operating in Italy and Europe for more than 10 years, the latest product is the Qoob Content management architecture.

Overview

Kgroup has completed many large and small content management projects, so we are well aware of the need to innovate in the Web world. Today's web content includes standard content types (text, pictures, audio, video, and so on), as well as custom content types dedicated to customer scenarios, such as internal and external network TV and social media, all of which can be shared across multiple devices. At the same time, WEB development technology has been developed. We want to build a content management solution with today's state-of-the-art technology to meet customer demands for rhythm and speed, which should be strong and flexible enough to seamlessly integrate media assets, social networks, and multiple interfaces.

We need the system to scale and switch between server resources and collect data from multiple data sources, including, but not limited to, various RDBMS [relational database management Systems] and NoSQL solutions. As we have learned from past projects, we need to break the system down into lower-level components/plug-ins to combine these components/plug-ins in a variety of ways.

In 2012, we launched a new content management platform called Qoob, which sounds like "cube". We want Qoob to be able to use and manage data in a new way, independent of storage. We also want a cms[content management system with a wider range of solutions to accommodate other services. The Qoob architecture is built using advanced technologies such as Microsoft. NET Framework 4.5, asp.net, and HTML5. It uses Windows Azure virtual machine instance, Windows Azure SQL database, caching services in Windows Azure, and other Windows Azure services to achieve the desired performance, flexibility, and scalability.

We took 9 months to complete QOOB development and implemented QOOB in multiple projects since the last quarter of 2012. The platform supports a variety of uses, such as enterprise portals, public Web sites, multi-site solutions, and network TVs.

Qoob Architecture

The Qoob Content management architecture is built using the Microsoft. NET Framework 4.5, asp.net 4.5, and the Microsoft Visual C # development language. It can be used as a basis for modeling, managing, extending, and displaying data of any type. The architecture is not dependent on any particular storage, so it can seamlessly integrate into any storage environment and support any type of data access technology, including but not limited to any available ORM [Object Relational Mapping] solution, ranging from micro-orm to sophisticated solutions, such as the Entity Framework or NHibernate. The use of universal plug-in system and global events/hooks to intercept, modify or extend the core data flow, to ensure scalability.

Figure 1:qoob The backend of the Content management architecture is built on the dynamically generated REST API. Scalable background services can handle data entry, media transcoding, meta data extraction, and other tasks. You can store data based on any type of data store. The front-end is a highly responsive HTML5+CSS3 site with features such as social media integration and aggregation feeds.

Qoob Background Services handle a number of tasks, such as automatically introducing content from feeds, e-mail messages, network shares, and other sources or data, and import/export scenarios. Our own Mediasync services can process media transcoding for multiple formats and metadata extraction. For scenarios that require large amounts of video and other media assets, we plan to integrate Qoob with Windows Azure Media Services.

Qoob itself does not matter where and how the data is retained, developers can choose how to configure and implement each entity type. The provider model we use can accommodate almost all major data stores, from SQL databases, SQL Servers, MySQL, and so on, to NoSQL databases such as MongoDB or Windows Azure Table services. We use a similar provider model to manage blobs so that Qoob can manage data directly in the file system or with virtually any cloud storage solution.

The default front-end Web site, hosted locally or in the cloud, is built with ASP.net MVC 4, a modern web site with highly optimized HTML5 semantic tags, and we try to manage all the common META tags in seo-friendly ways. It uses responsive design (CSS3) to easily adapt to different devices and dynamic federated sources. There are also plug-ins to further support social integration (Facebook, Twitter, Disqus, etc.) and other common open WEB standards (such as opengraph, OpenSearch, etc.) to achieve the largest search engine visibility and indexing.

Cloud architecture

Currently, all QOOB implementations in the cloud depend on the Windows Azure virtual machine instance (in the preview version). We have instant access to the Windows Azure resources required to fully meet the customer's architectural requirements, so if needed, we can quickly build multiple Web roles for the backend, or install low-level tools to turn code-specific video files.

We can insert Windows Azure storage, caching, and other services into an extensible qoob environment as needed. To meet any customer scenario, we can choose from different implementations of the core Qoob components, such as Blob storage (on disk, on the database, on Windows Azure Blob storage), data sources (internally deployed SQL Server, SQL database, and so on) or caching (memory, Windows Azure Cache).

With the scalability and high availability of Windows Azure, we can provide our customers with a high standard SLA [service level agreement] without unnecessary risk. We don't have to build data centers, buy servers, and configure the process, which is time-consuming, costly, and prone to error. We can use Windows Azure to extend a new or existing qoob environment within minutes, so we and our customers can easily and quickly enter the market.

Road map and future plans

In the near future, we plan to increase support for Windows Azure features, such as Windows Azure Media service, Windows Azure content Delivery network, Notification Services, and so on. We are currently developing new Plug-ins to add additional functionality to Qoob so that users can explore new ways to increase the value of their content assets.

Users can use the Digital Magazine plug-in to create multiple digital magazines directly from the Qoob backend and publish them in HTML5 form using state-of-the-art WEB Technologies. The plug-in also supports a variety of devices and offline experiences. The Digital Signage plug-in can integrate a partner's solution, exchanging data between the two platforms through its own APIs and the Qoob backend, all through a unified UI.

WINDOWS AZURE Experience

We use Windows Azure to build Qoob into a flexible, powerful system that scales and switches between server resources and collects data from multiple data sources. Qoob is now our default product and is expected to account for 90% of the Kgroup business in the future. While the Qoob we build can be used in conjunction with any infrastructure, we first provide it to our customers through Windows Azure because of the amount of money, time and effort spent using Windows Azure, and the highly scalable.

Windows Azure provides us with advanced solutions such as distributed caching, so configuring, deploying, and scaling qoob environments becomes very simple. If the customer finds that traffic is higher than expected, simply log on to the WEB Admin portal and click a few clicks to add a Windows Azure instance.

By leveraging Windows Azure to support Qoob in the cloud, we eliminated issues that were not part of the core business. You no longer need to manage physical servers or virtualization platforms, and you can avoid continually filtering the most cost-effective Web farms from the marketplace.

With Windows Azure, we can use Qoob to provide an extensible and flexible environment that configures the environment to meet any content management requirements. At the same time, Windows Azure,kgroup do not have to support low-level resources directly, so you can focus on the development and execution of the Qoob Content management architecture to meet customer needs.