[php] Video upload project

[Ignatius]

I have been asked to look into a way of allowing a small number of users to upload videos (taken within the organisation with the consent of the subject(s) of the videos) to a server and allow many users to download them to their own PC. This isn't in an educational setting so I won't have to consider any DPA or other legal matters, indeed the IT manager will be responsible for any legal considerations. I have been asked to investigate the options.

 

I have a few general questions that can be divided into two sections:

 

First:

 

My "gut" feeling is to have some web pages for the upload and download facilities behind a login page. PHP will interact with a MySQL database so the files can be uploaded and the path, along with other data about the files, stored in the database. When downloading, the user interrogates the database via a web page in order to provide a link to the file on the server.

 

The files may be very large (500MB) and I understand that there's a file upload limit of 2MB in PHP. This can be increased, but is there an ABSOLUTE limit? This is planned to work on a LAN, rather than a WAN, so moving such large files shouldn't be such a problem.

 

I recall that there is a time-out when PHP scripts are running. Will that be relevant? If so, can it be increased and is there an ABSOLUTE maximum that can be set?

 

Second:

 

I know there are many excellent PHP tutorials out there, including playlists on YouTube so I think I should be able to create something (assuming the questions I have above can be overcome), but are there any pre-built solutions? I've heard of Sharepoint but have no experience of using it. I have some experience of Linux and xampp (it has Apache, PHP and MySQL) so MY preference, as a Yorkshireman, would be to go with that! However, there could be a preference for using a MS solution (Server 2008, IIS and MS SQL) so, if I develop everything at home using Linux and xampp, how easy would it be to transfer everything to a Windows environment?

 

I don't want to waste time developing this if there is an easy, cheap solution available or if I get to the final stages of the project, only to find that there's a massive hurdle that I can't overcome and I have to start from scratch.

 

Thanks for your time.

[plexer]

Just install some form of off the shelf media centre server.

 

Btw just because it's not an edu establishment doesn't mean dpa etc... doesn't apply.

 

Ben

[danbuntu]

I've used vshare for this in the past.

 

However I looking to ditch this in favour of something html 5 based.

[glennda]

PHPmotion :: Free Video Script - Free Youtube Clone - Free Youtube Script - Free Video Sharing software - you tube clone - PHP Video Sharing Script - Media sharing script - social networking scrript

 

Essentially what you want - easy to customize.

[mossj88]

I have been asked to look into a way of allowing a small number of users to upload videos (taken within the organisation with the consent of the subject(s) of the videos) to a server and allow many users to download them to their own PC. .... This is planned to work on a LAN, rather than a WAN

 

If this is working on a LAN, why do you need anything other than a shared area folder with the correct permission? Couldn't get much easier or cheaper than that... Unless you want people to be able to search for the videos by different fields.

 

As for website, be mindful of PHP's timeout and upload settings (if you change the max upload, you may also need to change the timeout to stop the script timing out)

 

P.S DPA does apply to every business

[Ignatius]

@plexer: Thank you. I thought about a media server, but the users need to search based upon keyword(s) rather than by filename. I don't know if this is possible with many media servers, unless you know of any (I'll get to glennda's suggestion shortly!).

 

I mentioned the DPA merely because I felt sure that someone would raise it in a response. As I said, it doesn't concern me and the IT manager is responsible for such legal matters. My involvement is doing the research and, if necessary, developing working code.

 

@danbuntu: Thank you - a negative comment in this scenario is just as valuable as a positive one. It guides me away from something that I should avoid!

 

@glennda: That looks like it's exactly what I need! If anything, it seems to provide some unnecessary facilities and you imply that I can disable them in some way. It'll be a little while before I can get it downloaded and set up on a test system.

 

As a matter of interest, is it something that you've used or is it something that you found by researching this topic for me?

 

@mossj88: Yes, a shared folder with appropriate permissions would be a solution but, as I mentioned above, I need to be able to have users search by keywords, rather than by filename. Eventually, this *might* be moved to a WAN scenario and I realise that bandwidth could be a problem. Addressing this is also in the realm of the IT manager.

 

I mentioned the default upload limit of 2MB and the time-out for PHP. I know they can be increased but is there an ABSOLUTE maximum file size and ABSOLUTE maximum time-out? Some of the files may be >200MB in size.

[plexer]

@plexer: Thank you. I thought about a media server, but the users need to search based upon keyword(s) rather than by filename. I don't know if this is possible with many media servers, unless you know of any (I'll get to glennda's suggestion shortly!).

 

 

With a media centre/erver I would absolutely expect to be able to search for content based on meta tags.

 

MEDIAPORTAL - MediaPortal Features: Video / DVD

 

Ben

[mossj88]

I mentioned the default upload limit of 2MB and the time-out for PHP. I know they can be increased but is there an ABSOLUTE maximum file size and ABSOLUTE maximum time-out? Some of the files may be >200MB in size.

 

One way to find out... try uploading a 1gb file with a simple php script, if that works your golden.

[Ignatius]

@plexer - I've never played around with any media server so didn't know what facilities to expect (other than the obvious in that it serves media files, doh!)

 

@mossj88 - yes, I suppose a bit of trial and error. Maybe I'll try a few simple experiments, earlier rather than later, just in case I want to see if I can code something myself. At present though, it looks like I *might* be able to find something off the shelf.

[isrc]

Hi,

How about using a free web based files management system like ajaxexplorer (sorry, the forum doesn't allow me to post the link Just google it please. ) ?

Looks cool but i must admit that i don't have any experience with the soft though

 

HTH,

[Ignatius]

@isrc - Thank you for the recommendation.