Server to Server File Exchange Via HTTP

dmills

I need to do some image processing (using GD) on a server which doesn't support the functions I need. However, I have access to another server which does. I'll call the server with the GD functions the 'powerful' server and the server without the 'weak' one.

My idea is to send new images from the weak server to the powerful one, process them on the powerful, send a msg back to the weak saying the revised images are ready and then grabbing the revised images with the weak server and saving them. The problem is the weak server also does not support any ftp functions so all this needs to be done via http.

It should all be pretty easy, except getting the original image from the weak server to the powerful. What I'm hoping some folks can help me with is a function to send a multi-part form request from the weak server. There is a similar function available at http://zend.net/codex.php?id=77&single=1 , but it is not for multi-part data ... I'm sure I can adapt that, but if anybody has already wrestled with this, I'd appreciate your input.

Thanks, sorry for the long message.

This is the same situation as one posted to the old message board, but I didn't see any resolution come up there. That thread is at http://www.phpbuilder.com/mail/php-general/2002071/2797.php (I'm referencing it in case I didn't explain myself well here.)

diego25

Why not send a message from the 'weak' one to the 'powerful' one to let the powerful one know that it has to download an image? You're doing that already to send the imagr from the powerful to the weak, so why not from the weak to the powerful, too? Something like this

weak calls http://powerful/grab.php?file=image1.jpg
grab.php, which is on powerful, uses the file functions to download image1.jpg and modifies it
grab.php then calls http://weak/get.php?file=image1.jpg
get.php, which is on weak, uses file functions to get modified image1.jpg from powerful server to weak one and save it on weak.

Diego

dmills

Thanks diego25, I think your right, that is the best approach.

I'd considered it before, but rejected for two reasons: 1) extra lag of an extra http request (this process is to be repeated every n (~10-20) seconds); and 2) the images are not usually available via unauthenicated requests.

I'm getting somewhere (I think) converting the images to ascii sending them to powerful and then converting back to binary, but more and more your idea is becoming appealing ... I'll just have to chalk up the workarounds to 1) & 2) to server limitations and hope the client understands =) .

diego25

Why does the process need to be repeated every 10-20 seconds? I thought only new images needed to be modified?

My idea is to send new images from the weak server to the powerful one

Anyway, an extra HTTP request doesn't take much bandwidth...less than 100 bytes for a simple request like yours in this case.

Diego

dmills

Why does the process need to be repeated every 10-20 seconds?

It's for building on-the-fly archives of webcam shows, heh heh.

diego25

Ahh, okay 🙂

Make sure you won't run out of bandwidth by the end of the month then!

Diego