Website Setup

To simplify deployment for my affiliates, the publishing system I built must allow them to easily set up their own websites. For example, each affiliate could have their own subdomain such as:

• gannon.interfaceware.com
• muir.interfaceware.com

Objectives

• Easy Deployment: Affiliates must have simple options for creating and hosting their websites.
• Scripted Setup: Provide a script affiliates can run to automatically provision a server, configure their website, and deploy the standard platform.
• Standardized Approach: Servers should be treated as cattle, not pets—that is, easily replaceable and not unique or irreplaceable.

Summary Workflow:

1. Affiliate runs setup script
2. Server is provisioned with a standardized stack
3. Personalized subdomain is configured (e.g., affiliate.interfaceware.com)
4. Website is live and ready for use

Principle

Servers should be cattle, not pets.
In other words: automate everything and avoid one-off, hand-maintained servers.