Web-based user-friendly interface that is intended to build-up your computer's hardware configuration from different components in real-time (AJAX) with necessary validation of all requirements and compatibilities between components.

It heavily uses AJAX technology to lower delays between user's actions. It is written on Django framework and needed to be run under FastCGI or WSGI compatible HTTP server. Also, overall architecture is heavily influenced by ETegro Technologies company needs.

ETConf can validate hardware configuration, preventing user from creating either uncompatible or incorrect machine. Also, ETConf provides ability to store build-up computers in cart and to provide order request for salesmen.

ETConf is free software and is licensed under GNU Affero GPL version 3 or higher.

• Costumer willing to buy a server visits some company's catalogue
• Simultaneously configurator's window is loading using AJAX technology
• Costumer selects necessary components and their quantities, seeing price and overall configuration update in real-time. He can not create either invalid or incorrect hardware configuration
• Costumer pushes "Add to cart" button and follows redirection to his cart. He can repeat new computers adding to it
• When he is either tired or out of money, he can request an order, by pushing corresponding button in his cart. He will be asked his name, email, and other additional useful information
• Confirmation email to salesmen, costumer will be sent. His order will be saved in database to not to lost it

• Validation of component's compatibilities, requirements and correctnesss of overall configuration
• User-friendly simple web-based AJAX real-time interface, preventing user to create invalid configurations
• Manager-friendly administration interface to create and modify computer's configurations
• Ability to use so-called "conversions" like Google AdWords does (just simple raw small ECMAScripts included where they need to be)
• Ability to produce PDF documents with computer overview
• Ability to generate Yandex Market service's YMLs
• Using of reStructured Text in description of various objects

• English
• Russian

The main object in this configurator is "Computer model". As a rule it is some base of server/computer that can has different CPUs, different quantity of memory, different controllers and so on. Every computer model has it's name, description, alias (unique name -- computer model's main identification string), related hardware components that can be used together with that server and maybe many specification pairs.

Specification is a simple pair of key -- value. Key can be something like "Dimensions", and value can be something like "20x35x40".

Component is the most complicated part of configurator. Component has name, description, price, so-called "component group" (for example component with the name "DDR3 1GB" will be in group "RAM"). Nearly every component has some requirements to work, to be able to be inserted, plugged in, etc. For example you have to provide enclosure and SATA interface cable to make SATA HDD working. SATA interface and enclosure are called "features". Nearly every component requires some features and can provide the new ones.

You have an empty platform for your server. It consists of single lonely motherboard. It provides different various interfaces and slots for expansion cards. But it requires nothing. Your case also requires nothing and provides several HDD enclosures. You want to use SAS HDD with your server, but motherboard has only SATA interface. Configurator won't allow you to inset SAS drive, but it will allow you to insert SAS controller. It requires PCIe slot. Motherboard has it -- so you can insert SAS controller and after that configurator will allow you to insert SAS HDD.

Next thing. Some features can duplicate each other in one way. You can use low profile PCIe expansion cards with high profile PCIe slot. And of course you can use high profile card with it. Of course you can just duplicate all components and features creating ones for high profile and the others for low profile computers. But it is not user-friendly and can lead to huge quantity of mistakes. So, there is such objects as "substitutions" where you can just tell what feature can replace the other one.

Each requirement tells how many features someone needs to provide to be able to fitful it. Also, some components can be used only in pairs or in quantity of three. Of course you can specifify that component's "parity".

Also, there are objects called "expanders". They act like a some kind of network hub -- they increase number of needed features. It is not used very often, but can be useful someday.

And last remark: all component groups can be grouped together in so-called "subsystems".

• Python interpreter 2.5 version or higher
• Django framework 1.1.1
• MySQL or PostgreSQL database with correpsonding Python library
• Python YAML library
• Docutils to render reStructured Text
• GNU Make
• Memcache daemon with corresponding Python library for caching purposes
• Prototype.js and Script.Aculo.Us ECMAScript libraries

PDF generator uses rst2pdf command to render them. You must have rst2pdf program installed and fonts in some directory.

% apt-get install python \
                  python-docutils \
                  python-flup \
                  python-memcache \
                  python-psycopg2 \
                  python-yaml \
                  make \
                  python-mysqldb \
                  memcached \
                  python-setuptools \
                  build-essential \
                  libfreetype6-dev \
                  python-dev \
                  python-imaging
% wget -O - http://www.djangoproject.com/download/1.1.1/tarball/ | gunzip -c | tar xvf -
% pushd Django-1.1.1 && python setup.py install && popd && rm -fr Django-1.1.1
% wget -O - http://rst2pdf.googlecode.com/files/rst2pdf-0.15.tar.gz | gunzip -c | tar xvf -
% pushd rst2pdf-0.15 && python setup.py install && popd && rm -fr rst2pdf-0.15
% cp -r /somewhere/fonts /tmp/fonts
% sed -i "s/^FONTS_PATH=.*$$/FONTS_PATH=\/tmp\/fonts/" Makefile.config
% # Install prototype.js and scriptaculous into media/js directory

Because ETConf is written on an interpreted language -- there is no need to compile anything in it. Just create database, edit Makefile.config, make sync-DATABASE, configure your HTTP server and that is all.

For the first start, you should "make sync-{postgresql,mysql}" that will create database with necessary tables. Also it will ask you for password for administrator named "admin".

There is an example ETegro Technologies database of various server's configurations. You can load it into database by "make example".

Next, put Prototype.js and Script.Aculo.Us JavaScript libraries into shared static files directory.

And, also you can edit setting.py for seldom varied options.

To be filled.

The most easy way to run ETConf under Apache is to use WSGI interface. Be sure to have necessary Apache's WSGI module installed, and add the following example string into your configuration file:

WSGIScriptAlias /configurator /path/to/configurator/django.wsgi

After that, your configurator will be available with URL's prefix "/configurator".

• Yandex Market's YML generator currently is very ETegro (and Russia overall) specific. Please look deeper into marketer/ subdirectory if you need. It's YML is available by /market.xml URL.
• Edit computermodel.rst reStructured Text template that is used to generate pretty outlooking PDFs. Also, edit rst2pdf template located in media/rst2pdf-stylesheet.style.

Feel free to contact us for either support, either suggestions or any other questions! Currently, I am the only single developer, so it is better to contact directly me: email to either sergey dot matveev at etegro dot com or to stargrave at stargrave dot org.