X-Cart:AmazonCDN

Overview

The Amazon CDN is an add-on for integrating your X-Cart with Amazon S3 and Amazon Cloudfront. The services allow to delegate content delivering routine to fast and stable CDN (Content delivery network) provider.

Why CDN

• Speed up – CDN is a known means of distributing the content to end users with high data transfer speed. How it works? Requests for your content are automatically routed to the nearest server, and the closer this server to end user, the better the performance
• Lower server load – CDN allows you to redistribute the load from your server to multiple external servers.
• Better Crash Resistance – The less resources your site uses to serve static content, the more resources are left to MySQL and PHP, the more stable your system is.
• Better User Experience – If only the site tends to freeze - the customers leave never to return: the shoppers are very impatient. Let them see what they seek, and quickly! With this module you can, really.
• Improved SEO – Google treats site performance as one of key factors defining the site rank: the faster sites tend to rank higher in search results.

Key benefits of using the Amazon CDN module in X-Cart

• You may upload the images (product, manufacturer and category images, special offers etc) which is up to 60% of page size, as well as files from E-Goods module.
• It gives you access to the highly scalable, reliable, secure and fast Cloud data storage infrastructure of Amazon.
• You can opt between ‘Standard storage’ (for important data) and cheaper ‘Reduced Redundancy Storage’ (http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2010/05/19/announcing-amazon-s3-reduced-redundancy-storage/ ) for reproducible and non-critical data.
• Though we gave admin the opportunity to force the objects uploading to Amazon repo manually, the module is written so that the store will upload everything automatically (still, no need to configure cron tasks!), report the uploading status and switch to serving the static content by Amazon. The store owner only needs to install the module - or have it installed by X-Cart team - register with Amazon and fill in the Amazon account settings... and reap the fruit !

System requirements and installation

System requirements

• PHP 5.0 or above

To be able to successfully install and use the Amazon CDN module, you need a working copy of X-Cart GOLD or PRO v4.3.2, 4.4.х or 4.5.х installed on your server. Make sure that the version of the integration module matches the version of your copy of X-Cart.

Note: If you do not remember the version of your copy of X-Cart, you can find it in the Environment info section of the Summary page in X-Cart Admin area.

Installation and removal

To install the Amazon CDN module:

1. Obtain a distribution package for the Amazon CDN integration module by downloading it from the File Area section of your X-Cart Account account. The distribution package is archived in the fileamazoncf-x.y.z.tgz, where x, y and z indicate the version of the module. Make sure the version of the module matches the version of your copy of X-Cart.
2. Copy the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.
   • If you use a Windows-based server or a UNIX-based server without terminal access:

   a) Extract the contents of the archive with the Amazon CDN module files to a directory on your system using your favorite compression program (WinZIP or any other archiver that supports TAR files).

   b) Use an FTP client to upload all the files extracted from the archive (retaining the directory structure) to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.

   • If you use a UNIX-based server with terminal access:

   a) Use an FTP client to upload the archive with the Amazon CDN module distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.

   b) Decompress the package by typing the following command:
   

   tar -xzvf amazoncf-x.y.z.tgz

   Important: Make sure that you maintain the directory structure while unpacking and uploading the distribution package; otherwise, some critical files can be overwritten!

3. In a web browser, run the installation script at httр://www.example.com/install-amazoncf.php, replacing the variable www.example.com with the real domain name, where your X-Cart is installed.
4. Enter the Auth code, accept the License Agreement and click the Next button.
5. The installation script copies the files and activates the module. Click the Next button to continue.
6. The installation script generates a new system fingerprint. Click the Next button to complete the installation.
7. Use the ADMINISTRATOR AREA link to log in to the Admin area.

To uninstall the Amazon CDN module:

1. In a web browser, run the installation script at http://www.example.com/install-amazoncf.php, replacing the "www.example.com" with the real domain name, where your X-Cart is installed.
2. Choose the Uninstall the module option, enter the Auth code, accept the License Agreement and click the Next button.
3. Once the installation script has removed the Amazon CDN module files and deactivated the module, click the Next button to complete the uninstallation.
4. On the Uninstallation complete screen, click Next to leave the Wizard.
   
   Important: After you have uninstalled the Amazon CDN module, make sure to remove the module's distribution package from your web directory as well.

Enabling the Amazon CDN Module in X-Cart

Once you have installed the Amazon CDN module, enable it in your store's Admin area.

To enable the Amazon CDN module:

1. Log in to the X-Cart Admin area and go to the Modules section (Settings menu->Modules).
2. In the list of modules, find the Amazon CDN item and select the check box next to it.
3. Click the Apply changes button to apply the changes.

Now you can leave alone your X-Cart for a few moments and switch to Amazon AWS.

Setting up Amazon AWS

To be able to use the Amazon CDN module, you must get an account with Amazon AWS and obtain API keys for integration (See the section Getting an Amazon AWS account below). If you already have a Amazon AWS account, simply log in to the Amazon AWS Dashboard and create a new keys for your X-Cart store , then proceed to the Configuring the Amazon CDN Module in X-Cart section.

Getting an Amazon AWS account

The Amazon S3 and Amazon Cloudfront services is available on subscription basis with free amount of service. More information is available on the Amazon Web Services site.

To get an AWS account with Amazon, visit https://aws.amazon.com/s3/ and click the Sign Up button located at the top right hand corner of the screen. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the sign up process.

After completing the sign up process, log in to your AWS account and go to the AWS Security Credentials page. On the 'Access keys' tab you will find the keys you will need to start using Amazon S3 Services: an Access key and a Secret key.

Configuring the Amazon CDN Module in X-Cart

Now, tell your X-Cart what it should do with all the stuff you have just set up -- configure the Amazon CDN module that you installed a few steps earlier.

To configure the Amazon CDN module in your X-Cart Admin area:

1. Log in to the X-Cart Admin area.
2. Select Settings -> Modules on the menu.
3. Scroll down until you see the Amazon CDN module item and click on the Configure link opposite it. The Amazon CDN module configuration page opens.
   
4. Adjust the Amazon CDN module configuration settings and click the Apply changes button.

To configure settings please follow context help at the module configuration page.