POE-Component-PSD version 0.01
==============================

An HTTP/HTTPS "Persistent Session Daemon" and CGI accelerator.

Summary:

. a new approach to true persistent session processes with CGI
. lightweight event-driven HTTP/HTTPS server manages sessions
. each CGI session runs in it's own process--no more overlaps!
. based on a pattern I call "Server / Controller / SubProcess"
   a hugely useful pattern that consists of three components: 
   a network server, a process manager, and a set of child 
   processes that asynchronously perform long-running tasks 

. ability to direct-connect, or proxy through an Apache server
. proxy/redirection URLs integrate seamlessly w/existing apps
. can load balance w/multiple servers, or on multiple hosts
. uses Apache-style directives in the server configuration file
. back-end CGI is a file descriptor; not limited to Perl scripts

. includes subclass of CGI.pm to help with persistence issues
. includes a module to selectively proxy from Apache server
. includes two alternatives to adding another Perl module into
   your Apache server: using either mod_proxy or mod_rewrite
. includes a script to create/self-sign SSL server certificates
. no recompiling Apache or building C-libs is necessary (well,
   unless you need to add mod_proxy, mod_ssl or OpenSSL)

. has other uses, too, such as URL-addressable shared memory
. great for secure access to user data and/or on machines where 
   running a full Web server is not appropriate

It's still somewhere between a proof-of-concept and a prototype, 
and is a bit rough around the edges. Your feedback is welcome.

Planned improvements include the following.
. support additional Apache-style configuration directives
   such as <VirtualHost> for concurrent HTTP and HTTPS
. able to "resume" sessions after timeout, not just "restart"
   based on session config settings
. support for "admin" sessions to query the PSD server
. support for configurable number of session cookies, with
   some number of read-only and some number of read-write
. add some client script examples of login and access


INSTALLATION

To install this module type the following:

   perl Makefile.PL
   make
   make test
   make install

DEPENDENCIES

This module requires these other modules and libraries:
Standard modules
   CGI
   POSIX
   File::Handle

Additional packages required
   Apache-Admin-Config
   Digest-MD5
   IO-Socket-SSL
   Net-SSLeay
   POE
   POE-Component-Server-SimpleHTTP
   POE-Component-SSLify
   PTools
   Time-HiRes

   OpenSSL libraries and executable
   Apache Web server with mod_ssl and mod_proxy
   (mod_rewrite optionally can be used)

Optional with mod_perl 1.x
   Apache::Constants
   Apache::URI

Optional with mod_perl 2.x (i.e.: version 1.99)
   Apache2::Const
   Apache2::URI
   APR::URI

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

Copyright (C) 2006-2007 by Chris Cobb
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.8 or,
at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.