Using RPMs to install open source toolkits such as dojo, Smarty, and Zend Framework allows hosting companies to create a cost-efficient architecture to offer clients servers ready to support RIAs and sophisticated sites.

This may improve security by allowing the hosting company to prevent clients from modifying open source products. Access to the code can be provided easily through the use of symlinks. Account setup can be automated with server management/admin software like WebHostManager and Plesk - by customizing the account setup scripts with additional RPMs.

Advantages:

• Significant savings in disk space
• Elimination of installation at the account level
• Permission management performed at the server level
• Ease of toolkit maintenance, a single installation can be upgraded for the whole server
• Offering an RIA ready server is a valuable service that may be delivered in a cost effective manner. It may be an offering that makes one hosting company more attractive to clients than another, in other words, good business sense.

Disadvantages:

• Changes to the toolkits will affect every site, thus they cannot be changed easily, and upgrades may be disruptive. However, based on the assumption that this code should not be modified, and upgrades are often security related, synchronizing the toolkits across the server is reasonable.
• An excellent understanding of the server architecture, software, and RIA toolkits is required for a graceful implementation.