What is the easiest way to install a R web application through RApache?

Question

Hi all,

I use windows XP and R for my desktop use. And a shared hosting account (at some company) for my web hosting needs.

I wish to create an R web application and I understand that one such way is by using R with Apache through RApache , but since my current shared hosting plan doesn't allow me to install RApache I am a bit stuck.

So... (and here's my question) what would be the easiest/fastest/cost-effective way to get started?

• Buying a more expensive hosting package ?

• Hosting the thing myself? (on windows ?!)

• switch to some other hosting company that permits the use of RApache?

Any suggestion will be most helpful.

Answer 1

Self-hosting is an option if you insist on using RApache. This might be easier than you think. Here's a link to a blog post i read a month ago before i decided to buy the hardware and server my own files. i just watched this seven minute YouTube video tutorial entitled "R Web Application–'Hello World' using RApache" I believe this was just posted today.

In seven minutes, the author walks through building a "hello world" Site using RApache then walks through a more ambitious example, building a user-input form to collect inputs then deliver them to a particular R function--pretty much a exemplary slice of what i suspect most people would want to use RApache for.

A second option is using a web framework. My recommendation here is Django. Why? It's written in Python so you can access R functionality via the python bindings (RPy2). Second, if you are not an experienced web developer, Django is in many ways, a great framework to begin with because it's truly a "full-stack" solution--it works more or less out of the box. In addition, there is a substantial and growing body of quality step-by-setp tutorials, code snippets, and even packaged django Sites, to learn from.

Answer 2

it seems they provide a VMWare image to get up and running quickly.

I suggest you download VMWare player and try the image. Since RApache isn't available for Windows, this is the most simple way, I guess. I wouldn't use that for hosting, but I would first try whether this stack is actually the right thing for your app. Also, this allows you testing things locally.

greetz

back2dos

Answer 3

Doug, Should I read your suggestion as saying that a Django app can call the RPy2 functionality without RApache? If so, that sounds like a solution for folks on shared hosting who can't install the RAPache module.