Selecting
a Server Operating System |
Usually, Web hosts use either Linux or Microsoft Windows NT Server, but
some may let you choose. Selecting a server is more crucial when you are
purchasing a machine that will be maintained by your own Web developers,
most likely for a colocation setup or if you are going to maintain the website
yourself.
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Linux vs. NT |
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Web servers generally fall into one of two categories :
1.Linux-based
2. Microsoft Windows NT
This is because loyalties within the Internet community are held strongly
for both systems, it can be hard to know which is right for you. Linux a
clone of Unix, the older and more popular of the two systems, has a strong
reputation for reliability and power. On the other hand, many new to the
Web find it difficult to understand and navigate. NT is regarded as easier
to use than Linux for data-driven Web sites; it also supports the user-friendly
Web page design tools in Microsoft’s FrontPage software.
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What is Web server software? |
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Web server software is the application that runs on your computer and makes
Web pages stored on your computer available to Internet users. It also co-ordinates
such things as secure e-commerce transactions and streaming audio and video.
Web server software can also be integrated with databases to make information
stored in your database available to Internet users.
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What are some popular Web server programs? |
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Unlike operating systems, of which there are fairly few, there are quite
a variety of different Web server software packages out there. We'll look
at some pros and cons of each.
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Apache |
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Apache lends itself particularly well to projects that are heavily Java
based. It offers superior handling of the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
application program interface (a program which allows Java-based services
to access information stored in SQL-compliant databases).
Apache, like Linux, is a piece of open-source software. It's maintained
by a group of programmers who create the software for the thrill of it
- not for any expected financial gain. Apache was born in early 1995,
as free Web server software based around NCSA httpd 1.3, which was the
most popular Web server of the day, and a bunch of software patches. From
that it earned it's moniker, which stands for "A PAtCHY server."
Since then, it has been completely re-written, and has become the most
popular WWW server on the Internet.
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Apache Positives |
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Open source updates. it's constantly being updated and you can add functionality
as it becomes available. The software is free. It's hard to beat that
price.
Multi-platform support. Apache can be used on systems that have 80x86-series
(i.e. Intel) processors running either Linux or NT as an OS, or on other
computers running a Unix-type OS on a different processor.
Popular. Apache is the most-used Web server software package in the world.
As such, it's unlikely that further development of the software will ever
cease.
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Apache Negatives |
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No Support. Apache's developers do not provide any type of support for
their product. There are third-party companies that provide Apache support,
but you have to pay for it.
Runs best on Linux. Given two machines with the same hardware and different
operating systems (Linux and NT,)
Apache runs faster on the Linux machine. This means that if you decide
to go with Apache, you should also use Linux to get maximum performance.
If you've decided to use NT, it makes more sense to use the Web server
Microsoft includes with that OS.
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