Chapter 1: Building a Web Server Environment

General
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Chapter 1: Building a Web Server Environment

1.1 WEB Server Introduction

A web server is a program that resides on the internet, running on a computer of some sort. When a browser (client) connects to the server and requests a file, the server processes the request and sends the file to the browser. This exchange of information is facilitated by the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) protocol. Web servers not only store information but also run scripts and programs based on user input through a web browser.

For instance, when you enter a URL like http://www.google.com in your browser address bar, Google returns the corresponding webpage. The server uses HTTP to exchange information with the browser. Web servers can reside on various types of computers, from personal computers to giant UNIX web servers. Currently, there are two main forms of web server presence on the network:

  1. Virtual Hosts: This technology allows a single host computer to be divided into multiple “virtual” hosts, each with its own domain name and IP address (or shared IP address). Each virtual host has a complete Internet server function, independent of the others. Virtual hosts are completely separate and independent, allowing users to create their own WWW, FTP, and E-mail servers on a single server. This technology has greatly contributed to the widespread adoption of the internet, making it affordable for everyone.

  2. Rental Server Hosting: This involves renting a server from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to host a company’s Web services system. The ISP assigns an IP address to the server and provides necessary maintenance work, updates, and data backup. This is particularly suitable for companies with large amounts of data to transmit over the internet or those that need to publish a lot of information.

1.2 ASP Server

ASP (Active Server Pages) is a server-side scripting language used to replace CGI (Common Gateway Interface) technology. It provides a runtime environment for creating and running dynamic, interactive web applications. If a URL contains the end of an ASP file, such as XXX.com - XXX Sex Videos - Free Porn Movies, then that site is an ASP building site.

To build an ASP server environment, we need to install the IIS (Internet Information Services) server on a Windows operating system. The most common combination in the ASP environment is ASP + ACCESS and ASP + SQL Server. We will teach you how to install both ACCESS and SQL Server databases.

1.2.1 IIS Installation

IIS is a powerful web server that has grown to version 6.0, installed by default in the Windows 2003 operating system. We will use Windows XP to build the ASP environment, as it comes with IIS installed by default. Although Windows XP comes with IIS installed, it is not the default installation. To install IIS, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the system control panel from the system menu [Start] → [Control Panel].
  2. Find the “Add or Remove Programs” panel and double-click to bring up the program management interface.
  3. In the “Add or Remove Programs” panel, click on “Windows Components” and select “Internet Information Services (IIS)”.
  4. In the “Internet Information Services (IIS)” list, select “Web services”, “Frontpage 2000 server extensions”, “Internet information services snap”, and “Public file” on it.
  5. Click the “Next” button to proceed to the file copying stage.
  6. Insert the Windows XP installation CD and continue the installation process until it is complete.

1.2.2 ACCESS Database Installation

An ASP environment requires a back-end database support. For ASP, the common background databases are ACCESS and SQL Server. We will introduce the basic installation and use of these two databases.

ACCESS database is a widely used desktop relational database management system, widely used in small and medium-sized sites. It provides a database with the most commonly used features, easy to use, and low system resource occupancy. However, it has limitations, such as unable to support a large amount of data and does not support advanced features like concurrent access and transaction processing.

To install ACCESS, find the Access 2003 installation disk. ACCESS is usually issued together with Office, so we will install Office 2003 CD-ROM.