1. WEB SERVER SOFTWARE FEATURE SETS

2. Web Server Software Features
All Web server software provide some basic features which can be classified as:
Core capabilities
Site management
Application Construction, and
Electronic commerce
UNIT-3 IT2031

3. Web Server Software Features
Core Capabilities
Client Request Processing: A Web server processes client requests that are sent using HTTP protocol, both for static and dynamic pages
IP-Sharing or Virtual Server: A Web server can work as many virtual Web servers, serving many businesses with individual domain names but all domains directing to the same IP address of the computer
UNIT-3 IT2031

4. Web Server Software Features
Core Capabilities (contd..)
Logical File: A Web server can have a logical file name corresponding to a physical file
The physical file may be in the same computer or in another computer, and also the logical name and the physical name do not have to be same
The Web server translates a logical URL into a physical file address
Example, the physical file “c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm” may be configured as logical URL:
UNIT-3 IT2031

5. Web Server Software Features
Core Capabilities (contd..)
Security: Web servers are located publicly on the Internet or privately in an organizational intranet, usually behind the firewalls.
The public documents are configured to be viewed by anonymous users
For extranet users, the files and folders are configured for validation of username and password. Access controls provide or deny access to files based on the username or by extranet company URL
Web servers allow processing digital certificates and private/public key pairs.
Web servers also support Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
UNIT-3 IT2031

6. Web Server Software Features
Core Capabilities (contd..)
FTP: Web servers provide File Transfer Protocol (FTP) services. Thus users can transfer files to and from the server.
Searching: Search engines and indexing programs are standard components of the Web server.
Search engines or search tools search either the existing site or the entire Web.
Site Analysis: Web servers can capture visitor information that are stored in a log file. Information includes:
who is visiting the Web site (the visitor’s URL)
how long the visitor browsed the site
the date and time of each visit, and the pages visited
UNIT-3 IT2031

7. Web Server Software Features
Site Management
A Web server provides tools to manage multiple Web sites, file security, virtual file, and log file analysis
Administration of a Web server can be performed from a remote computer in the network
Administrators can grant or deny Web access to individual computers, groups of computers, or entire domains
Administrators can stop and restart all Web services without stopping and restarting the computer
Site management also include authoring tools such as Microsoft Front page 2000
UNIT-3 IT2031

8. Web Server Software Features
Application Development
Application development includes Web editors and extensions to produce Web pages – either static or dynamic. These include HTML editors such as FrontPage for static Web pages
For dynamic Web pages, there are protocols such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI), Application programming Interface (API), and Active Server Pages (ASP) that are used by programs such as Java, C++, and VBScriot to develop dynamic Web pages
UNIT-3 IT2031

9. Web Server Software Features
Application Development (Contd..)
Active Server Pages (ASP):
Developed by Microsoft, it is a server-side scripting technology to build dynamic Web applications.
With ASP, one can build Web pages with embedded query strings for database manipulation using scripting languages such as VBScript and JavaScript.
UNIT-3 IT2031

10. Web Server Software Features
Application Development (Contd..)
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and ActiveX Data Object (ADO) mechanisms, both developed by Microsoft, can be used to develop dynamic Web pages that use database connection of variety of databases from different manufactures (such as SQL Server, DB2, and Oracle)
UNIT-3 IT2031

11. Web Server Software Features
Application Development (Contd..)
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC):
Similar to ODBC, JDBC is another technology developed by Sun Microsystems, that is used for Web-database applications,
It is written in Java
It runs on Unix Web servers
UNIT-3 IT2031

12. Web Server Software Features
Electronic Commerce
Some Web servers provide advanced services that support online selling and buying (such as shopping cart and catalog services)
An electronic commerce software can also provide templates and other tools to quickly develop an e-commerce site. This might include templates for product browsing, shopping carts, and credit card processing.
UNIT-3 IT2031

13. Web Server Software Features
Electronic Commerce (contd..)
An electronic commerce software is a separate software that integrates with an existing Web server.
Microsoft Commerce Server is an electronic commerce software that enables businesses to engage customers, transact business, and analyze commerce Web sites more effectively.
UNIT-3 IT2031