Windows NT is fast becoming the platform of choice for Web
sites on the Internet. Superb connectivity, formidable security, and
true multiplatform compatibility make it a favorite of Web
professionals. To join the mad dash to the Internet and start your own
World Wide Web site, the easiest and most feature-rich way is to
purchase one of the growing number of commercial Web servers. Be aware
that they are not all the same.
Different Web servers have different strengths and weaknesses.
Most provide the basics: They speak Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML); and they support the Common
Gateway Interface (CGI) and some sort of user authentication. (To expand
your Web capabilities and connect custom applications, CGI lets you
execute programs external to the Web server and return the data to your
browser.) Otherwise, Web servers are as varied as the Internet itself.
Remote administration is important if you plan to update
information remotely. If you plan to charge a fee for using your Web
site, you'll need a mechanism to differentiate between paying and
non-paying customers. And so on.
To help you choose among the options available, the Windows NT
Magazine Lab reviewed available commercial Web server packages for
Windows NT. All offered excellent performance and reliability. We look
forward to future versions of each. Our recommendations, however, are
based on our own experiences of the needs of a typical Web site. If you
have more specific needs, your choice may differ from ours.
Infobase Web Server
If you use Folio Views, the
Infobase Web Server will be irresistible. Folio Views lets you collect,
index, and store data in files called infobases. You can retrieve,
annotate, and customize that data with various clients. Many commercial
CD-ROM reference libraries use this engine.
The Infobase Web Server from Folio Corp. is an extension to its
flagship product. Based on the European Microsoft Windows NT Academic
Center (EMWAC) server, the Infobase Web Server has many Folio
enhancements. It is a full-featured Web server that lets you serve
infobases over the Internet.
Installation
We tested a beta version of this product,
and installation was routine. You run NTSETUP.EXE to copy several files
to the hard disk. It installs three system files into the SYSTEM32
directory; other files go into the data directory you specify, default
files in C:\win32app\webserve\. A program group is created and several
icons installed.
Getting On-Line
Since the Infobase Web Server primarily
supports Folio infobases, you use the Data Source Manager to add any
infobases to be available on the Internet. You will want a home page as
well. The Web server creates a default home page, but it's just to test
your infobases.
Once you add the infobases and create your home page, you can
change default options. The Control Panel contains the Professional Web
Server. It is used to set access control, virtual paths, proxy-server
information, etc.
You can access the Infobase Web Server with any Web browser on
any platform. It converts discrete portions of infobases to HTML in
real-time, then passes the translated information to the Web browser.
Real-time conversions of the infobase reduce your bandwidth
requirements. Instead of an entire infobase, you only receive portions
of it in HTML pages. Since it remains in native format, it retains the
dynamic capabilities of Folio Views. Local users update the infobases in
real-time, and the new information is available immediately to anyone,
local or on the Web. If you use Folio Views to publish information, the
Infobase Web Server is an inexpensive way to connect your remote
locations.
What you see on your Web browser is familiar to Folio Views
veterans and simple enough for the uninitiated user. An expandable and
collapsible Table of Contents, hypertext links, and a querying facility
allow you to find information quickly and accurately.
The Infobase Web Server supports HTTP 1.0, CGI 1.1, and HTML 2.0
protocols. It can act as a proxy server for HTTP, Gopher, and FTP
requests-a nice bonus for the security-conscious. Support for virtual
paths and directory browsing make it a full-featured server. Its
drawbacks? It lacks both remote-administration capabilities and any
extended statistical information. However, if you publish information
with Folio Views and want to make it available on the Internet, the
Infobase Web Server is really the only package to consider.
NetPublisher
If you want to publish information on the
Web but you don't have HTML expertise-or the inclination to learn-relax.
NetPublisher from Ameritech Library Service enables you to publish
WordPerfect, ASCII text, or HTML documents on the Web using drag and
drop.
Installation
The setup program asks for the standard
items, such as IP addresses, domain names, target directories. You also
need to know how many Z39.50 (a client/server search/retrieval protocol)
connections you want and what port numbers you want to assign to the
Web, Gopher, and Z39.50 .
Flat Learning Curve
NetPublisher includes toolbar
buttons, graphical menus, drag-and-drop assembly, and a template wizard
in its bag of tricks. These tools virtually eliminate the need to know
HTML. To publish a WordPerfect document, you drag it from File Manager
into the Publication window, and voilà, you're on-line.
NetPublisher supports both HTTP and Gopher so you can provide
information to both simultaneously. You need not maintain two sets of
data; NetPublisher uses the same data for both.
This Web server is best suited to displaying large amounts of
indexed information. It lets you catalog items in your publication so
you can search through them with your own forms or with standard
Internet search engines, such as Jughead. Catalogued items appear as
abstract information and are displayed differently depending on the type
of client requesting the information. This makes NetPublisher a natural
choice for publishing course catalogs, speeches, books, or magazine
collections.
Tools
NetPublisher organizes information into
Publications (i.e., files containing all the information to be published
on the Internet). Publications also store catalog information and
content type. The editor creates and manages them and displays
Publication information in a window in either item view or tree view.
Item view displays each Publication item; tree view shows its actual
structure or flow. NetPublisher doesn't create content; it organizes it
into items: files, image maps, menus, directories, foreign links, and
form items.
NetPublisher works particularly well with forms and searches.
Ordinarily, you need an external program to index and search your Web
site. NetPublisher provides a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) that lets you
search the indexes stored with each item. You can associate forms with
DLLs that Ameritech provides to search the entire Publication or log
form data to a file. Quick, easy, and no CGI!
An excellent image map editor complements NetPublisher's
toolset. With it you can easily create the point-and-click images you
see on the Internet. Select your .GIF file, drag the mouse to create a
hot spot, associate an item with that hot spot, and you're done.
NetPublisher administration is performed with Monitor; its tools
start and stop the server, view log files, and set security for user
access. Monitor lets you do reverse DNS lookup on each individual
transaction. While it may save some processor time, I found it
cumbersome.
The lack of remote administration bothers me on this product.
But to get up on the Web fast without learning CGI or HTML, NetPublisher
fills the bill.
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