Vibrant MCSE BOOT Camp Notes :
Back : Contents : MCSE :

Server Software

After you have decided on a server, it's time to look at software that will serve your information. The only server software packages essential to an intranet are a Web server and a mail server. If you want real-time audio, you must also choose a streaming audio server or some other audio server. You may need a streaming video server as well if you plan to utilize real-time video or video-conferencing. You also may need to run a database on your server.

Web Servers

If you want a basic Web server, almost any will do. For instance, if you merely want to serve HTML pages and images, without secure transmissions or complex authentication, you can use any Web server. Regardless of the operating system you're using, you can find a free Web server. The NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing) makes a Web server that can be used by almost any operating system; it's free on the Internet at http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/. Of course, Netscape, Oracle, O'Reilly, Apache, Microsoft, and dozens of other companies are in the running for your server dollars. If you're using Windows NT, UNIX, or Linux, you definitely have a mail server built in and possibly a Web server as well. However, the NT mail server will need software upgrades in order to send Internet mail. Mail servers also are available for every operating system, and these also are free and quite functional. Perhaps now or down the road, you will want to add other servers, such as audio and video. (For detailed information on audio and video servers, read Chapter 8 "Server Software.") If you're considering audio and video servers, be prepared to put down some bucks. Also, if you want Web servers with special features that talk to your database or provide secure transmission, be prepared to spend some serious money. Secure Web servers can run as high as $10,000, and audio and video streaming servers can cost several thousand dollars, depending on quality.

back