which web server is better

[abdul]

apache OR IIS

please also keep the # of connection at one time in mind!

[Wynd]

Well, it depends. I would say IIS is better because it supports ASP, which Apache doesn't without extra software. The reverse is true with CGI. I have no idea about the number of connections except that unless you have Windows 2000 Server, IIS can only have 10 connections at one time.

[abdul]

I have windows 2000 pro but not server.

Does IIS support CGI?
If you use apache, will it support more than 10 connections?
Is ASP better than CGI?

[Wynd]

>>Does IIS support CGI?
Yeah, but you have to install software for it.

>>If you use apache, will it support more than 10 connections?
Sorry, have no idea on this one.

>>Is ASP better than CGI?
Depends on your preference. ASP is, in my opinion, a lot easier to write and understand, especially if you know VBScript or JScript. I believe it is more secure also, someone correct me on this if I am wrong,

[JoshT]

Both IIS (on Windows server) and Apache should be able to support as many connections as the hardware allows. IIS has no problem with CGI. And I could argue that ASP is CGI, only it doesn't run a seperate executable for every request like Perl or PHP.

As far as security, it's really the skill of the programmers and administrators that make it.

[parksie]

Apache has mod_perl and mod_php which keep a copy of the interpreter in memory at all times so it's more the web server parsing the pages, and it's a LOT FASTER.

[CiberTHuG]

Originally posted by JoshT
Both IIS (on Windows server) and Apache should be able to support as many connections as the hardware allows

The catch here is "on Windows server". IIS has a 10 connection lisence limit on W2K Pro. Apache has no such limit, and will serve as many connections as it can given your hardware. It is faster per connection, too. I would say it is more stable, but I've not worked with Apache on an MS platform. I think the Apache Group considers Windows Apache a beta product since anyone who cares enough to run a server as good as Apache, cares enough to run it on a Unix/GNU platform (such as Linux).

As to which is better, ASP or CGI or PHP? I would probably recommend PHP. I don't see JScript having much of a future or support from MS, and I'm just not a big fan of VB/VBScript. They are good primer languages or for hobbyist. Since you are considering Apache, you must have a need, and I would suggest PHP.

Mind you, you have to be very careful with CGI and PHP. There are file permissions among other things that you have to be mindfull of.

[abdul]

OK, I will use apache as my web server and perl as CGI scripting language. Now the last thing is that if I have
win2K pro,
pache web server,
64MB RAM
433MHZ processor
How many connections will the server accept at one time?
And if it does not accept lots of connections then should I upgrade my RAM or Processor? If RAM then do I upgrade it to 128MB or 256MB?

[JoshT]

Good network hardware is important, too. I would increase the RAM before the processor - PC100 /PC133 is dirt cheap, and W2k seems to use about 64MB just to run itself.

IIRC, one basic TCP connection uses 32KB of memory, but the process of serving a web page is going to use a heck of a lot more resources than that.

Also, informal tests I've done make me think that a 7200 RPM hard drive performs about 50% better than a 5400 RPM one. (This was with a IDE ATA/33 controller).

[abdul]

When you say that one TCP connection takes 24kb then do you that one TCP connection is one user connected to the server?

And when I run win2k pro under 64MB RAM, it is running win98 under 8MB RAM-- that is really slow.

PC100/PC133 is dirt cheap

What do mean by that?

[scoutt]

he means by dirt cheap is that you can get a stick of 128Mb PC133 for about $40. that is dirt cheap considering it was around $100+ a month an a half ago

[abdul]

I went to my local computer hardware store and he was selling 128MB for pc100/133 for $59 AND 256MB for pc100/133 for $170

Why is there a big difference between the prices of 128MB RAM and 256MB RAM?

[denniswrenn]

Because 256MB is more RAM!! Do not buy RAM from that guy, I bought 256MB of PC133 for a little over $70... You just have to do some searching around...

[abdul]

Is that in canadian or US dollars?
I was talking about canadian dollars.

[parksie]

What's the conversion rate? I've seen 256MB PC133 on sale for £45

[JoshT]

My main HW supplier is selling 256MB PC133 for US$48. Of course, I've just been given permission to order some DDR RAM and motherboards.

When you say that one TCP connection takes 24kb then do you that one TCP connection is one user connected to the server?

It's one connection - A user downloading a page and a couple images from you would take up a couple of connections. Run netstat at the command prompt while you're surfing the net to see what I mean.

[abdul]

I will check somewhere else too because that is just a small store(not a big market)