Why Windows 2000 is a Great
Web Server
Introductionwww.tartoos.com
Whether your business is a
tiny startup or a Fortune 100 mainstay, the Microsoft® Windows® 2000
Server operating system can help you build the Internet into every part of
your organization. From hosting a simple Web site to building a
sophisticated e-commerce application, the Web and application services in
Windows 2000 provide the foundation you need to take full advantage of the
Internet.
Building on the strength of
the services in the Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 operating system, Windows
2000 was designed with the Internet very much in mind. In addition to the
fully integrated Internet communications technologies Windows 2000 also
includes fully integrated Internet-enabled application development
technologies. From simple things, such as the ability to understand
Internet addresses, to more complex capabilities, such as the ability to
create software that links a Web browser to a central database, Windows
2000 is uniquely capable of helping your business take advantage of the
Internet.
This document provides an
overview of the Web and application capabilities provided by Windows 2000.
Web Serviceswww.tartoos.com
The heart of the Windows
2000 Web and Application services is the built-in Web server, Internet
Information Service (IIS) 5.0. This full-featured server lets you host Web
sites that can take advantage of interactive applications. IIS 5.0
supports the latest Internet standards, so your business can take
advantage of the full scope of Internet technologies.
IIS 5.0 features increased
reliability, scalability, and performance. These improvements stem from
advances made throughout the operating system: from the Windows 2000
kernel to specific refinements to IIS itself. In addition, for developing
Web sites and applications, IIS 5.0 includes an enhanced version of the
Active Server Pages (ASP) server-scripting environment.
Setting up a Web server with
Windows 2000 is very simple. It is integrated with the operating system
and is installed by default on both Server and Advanced Server.
Successfully integrating the
Internet into your business generally requires more than a Web server,
however. Creating custom Web sites and dynamic interactions with
employees, customers, and partners requires Web-enabled programming
services. That’s where the Windows 2000 application services come in.
Application Serviceswww.tartoos.com
To make it easier to create
Internet-enabled software, Windows 2000 includes integrated application
services that operate hand in hand with IIS 5.0. Using these services,
developers can build new Web-enabled applications and retrofit existing
software to add Internet-based capabilities.
For example, if you’re
setting up a Web-based storefront, you need to provide a way for customers
to view a catalog, place an order, and track shipments. You also need to
ensure that all the Web-based transactions are recorded properly in your
back-end systems. These are the type of software development and
integration tasks that are simplified by the Windows 2000 application
services. By integrating the services required to write and connect these
software processes, Windows 2000 makes it easy for developers to quickly
build applications that use a consistent development and security model.
The specific application
development services in Windows 2000 include:
-
Component Object Model
(COM+)—advanced programming model for writing component-based
distributed applications, with support for transactions.
-
Language independent
development environment—COM+ components can be created in virtually
any programming language. The IIS 5.0 ASP scripting environment supports
VBScript and Jscript.
-
MSMQ—messaging
infrastructure allows applications to account for and take advantage of
the time delays typical during the processing of Web transactions
-
Data Access
Technologies—Integrated data access technologies like ADO and OLE DB
make it easy for your applications to access virtually any type of data.
-
XML Processor—An
integrated high-performance scalable XML processor lets you enable your
applications and Web sites to take advantage of the XML data interchange
revolution.
Building on Windows 2000www.tartoos.com
The Web and Application
services in Windows 2000 take advantage of the many improvements to the
core operating system. Windows 2000 supports greatly improved reliability,
reduced number of required reboots, increased networking performance,
increased security, and greatly improved management services.
Reliability:www.tartoos.com
To ensure that your
Web sites and Web applications stay up and running, the Windows 2000 Web
and Application services take advantage of the increased reliability of
the Windows 2000 operating system and enhancements to the core Web
Services. IIS 5.0 makes it easier to restart services, and it can even
automatically restart itself if a bad Web application does cause a crash.
In addition, IIS 5.0 supports an improved application protection model to
help make sure that bad applications can’t crash the Web server. For even
greater reliability, Windows 2000 Advanced Server integrates Network Load
Balancing and Microsoft Cluster Service, which allows a group of computers
to work together. If one computer in the group fails, the others pick up
its workload.
Scalability:www.tartoos.com
With Windows 2000, you
can operate everything from a single-server Web site to an enormous site
running on a room full of Web servers. As your site grows, you can meet
the higher performance and workload requirements by increasing your
computer’s capacity (scaling up) or by adding more computers (scaling
out). You can scale up by adding processors and memory or by purchasing
larger servers. You can scale out by using clustering services to connect
multiple servers together and network load balancing to distribute the
work across the servers. Either approach is cost effective, as Windows
2000 uses inexpensive, industry-standard hardware. This also allows you to
buy hardware as you need it, rather than having to overbuy to allow for
site growth.
Manageability:www.tartoos.com
A number of new
features make it easier to manage your Web servers. For example, Windows
2000 offers greatly simplified local and remote management, which
increases an administrator’s flexibility and helps reduce the amount of
time spent managing the system. In addition, it is easier to run multiple
sites from a single server, and you can delegate administration tasks so
different people can manage different Web sites without being an
administrator on the entire server. This helps administrators, because
they can let department-level people manage their own Web sites while
retaining control of they overall server.www.tartoos.com
Security:
Windows 2000 security
services provide an integrated, comprehensive, and interoperable security
solution for protecting your most sensitive applications and data. Windows
2000 provides 128-bit security and takes advantage of the latest security
standards such as Digest Authentication, Kerberos v5 authentication, and
Fortezza. Because Windows 2000 includes Active Directory, application
developers can take advantage of centralized security services for object
naming and location, user authentication, single sign-on, and centralized
configuration and policy management.
Software and data
integration:
www.tartoos.com
Windows 2000 Server supports
a full range of industry standards to allow you to build applications that
integrate with databases, mail servers, and other existing systems. The
Extended Markup Language (XML) support in Windows 2000 is particularly
important for integrating information from different sources. XML is a
data format for structured document interchange on the Web that gives
developers a standard way to use information regardless of how it was
created. Developers also have a number of options for working with
applications running on other operating systems. In addition to built-in
basic NetWare connectivity, Microsoft offers Services for NetWare and
Services for Unix for greater integration with these systems. Windows 2000
also includes Microsoft Data Access Components such as ADO and OLE DB.
These technologies give you easy access to virtually any type of data
source.
Hardware Support:
Windows 2000 lets you
take advantage of the latest hardware to make your site even faster and
more secure. Examples include multi-processor systems, smart cards, and
commerce accelerators. Commerce accelerators are hardware cards that you
plug into your servers to speed up the secure socket layer (SSL)
processing. The accelerator offloads the specialized encryption processing
required for SSL processing and frees up the processor to execute your
business logic.www.tartoos.com
Conclusion
Building on the core
strengths of the Windows 2000 platform, the operating system’s integrated
application services make it easier for developers to write Web-enabled
software that lets your business take advantage of the Internet.
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