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Web Server Administration

Chapter 1The Basics of Server and Web

Server Administration

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Overview Review the Internet and the World

Wide Web Learn about server administration Learn about Web server

administration Explore the common tasks and

services performed by administrators Examine networking building blocks Compare Web server platforms

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Review the Internet and the World Wide Web The Internet is a worldwide network of

networks Shares WAN used by the international

telecommunications network Uses TCP/IP

Where the Internet uses the HTTP protocol, it is called the Web Web servers use HTTP to communicate

The Internet is not centrally controlled

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Review the Internet and the World Wide Web Internet had its origins in the 1960s In 1995 a high-speed backbone was

created Included 4 network access points

(NAPs) More have been created since then

Now much Internet traffic is handled without going through NAPs Peering agreements allow this

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Understanding Server Administration

Server administrators Focus on the LAN Provide access to software and

services Make sure environment is reliable and

consistent Minimize harm that users can do to

network

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Working with Users

A LAN can serve hundreds or even thousands of users

Users need to be productive Users like consistency

Roaming profiles allow users to have the same personalized desktop environment on multiple computers

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Establishing Access Control Users need just enough access to do

their jobs, but not more Typically, users are organized into

groups, and groups are given access to network resources

Users can be given different access to the same resources A document can be read by everyone but

modified by only specific people

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Understanding the Server Environment All but the smallest network

includes more than one server With Windows computers, servers

and users’ computers can be organized into domains in order to centralize control

In Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, domains can be grouped into forests

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Understanding Web server Administration Web server administrators focus on

the Internet Need to work with ISPs and Web page

developers Typically, a Web server provides

information to anyone who requests it over the Internet

Web servers can contain other applications such as FTP and e-mail

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Understanding Web server Administration Depending on the size of the

organization, some tasks may be delegated Web page development Database design Programming E-mail administration Security

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Selecting Programs and Databases Web server administrators need to

install programming languages Web developers use a variety of

languages Active Server Pages (ASP)

Original language from Microsoft ASP.Net

A newer environment that includes many languages

Java Server Pages (JSP)

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Selecting Programs and Databases

Non-Microsoft languages are popular, even on Microsoft Web servers Perl – one of the first and still popular PHP – easy to use Java Server Pages (JSP) Macromedia ColdFusion

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Selecting Programs and Databases A database management system (DBMS)

is used to store data used with Web pages Microsoft Access is appropriate for small sites Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle 9i, and MySQL

are sophisticated DBMSs for larger sites Standard Query Language (SQL) is the

language used to communicate with the DBMS

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Managing E-mail Servers

Open by design to accept e-mail from anyone

Spam can be a problem to manage Specific utilities can be used to help

minimize spam Viruses are commonly sent by e-mail

Use virus detection software and keep it updated

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Other Applications Firewall

Helps protect your Web server environment from attack

FTP A service that allows users to download files

from and upload files to a server DNS

Translates host names such as www.technowidgets.com to an IP address

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Administrators' Common Tasks and Services

Installing and configuring systems Maintaining security Monitoring the system Maintenance and backup

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Network Building Blocks-The OSI Model

Layer Name Description

7 Application Responsible for low-level application access to the network.

6 Presentation Can convert data into a format that is understandable to the Application layer.

5 Session Can open, maintain, and shut down communication.

4 Transport Responsible for transporting the data from one computer to another. (TCP and UDP)

3 Network Primarily responsible for addressing between two computers. (IP and ICMP)

2 Data Link Responsible for the interface between the packets coming down through the upper layers and the physical layer.

1 Physical Responsible for transferring the data to the network medium.

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TCP/IP Model

LayerName

CommonComponents

OSI Reference

Application HTTP, SMTP, POP3FTP, DNS

ApplicationPresentationSession

Transport TCP, UDP Transport

Network IP, ICMP Network

Physical Ethernet, FDDI Data LinkPhysical

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TCP/IP Protocols

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Web servers implement this protocol

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Used by e-mail servers (and sometimes

Web servers) to send e-mail Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3)

Used to retrieve e-mail

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TCP/IP Protocols File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Transfers files to and from server Domain Name Service (DNS)

Translates host names to IP addresses and IP addresses to host names

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Creates a reliable connection between

two computers

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TCP/IP Protocols User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Does not establish a connection, just sends messages

Internet Protocol (IP) Provides addressing scheme

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Provides error messages

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Connecting Your LAN to the Internet

Your ISP connects to the Internet A WAN connection is used between

your building and the ISP A T-Carrier connection is often

used A digital connection for voice and

data

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Common T-Carrier Connections

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Connecting to the Internet

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Other ways to Connect to the Internet Integrated services digital network (ISDN)

Dial-up access Basic Rate Interface (BRI) up to 128 Kbps Primary Rate Interface (PRI) up to 1.544 Mbps

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Often differing speeds for uploads and

downloads Depending on type, up to 6.1 Mbps for

downloads and 1.544 Mbps for uploads Cable Modem

Shared access cable provided by cable TV company

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Web Hosting Solutions Standard hosting

Your site resides on the same computer with many other sites

Cheapest solution Dedicated server

You have a server that only you use Co-location

Your own server is physically located at the company that does your Web hosting

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Web Server Platforms-Microsoft Windows NT (IIS 4)

IIS (Internet Information Server) was added in the mid-1990s, and support for ASP was added later

Windows 2000 (IIS 5) IIS part of the OS from the beginning .NET Framework add-on allows use of

ASP.NET Windows Server 2003 (IIS 6)

.NET Framework integrated into OS

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Other Microsoft Server Products

Application Center Allows you to manage a cluster of

servers as if it is one server Biztalk Server

Connects to your business partners using XML

Commerce Server Builds e-commerce sites in a short

amount of time

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Other Microsoft Server Products

Internet Security and Acceleration Server Combines a firewall product with a Web

cache Operations Manager

Helps decrease support costs for a server environment

SharePoint Portal Server Set up a site that is highly personalized

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UNIX/Linux UNIX was introduced in 1969 Linux is from the early 1990s

Based on MINIX Three basic components

Kernel – central portion of OS File system – provides input and

output mechanisms Shell – provides user interface

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Linux

Source code is freely available Developers can make changes

Available from a number of organizations Red Hat Mandrake SuSe

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Summary Server administration focuses on

LANs Web server administration focuses

on the Internet Both types of administrators install,

configure, and maintain servers Many pieces make up the network There are many Web server

platforms from which to choose