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Windows Hosting Guide
What is
Windows?
Windows is a personal computer operating system from Microsoft that, together with some commonly used
business applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel, has become a de facto
"standard" for individual users in most corporations as well as in most homes.
Can I host my site on Windows?
Yes. As a matter
of fact, more and more people every day are choosing Windows as their hosting
platform. The tools for developing web applications on the Windows platform are
quickly gaining momentum in the web design marketplace, in turn making creating
websites on Windows more appealing.
What
is IIS, and what can it do for me?
IIS (Internet Information Server) is a group of Internet servers (including a
Web or Hypertext Transfer Protocol server and a File Transfer Protocol server)
with additional capabilities for Microsoft's Windows NT and Windows 2000 Server
operating systems. IIS is Microsoft's entry to compete in the Internet server
market that is also addressed by Apache, Sun Microsystems, O'Reilly, and others.
With IIS, Microsoft includes a set of programs for building and administering
Web sites, a search engine, and support for writing Web-based applications that
access databases. Microsoft points out that IIS is tightly integrated with the
Windows NT and 2000 Servers in a number of ways, resulting in faster Web page
serving.
Why should I choose to host my site on a Windows-based
machine?
Windows machines
should be used when Microsoft technologies are needed or desired. IIS (Internet
Information Server) is the standard for utilizing ASP (and ASP.NET), and is
required if you wish to utilize Windows databases, such as Microsoft Access and
SQL Server. Windows hosting is also required if you wish to use any components
(CGI, ISAPI, or COM) that were developed using a Windows-based programming
language.
What scripting languages are available for
Windows?
There are many
options available when it comes to writing CGI scripts on a Windows machine. The
most common at the time of this writing are ASP, ASP.NET, and PHP. There are
many introductions, tutorials, and even sample scripts available on the Internet
when it comes to utilizing these scripting languages.
Can I
get pre-made code for my Windows website?
Yes. There are many pre-made programs and objects written for
Windows web servers. These programs vary in functionality from small components
that you build into your website, to full-blown enterprise applications.
Likewise, the price for such varies as well, ranging from free to very
expensive. There are a number of websites on the internet that cater to Windows
website development, that offer links to both free and purchased
software.
What databases are available for my Window
website?
That depends mostly
on the web hosting provider you select to host your website. There are many
flavors of databases that run on Windows, but the most prevalent among web host
providers are Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server (SQL2000), and MySQL. These
databases (with the exception of Access) are all relational in nature, and allow
highly optimized communication with your website for quick retrieval of
information. Microsoft Access databases are actually just database files created
with Microsoft Access that the web server can read and write to. Access
databases don’t offer the processing power of the other database options.
How does Windows compare to Unix Hosting?
Here is a short comparison of key features, and
which are available for the Windows and Unix platforms.
| Features |
Unix/Linux |
Windows |
| MS FrontPage
2000, 2002 |
X |
X |
| Flash |
X |
X |
| Shockwave |
X |
X |
| Real
Audio/Video |
X |
X |
| Cgi Scripts |
X |
X |
| Perl |
X |
X |
| PHP |
X |
X |
| SSH (Secure
Telnet) |
X |
X |
| MySQL |
X |
X |
| Web-Based Control
System |
X |
|
| Anonymous FTP |
X |
X |
| Web Site Graphical
Statistics |
X |
X |
| Web-Based Email
System |
X |
X |
| SQL 2000 |
|
X |
| Miva/XML |
X |
X |
| Cold Fusion |
X |
X |
| ASP (Active Server
Pages) |
X |
X |
| MS Access |
|
X |
| Visual Basic
Scripts |
|
X |
| Windows Media |
|
X |
What should be my main concerns when searching for a Windows
hosting provider?
As with
any business relationship, it is important that you provider has a solid
foundation in the business, and isn’t a fly-by-night type of operation. Many
web-hosting providers fail each year, so it is important to find a
well-established company to do business with. Next, you want to make sure of
their technical abilities. What are their technician’s qualifications, what is
their connection to the Internet, what are their guarantees in regards to
customer support and uptime? All of these questions are crucial to locating and
selecting a quality Windows hosting provider.
What qualifications should my Windows host
provide?
It is essential
that the support and management staff be properly trained to handle all of the
nuances associated with networking and hosting on the Windows platform. The two
most acceptable certifications in this matter are the MCSA and the MCSE. The
MCSE certification covers the planning, design, and implementation Microsoft
Windows server solutions and architectures. The MCSA is more of an
administration certification, which covers the management and maintenance of
typically complex computing environments of medium- to large-sized
companies.
Glossary of terms:
ASP
An Active Server Page (ASP) is an
HTML page that includes one or more scripts (small embedded programs) that are
processed on a Microsoft Web server before the page is sent to the user. ASP is
a feature of the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), but, since the
server-side script is just building a regular HTML page, it can be delivered to
almost any browser.
ASP.NET
ASP.NET (originally called ASP+)
is the next generation of Microsoft's Active Server Page (ASP), a feature of
their Internet Information Server (IIS). Both ASP and ASP.NET allow a Web site
builder to dynamically build Web pages on the fly by inserting queries to a
relational database in the Web page. ASP.NET is different than its predecessor
in two major ways: it supports code written in compiled languages such as Visual
Basic, C++, C#, and Perl, and it features server controls that can separate the
code from the content, allowing WYSIWYG editing of pages.
CGI
Common
Gateway Interface. In Layman’s terms, a CGI program is a program that can be
executed as part of a web server process.
Cold Fusion
Special software package that simplifies the creation of database driven web
sites.
Component
A small
piece of functionality, that may consist of a script, small program, or even a
COM object that can be used within a Windows website.
MCSA
Microsoft
Certified Systems Administrators (MCSAs) administer network and systems
environments based on the Microsoft Windows® platforms.
MCSE
Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineers (MCSEs) analyze business requirements to design and
implement an infrastructure solution based on the Windows platform and Microsoft
Servers software.
PHP
In Web
programming, PHP is a script language and interpreter that is freely available
and used primarily on Linux Web servers.
SQL SERVER
This
is Microsoft’s SQL based database server. It’s speed and processing power are
among the best available in the industry today.
Uptime
Uptime is
a computer industry term for the time during which a computer is operational.
Downtime is the time when it isn't operational. Uptime is sometimes measured in
terms of a percentile. For example, one standard for uptime that is sometimes
discussed is a goal called five 9s - that is, a computer that is operational
99.999 percent of the time. |
