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Linux vs. NT

Web servers generally fall into one of two categories :
1.Linux-based
2. Microsoft Windows NT

This is because loyalties within the Internet community are held strongly for both systems, it can be hard to know which is right for you. Linux a clone of Unix, the older and more popular of the two systems, has a strong reputation for reliability and power. On the other hand, many new to the Web find it difficult to understand and navigate. NT is regarded as easier to use than Linux for data-driven Web sites; it also supports the user-friendly Web page design tools in Microsoft’s FrontPage software.

What is Web server software?

Web server software is the application that runs on your computer and makes Web pages stored on your computer available to Internet users. It also co-ordinates such things as secure e-commerce transactions and streaming audio and video. Web server software can also be integrated with databases to make information stored in your database available to Internet users.

What are some popular Web server programs?

Unlike operating systems, of which there are fairly few, there are quite a variety of different Web server software packages out there. We'll look at some pros and cons of each.

Apache

Apache lends itself particularly well to projects that are heavily Java based. It offers superior handling of the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) application program interface (a program which allows Java-based services to access information stored in SQL-compliant databases).

Apache, like Linux, is a piece of open-source software. It's maintained by a group of programmers who create the software for the thrill of it - not for any expected financial gain. Apache was born in early 1995, as free Web server software based around NCSA httpd 1.3, which was the most popular Web server of the day, and a bunch of software patches. From that it earned it's moniker, which stands for "A PAtCHY server." Since then, it has been completely re-written, and has become the most popular WWW server on the Internet.

Apache Positives

Open source updates. it's constantly being updated and you can add functionality as it becomes available. The software is free. It's hard to beat that price.

Multi-platform support. Apache can be used on systems that have 80x86-series (i.e. Intel) processors running either Linux or NT as an OS, or on other computers running a Unix-type OS on a different processor.

Popular. Apache is the most-used Web server software package in the world. As such, it's unlikely that further development of the software will ever cease.

Apache Negatives

No Support. Apache's developers do not provide any type of support for their product. There are third-party companies that provide Apache support, but you have to pay for it.

Runs best on Linux. Given two machines with the same hardware and different operating systems (Linux and NT,)
Apache runs faster on the Linux machine. This means that if you decide to go with Apache, you should also use Linux to get maximum performance. If you've decided to use NT, it makes more sense to use the Web server Microsoft includes with that OS.