HTTPD servers:

Information publishing is an important element of electronic commerce. Organizations must how to publish information via world wide web servers. Installing and maintaining a web server is not a trivial matter, however, given the security and administrative issues involved. There are now a number of web servers to choose from and several are very easy to install and administer. In fact the difficulty lies not so much in installing and maintaining a web server but in choosing a server that best fits the organizations needs. Issues to be considered include the following:

• What platform and operating system is the right choice?
• What kind of traffic loads are anticipated on the web server heavy or light?
• What kind of security features are envisioned?
• How flexible and robust does the server need to be?

Flexibility, ease of administration, security features and familiarity often ranks much higher in the decision process than other criteria such as raw performance. It is also important to evaluate the tasks for which the web server will be used. A server used for internet based marketing and technical support tasks will need more robust resources than a web server used internally within a firewall for distributing memos and bulletins. New security features make it possible to consider the web as a commercial transaction channel and the web server will have to support those features.

Another important consideration when choosing a web server is the amount of traffic that it will be expected to handle. The number of users on the web is exploding and even a moderately popular site can generate several million connections a month. With a high-speed connection to the Internet such as a T-1 leased line, a web server can bog down very quickly and began to refuse connections.

If you are doing business on the internet it is probably not a good idea to turn away potential customers. HTTPD servers are ideal for companies that want to provide a multitude of services via the web is with HTML pages and CGI scripts. These simple scripts which can be written or acquired over the internet allow the web server to act as a gateway to other internet services such as data bases and news.

Format, content negotiation and HTTP:
Format, content negotiation is the ability to serve clients of varying sophistication automatically with HTML and other document types that offer the best representation of information that the client is capable of accepting. Format negotiation allows the web to be generic and distance itself from the technical and political battles that surround the various data formats. Format negotiation is an interesting feature of HTTP standard. Here the client sends a list of the representation it understands or data formats it is prepared to accept along with its request.

The intention is that when information is available in multiple variants a server can use the information to ensure that it replies in a suitable way. This feature necessarily copes with the existing mass of document formats. For eg. in the graphics world we have to deal with GIF, TIFF, JPEG, BMP and so on. A spin off of this feature involves high-levlel formats for handling specific data. In certain fields spacial data formats have been designed for handling such applications as chemistry codes, the spectra of stars, classical Greek, or the design of bridges.

Those working in the field use software enabling them not only to view this data but also to manipulate it, analyze it and modify it. When the server and the client both understand such a high-level format, then
they can take advantage of it and the data are transferred in that way. At the same time other people, without the special software can still view the data, if the server can convert it into an inferior but still
useful form. In other words, we can adhere to the web goal of “universal readership” without compromising total functionality at the high level.

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