April 8, 1996
Web servers
Are you being served? -- Unix scales the Web
Your appetite is whet for the Web -- and when it's time to place an order, you'll be choosing a server platform as well as application. Our tests show that, if scalability is what you hunger, a Unix-based system should satisfy.
A year ago, who would have thought that Web servers would become a commodity business? Yet in the fast-paced world of the World Wide Web, that's just what's happened. Prices keep dropping for even the most feature-laden servers -- even Microsoft Corp. in February began giving away its Internet Information Server (IIS) for the price of the call to download it from its Web site.
But even if today's lower -- and even nonexistent -- prices make the decision to install a Web server less of a financial risk than before (in up-front costs, at least), finding the right solution still isn't easy. Before you order a Web server, you need to consider not just performance and features, but your reasons for establishing a Web presence and the direction in which you think you might eventually grow.
GOOD PARTIES TAKE PLANNING. As with all business decisions, before digging in to build a Web server, first identify your purpose. Are you planning to deploy a server just as a trial balloon -- an attempt to get your feet wet with the Web? For quick-and-dirty Web servers, Windows NT and Macintosh-based servers can make a lot of sense: They're relatively simple to set up and tear down; the overall cost of machine and Web server/OS package is typically inexpensive; and the systems don't require the specialized skills that Unix demands. On the other hand, if you hope to implement a mission-critical, Web-based information system that will easily grow with increasing needs, a Unix-based solution could be the ticket.Consider also how you intend to deliver information and how it will change over time: Are you expecting your customers to query your inventory directly? Are people outside of your company trying to locate a person responsible for a particular task? Do you want to publish relatively static information such as handbooks, press releases, and product literature? It's possible, even probable, that the heart of many such projects isn't a Web server at all, but a Web-enabled database. That's because much of the information you want to share may already reside on your DB2 or CICS mainframe query system -- or maybe even just a spreadsheet maintained by someone over in the accounting department.
Regardless of where the necessary information is located, remember that the process of unearthing it and exposing it to the Web will require some careful thinking about data ownership, requirements for updating, chain of command, and who has a need to know what in your organization. Once you've clearly defined the purpose to which you will apply your Web server, and if you're not already specific OS or type of hardware, you'll need to identify the right platform for your needs.
DIFFERENT APPETITES. Unix and NT are both popular server choices, and each has different merits as a Web foundation. Unix is highly scalable and expandable, and has the stability and rich support for third-party applications of a mature technology -- plus getting a Web server running is no great stretch for a competent Unix administrator. If you already have a Unix-savvy staff and some money to spend, then we suggest you go with Netscape Communications Corp.'s highly usable and scalable Netscape Commerce Server 1.12 for Unix.NT is good if you don't know Unix, have a limited budget, or want a wide selection of database servers; our tests show that Netscape Commerce Server 1.13 for NT is a good bet as well.
Why the qualification of extra cash if you go the Unix route? Although it's true that many Unix Web servers are available for free, this won't prevent you from having to spend money on the beefy server hardware that Unix requires.
"If you can afford to do it and have control over your own Unix destiny, then I would recommend Unix," says Bob Matsuoka, president of Sohonet, an Internet Web-hosting provider in New York.
Because Unix is scalable, you can move your Unix-based Web server to a more capable machine, if need be, without too much difficulty. If your site begins to attract many visitors, there's no reason you can't continue to provide a consistent level of service and acceptable response times. That's the real beauty of Unix -- without changing much on your Web site, you can move from a single-processor workstation to a multiple-processor behemoth. And last, Unix can provide access to more than just Web services. If you want to deploy a well-integrated server that handles mailing lists, hosts chat rooms, and supports dial-up terminal users, then Unix really is the only game in town.
If you don't know Unix and don't want to start learning it, Windows NT makes perfect sense as "my first Web server."
"Unix is great if you have a big budget and can build things from the ground up," Matsuoka says. "Everyone else should go with NT for their Web server."
NT is perhaps the most stable OS that Microsoft has produced in a long time. There are more than a dozen different Web servers for NT to choose from and more are being announced every day. The cost for hardware and software is relatively low, especially because Microsoft gives away IIS and offers many discounts on NT as part of other corporate programs. And there are a variety of third-party add-on products available to enhance your NT Web services.
But most important to the NT equation is how a database fits in. As we mentioned earlier, any real interest in the Web eventually comes back to examining some sort of database. Given the number of database servers available for NT and the amount of innovation in this area, it is easy to see why NT can be the platform of choice for many corporate Web deployments.
SOUP TO NUTS. Besides setup, performance, and cost, you'll have to consider publishing and administrative features when picking the correct Web server. Publishing includes the capability to create a proxy server and to make use of virtual paths. A proxy server allows your Web server to sit on your corporate firewall -- that way, you can protect your data while offering a portion of it to the outside world. The capability to create virtual paths lets you quickly set up your Web server to point to existing shared directories on your corporate LAN, without having to actually move data.Administrative issues include the capability to keep meaningful log files to track visits. Some servers produce only daily logs, while others allow you more control. A lot of free and inexpensive software is available that lets you manipulate Web server log files; these include e.g. Software Inc.'s WebTrends (http://www.egsoftware.com) and others you'll find listed on Yahoo's directory (http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/
World_Wide_Web/HTTP/Servers/Log_Analysis_Tools).Kevin Wendle, president of c|net Television, in San Francisco, ended up writing his own log-analysis software.
"The problem with standard tools is that they either rely on access logs, are difficult to integrate, or degrade server performance," Wendle says.
On NT Web servers, there's also the issue of how to administer the server software itself. This is not so much of an issue for Unix servers, because they can all be configured from the command line.
Product Comparison side bars
Glossary Notes from the Test Center (Bench)marking Time The Apple of my Web server Features Company and product profits Contributors The OS wars are nothing new. But the explosion of the World Wide Web -- a far-flung and newly popular network historically based on Unix -- brings the clash of the platforms to new prominence. With a majority of Internet servers based on Unix, the question arises: Is Unix really the best system for the Web, or is it simply the most entrenched? With Windows NT's reputation as a stable, usable server platform growing every day, we wondered: Does Microsoft Corp.'s offering have what it takes to sustain the onslaught of the 'net?
We decided to investigate these questions by comparing the performances of Web servers that are available on both Unix and NT.
When it comes to scalability (as a ratio of speed to CPU utilization), two of the three Unix-based packages we tested outshone their NT counterparts -- making Unix preferable to NT for use on highly trafficked Internet servers and as the centerpiece of very large intranets.
As for ease of use, we found this variable to be defined more by implementation than by platform -- we saw well-designed and poorly designed interfaces on both NT and Unix.
If you're already committed to either operating system, you'll see from our test results that, of the three software titles in this comparison, one took top honors on both OSes -- the relatively speedy and highly scalable Netscape Communications Corp.'s Netscape Commerce Server 1.12 for Unix and the usable Netscape Commerce Server 1.13 for NT.
Whereas our winner rode in on Unix, so too did our loser. Spry SafetyWeb Server for Unix, from Spry (division of CompuServe Inc.), performed hideously in our timed tests and has an installation interface that only a mother could love.
NaviServer 2.0 and NaviPress 1.1 for Unix and Spry SafetyWeb Server for NT scored overall within four-tenths of a percentage point of each other -- NaviServer for Unix being reasonably scalable but difficult to install and administer, and SafetyWeb for NT delivering fairly helpful administrative tools but middling performance. A note about pricing: We built our test platforms to the minimum level necessary to bring the Web servers up on their respective OSes. By definition, our NT server platform cost less, our Unix box more. In the spirit of solution-oriented testing, we scored prices accordingly.
And finally, a note about the dynamism of the Web market: During the course of our testing, the price of every product in our comparison dipped dramatically -- with NaviServer for Unix swan-diving from almost $5,000 to free distribution over the 'net. We guess that's at least partly in answer to Microsoft Corp.'s positioning of Internet Information Server -- and we anticipate that Web server vendors will continue to reprice, reposition, and modify products in response to Microsoft's and others' competitive pressures in the short term.
In the longer term, the very look and functionality of Web servers and clients are bound to change dramatically. As Java applications propagate, the entire Web landscape is expected to shift toward interactivity; some observers even guess that Web browsers will eventually become the de facto front end to all applications -- local and remote.
The Score
- Netscape Commerce Server 1.12 for Unix -- 7.4
- Netscape Commerce Server 1.13 for NT -- 6.8
- Spry SafetyWeb Server for NT -- 5.5
- NaviServer 2.0 and NaviPress 1.1 for Unix -- 5.1
- NaviServer 2.0 and NaviPress 1.1 for NT -- 4.6
- Spry SafetyWeb Server for Unix -- 4.0
Contributors
Tested and reviewed by Greg Johnson - Technology Analyst
and Victor R. Garza - Project Leader
Tests developed by Victor R. Garza
Test scripts programmed by Terence Ng - Technology Analyst
Additional testing by Caroline Farmer - Associate Editor
Introduction by David Strom
Edited by Michelle Murdock - Senior Editor
and Caroline Farmer - Associate EditorQuestions or comments about this comparison? Please send E-mail to Victor R. Garza at victor_garza@infoworld.com.
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Copyright © 1996 by InfoWorld Publishing Company
