NT - ASP Hosting

NT - ASP - Hosting

Windows NT/2000  Unix v/s Windows NT Hosting Part 2

Microsoft's NT is considered the operating system of choice for most new users with advanced needs. It's reputation for ease of use and administration has contributed to considerable gains in market share recently.

NT allows those with little or no experience in the field of web development to get advanced features working very quickly. Using tools and software such as Microsoft's FrontPage, Active server Pages (ASP), Visual Interdev, Access, and M SQL you can have a fully functional site up in a short amount of time. You'll easily be able to include custom pages, built on the fly, and database integration which will allow you to create a very powerful, cutting edge site. Data from customers can be easily stored and manipulated and large product databases can be constructed.

These powerful features and the user friendly environment, however, come at a cost. Money. Lots of money.

In order to implement the features we mentioned earlier you'll have to purchase the software programs which provide these tools from Microsoft. Price tags for these programs range from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Take a look at Microsoft's web site for more pricing information. 

To clarify. It is very easy to integrate Microsoft's programs, and the documents they create, with the NT operating system. However, you still have to learn how to use the programs.

In many cases you will need to spend a considerable amount of time working with these software programs in order to truly take advantage of their many advanced features. You may also wish to attend Microsoft seminars or even hire a professional to provide support for advanced development with some programs.

Microsoft's NT operating system has another drawback. It's very hard on web servers and will require a generous allocation of resources if stability is to be maintained.

While Unix can easily be run in a professional environment on a machine with a single 300 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM, NT generally cannot. What is required in order to maintain relative stability will depend on the server's traffic level and also the number of applications that are running in the background, but a fairly busy NT server will generally require a dual processor system of at least 500 MHz and 256-512 MB of RAM.

Even with a generous hardware setup NT servers will have to be rebooted regularly. As a result, it is especially important that the support staff for an NT host be knowledgeable and reliable.

The Conclusion

Despite all the pros and cons we've listed here for both operating systems, the decision is largely inconsequential for those users without specific, advanced needs.

Usually those users with specific needs will already know which operating system they should choose, but for those of you who are still confused here's a brief summary.

If you work with a designer who specializes in Unix programming, you wish to take advantage of free cgi scripts, or you have a need for a specific Unix routine or program (such as sendmail or My SQL) you should go with a host who supports Unix and thus the features you will require.

If you are strapped for cash Unix will probably also get you the most bang for your buck without sacrificing stability.

If you work with a designer who specializes in the NT operating system, you work with a good number of Microsoft server applications (such as ASP or M SQL), or you have an IT staff which is already comfortable working with NT you should choose a host which runs NT.

Still not sure which operating system to choose? Consider yourself lucky. 

If you don't know by now it's very likely that you could choose either operating system and be just fine. Now you're free to select a host host based on features, pricing, connectivity, and support, without having to eliminate prospects based solely on what operating system they run.

Back to part 1 Unix hosting  Hosting Terms Glossary : A-D  /  E-J  /  K-Z

NT - ASP -  Hosting

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What is MS FrontPage?
Introduction

Microsoft's FrontPage is a lot more than just web design software. In fact, to those just getting their feet wet in the ocean of web development tools, it's probably more like a dream come true.

With its pre-designed themes, templates, and style sheets, FrontPage can help you build and publish a professional looking web site in just a few hours.

Features

With the latest release, FrontPage 2002, Microsoft has taken this software package to a new level.

Built-in templates and wizards allow you to create a web site in only a matter of minutes, and then customize it to make it your own. You can easily add graphics, integrate photo galleries, add backgrounds, create image maps, use pre-designed themes and adjust fonts and formatting in a WYSIWYG manner.

Microsoft has integrated features for web site creation with web site management, e-commerce, and graphics editing tools built right in. FrontPage 2002 even has the ability to help you better understand your visitors through usage analysis reports or get the lowdown on your site's performance with enhanced reports.

Many users will also find Frontage's interface easy to use since it looks and works like Microsoft Office. As part of the Microsoft Office family of products, it shares similar toolbars, menus, clipboards, and familiar features such as the customizable themes and background spell checking. 

Since FrontPage is broadly available and broadly used you can find a wide range of web sites, books, training classes, web professionals and users groups to help you along the way. You can also choose from hundreds of web hosting companies that support creating and editing web sites directly on their servers with FrontPage extensions, and select from a variety of third party add-ons that extend the functionality of FrontPage even further.

The Downside

Are there drawbacks? Some. Functionality is somewhat limited in comparison to the other major design packages. Many advanced design features, such as the authoring of javascript effects and dynamic html elements, are virtually nonexistent. As a result, FrontPage is not usually considered a viable option for web development professionals.

Also, in order to use FrontPage's powerful content publishing tool to transfer your files to the web server your host must install a special set of FrontPage extensions. This normally isn't a problem, both Unix and NT hosts support this feature almost universally, but it can create complications later if you decide that a different software package would better suit your design needs.

Setup of custom cgi scripts can also get a bit tricky with the extensions installed. In fact, some hosts recommend that you don't transfer any files via ftp to assure that the FrontPage extensions aren't corrupted.

Conclusion

Despite these drawbacks FrontPage is still a great, feature packed, total design solution. With its extremely affordable price tag of $169 (street), FrontPage 2002 looks like a bargain compared to the other popular design packages such as Macromedia's Dream weaver 4 ($299 street) or Adobe's Go-Live 5 ($284 street).

For the beginner, and perhaps even the intermediate user, Microsoft's FrontPage is by far the best solution to meet both web design and web publishing needs at a very reasonable price.

NT - ASP -  Hosting