nick.boyce at eds
Dec 13, 2001, 10:39 AM
Post #3 of 5
(197 views)
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On 13.Dec.2001 Robin Kopetzky asked :
> I have Apache 1.3.22 running on a Linux box but am wondering how
> stable a Windoz version of 1.3.22 is. I am thinking of using this version
as
> a primary server for an ISP
[...]
> Any thought, comments, pro's or con's (no flames), would be greatly
> appreciated.
I agree with Irmund Thum - you should not (yet ?) contemplate using
Apache-for-Windows as a production platform - it has too many limitations in
performance, capacity, security and stability.
[. The (yet ?) is because apparently this situation will improve when Apache
2.x is released. ]
Use a Linux box for your primary Apache platform - you won't be sorry. We
do, and the box is so stable we never have to pay it any attention, apart
from applying occasional security patches (easy with RedHat), or developing
Perl CGI routines - no reboots ever, unattended backups to another box,
etc., etc. Every time another NT/2K/IIS security hole comes around we
breath deeply, and count our lucky stars, and watch the mayhem unfold
elsewhere.
We run Samba on the Linux box, which means all the HTML authors can map
network drives to it and use Windoze tools for page authoring, and never
need to become (indeed some still aren't) aware that the box isn't a real
Windows server. You *do* have to be a bit clever with the Samba
configuration to ensure that teams of HTML authors create files with
cooperative permissions and file ownership.
And I can tell you that this 50 MHz SPARC machine with 32 MB RAM seems to
outperform NT IIS servers we have with 400 MHz Intel CPUs and 128 MB RAM -
the response time is much snappier.
Having said all that, some people here *do* use Apache-for-Windows for
*development* or test purposes, safe in the knowledge that it's better and
safer than M$ PWS, and probably better (certainly safer) than IIS, and lets
them become familiar with Apache configuration issues.
Whichever platform (Win32/Linux) you end up using, consider using the
directive "ServerTokens Prod" in httpd.conf, to restrict the identification
string Apache supplies to being "Server: Apache" - i.e. Apache refrains from
saying whether it's running on Unix or Windows - this avoids giving the
Blackhats too much help, but allows Netcraft's survey to correctly identify
another Apache server :-)
My 2 cents.
Nick Boyce
EDS Southwest Solution Centre, Bristol, UK
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