If I had my choice, I'd run with Apache - each and every single time. There are a number of reasons for that, not the least of which is that the web server itself has been time tested and beaten to death repeatedly on web servers all over the internet. It has seen the best and worst that can be offered by end users. It is the web server that can be thought of in the same category as a work truck. It's good, solid, and gets the job done.
Configuration is also very simple. No. There isn't an 'explorer' to do the job with eye candy and mouse clicks. There is a configuration file, and a text editor. Really that is all that is needed. If you've got something in front of you that says otherwise, watch out. Someone is selling something again. Shake their hand, complain of a meeting, give them a boot in the wazoo and close the door. Apache is also cross platform, so your architecture has the ability to expand and change platforms if your situation changes at some point in the future. Likewise, there are enough modules and methods of customization for it which give it a significant amount of flexibility. Yes. You probably saw this one coming, but - if you want to - the source code is available for review and not locked away in someone's internal source server because it 'represents a source of IP,' or because 'they want to ensure a significant return on their investment for the shareholders.' (Jeez... Just typing that makes me feel the need for a shower.) Likewise, and this is probably my biggest single gripe against IIS, is that the <bleep> web server is *not* divorced from the operating system that it sits upon. Thus, there is no single installer or package available in which you can install something like IIS 6 or IIS 7 on top of an older operating system such as NT4. If you could, there would be one less reason to upgrade, right? In the same train of thought, paint my hair blond and call me silly but why, ohh, why should an operating system patch affect a web server so that it causes it to crash because both file system permissions have been changed and the internet guest account gets messed up? We had that happen with a couple of our intranet servers a couple of patch cycles ago. Positively crap-tastic. (Yes. I actually maintain several IIS servers for a living as part of my job - and I hate it.) An Apache/Tomcat combination is a beautiful thing. Why break them up and try to install something like Atlanta in there anyway? Apache is best suited to serve static content, such as images and regular files, html docs and the like. Tomcat is best for JSP. The connector that bridges them together is conceptually a work of art. All major implementations which I have been a part always use this combination. IIS and Atlanta are left to, well, smaller installations and I honestly sometimes consider them - ahem - toys. (When something goes wrong, I can be seen headed into the IIS server room with baby whipes, a warm bottle and a diaper, or a 40 mega-joule crash cart depending...) Similarly, running Tomcat withouth Apache in front of it just seems, well, wrong... but that is a whole other topic and I digress.... In the end, setting my obvious opinion aside for a moment, you may not have the choice in the end. Your environment will most likely dictate which platform to use, simply by the ability that is present to support it. If you have a few good *nix people running around, chances are you could make an Apache/Tomcat combination work just fine. Even if it is on a Windows platform, supporting the application is similar enough that the skillset can be used. By the same token, if the current terrain in which you find yourself is dominated by funny-lookin', primary colored flags on everything and people with a strange fixation on blue polo shirts and khackis, well, IIS & Atlanta may be your only choice because the point-and-click crowd is 'in the house' (Hey, did I get the reference right that time?). > Hello everyone, > > If you have to choose between IIS and Apache which one would you opt > for? I mean in term of ease of administration, performance, security .. > we are planning to install this in a clustered environment with load > balancing software and would like to know if you had issues if any with > running Mid-Tier against IIS or Apache? > > Many thanks > frexpopo > -- Will Du Chene [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.myspace.com/wduchene _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
