I apologize for this off topic question. However:
I've been working for 9 months writing a webapp comprised on java servlets and jsps for tomcat. I myself installed and configured Tomcat, and that part I'm fairly happy with. However, the development environment and the production environment are not really under my control: I have complete control over the tomcat instance on the development server, and no direct control over the tomcat instance on the production server. I also have little influence over what version of tomcat (we're still using 4.03), or what connector (mod_webapp), or anything having to do with apache other than the .htaccess file. Due to temporary jobs being what they are, and state guidelines being the same, I will be basically unemployed for a month while they open the position, and then I can reapply for it. So, in that time, I've decided I would like to learn more about apache (httpd), and integrating it with tomcat. I"ve read numerous posts on it, but since I haven't actually tried it myself, I don't really know what it's all like. So (sorry for the lengthy background/boring story), I'm wondering what sort of operating system/hardware I should try and obtain for this (my home pc has win2k, which I guess would work, but maybe it's not the most normal situation in the "real world"), or if there is some sort of hosting site that I could do this on (from my understanding, few places actually would let me have my own instance of apache running, and tomcat, and what not... it's rather difficult for them, processor wise, I'd imagine). Now, obviously, it's not like I have a T1 line sitting in my living room, so I don't really expect to host much of anything from here. But I could put things up and play with them from somewhere else in the house across the router, or something like that. So, the questions from all of this boil down to: 1. Any suggestions on using my home machine (with win2k) or some sort of remote host or a new box? 2. If new box, how much hardware do I need (in terms of what sort of processor, how much ram, etc.) and what OS? 3. Any other suggestions on how to learn about these two? Thanks for reading this far... sorry for babbling so much... Mike
