Why should I move to Windows Server 2003?

IIS 6.0 is faster, more secure, more stable, and more scalable than any previous version of IIS, but IIS 6.0 is not available on any prior release of Windows. Almost anyone doing any type of web hosting on an older version of IIS will immediately see performance and stability improvements. IIS 6.0 will allow you to potentially host thousands more websites per server, and startup and shutdown times for IIS are dramatically faster. IIS 6.0 can serve static content up to 200% faster than IIS 5.0 and can better isolate your applications to keep the server healthy - even when an application misbehaves.

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Will my current applications run on Windows Server 2003?

The vast majority of applications that run on Windows 2000 will run fine on Windows Server 2003. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 runs great, as do most other Microsoft applications - with one notable exception. Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 will *not* run on Windows Server 2003. Microsoft will be releasing the next version of Exchange Server later this year, and this will be well suited for Windows Server 2003. If you have any custom applications, you should check with the vendor or your developers for compatibility.

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What are the differences between the different editions of Windows Server 2003?

Microsoft has released four (4) separate editions of Windows Server 2003. They are the Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Datacenter Edition. The main differences between these editions is the number of processors and the amount of RAM they each support.

1. The Web Edition is a version that is specifically designed to only serve      the role of a web server. Microsoft does not allow running software      like SQL Server or an Internet mail server on the Web edition. The      Web Edition supports two (2) processors and up to two (2) GB of      RAM.

2. The Standard Edition supports up to four (4) processors and four (4)      GB or RAM. It will run almost any application and is a full-featured      version of Windows Server 2003.

3. The Enterprise Edition - This edition will support up to eight server      clusters for clustering SQL Server or other cluster-aware applications.      It also will support up to eight (8) processors and up to 32 GB of RAM.      There is also a 64-bit version of The Enterprise Edition for use on      Intel Itanium processors.

4. Finally, the Datacenter Edition supports VERY high-end hardware,      including support for up to 64 processors and 512 GB of RAM. This      version is only for very specialized application requirements and will      probably see very little use in typical web-facing applications.

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I'm still on NT 4.0, should I move to Windows Server 2003?

YES! By all means, you should upgrade to Windows Server 2003. Many NT 4.0 users avoided Windows 2000 Server because they were happy with NT and were a little wary of Active Directory. Well, Active Directory is here to stay and better than ever in Windows Server 2003! Microsoft is gradually phasing out support for Windows NT 4.0 and support or upgrades for NT will eventually be unavailable.

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How do I configure my Outlook Express email client for my Windows 2000 Hosting account?

To create an mail account. Open Outlook. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. In the "Internet Accounts" dialog box, click the Add button and select Mail. Type a descriptive name for this email account. Press the "Next" button. Type your e-mail address. Press the "Next" button. E-mail Address: This would be the username of the account you created in the Control Panel, plus, the "@" symbol follow by your domain. Example: username_you_chose@yourdomain.com. On the "Internet Connection Wizard" screen enter the necessary information: Incoming mail server: POP3 Incoming mail (POP3): your domain name or IP Number Outgoing mail (SMTP) server: there are three options for you to use Your ISP\'s SMTP server Your domain or IP Address Your own SMTP server (please check "Installing your own SMTP server on your computer" for more information). Type your account name. Press the "Next" button. We do not recommend you to select the "Remember password" option for security reason. Account name: This would be the username of the account you created in the Control Panel, plus, the "@" symbol followed by your domain. Example: username_you_chose@yourdomain.com To save this changes click "Finish".

Sooner or later every webmaster needs CGI.

It is difficult to imagine the website maintainence with out CGI.

CGI scripts can be used to process a simple form to maintaining a membership area.There are many scripts online, which can be used to automate your website.

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What can you do with CGI?

• Form proccessing
• Autoresponders
• Mailing list managers
• Order taking, Order proccessing
• Steamline your downloads
• Protecting your private folders
• Easy maintanence of the website
• Tracking your advertisements
• Maintaining an affiliate site
• Counters, classifieds, link directories...

There is no end to this list.

But the problem with cgi scripts is 'how to install on your servers?
You don't have to learn perl or write scripts on your own to maintain your CGIs.

As a webmaster of your site you need to know about installing scripts for yourself.Otherwise you will end up with paying hundreds of dollars for script installations.

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Basic THREE steps that you should check during cgi installations are:

UPLOADING OF FILES

CGI files should be uploaded in ASCII mode.In this mode the 'end-of-line' character translated properly and the script lines are transfered in proper format.(In BINARY mode, the characters will not be translated.Instead they are transfered exactly as a duplicates)
Tip:DON'T run your FTP software in automode to upload cgi files.Set it to ASCII mode manually and upload the files.

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CONFIGURING THE SCRIPTS

When you buy a script, you have to set few variables. So that the script runs correctly on your server.
When you doing this, you should have an idea about your server perl paths,absolute paths, URLs etc.
The URLs are case sensitive.
Scriptname.cgi
scriptname.cgi
scriptname.pl
Scriptname.pl
All four are taken differently by your server

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FILE PERMISSIONS

Once you upload files, don't rush to run the script.
Set and check the file permissions.
If you don't set the permissions to cgi or pl files, the server doesn't get access to your files and you will see '500 Internal server error'.
Most of the times cgi files need to be '755'.
Always check the instructions of the script providers.
If you are keeping an eye on these three steps,you can do your script installations!

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