Local Host

I have recently installed IIS from the Windows set-up CD and web server
extensions for ASP (Active Server Pages) However, when I open browser

Saxman...

Thanks for the advice.

Saxman...

I guess it's because I would like to understand ASP, Apache and web
servers a bit more.

Thanks so much for the feedback. I've learnt a lot.

Off to the gym now! See you later.

Ali...

Not neccessarily! I don't know about IIS, but Apache can certainly be
configured to accept connections only from localhost, or from other
specified IPs. Saxman probably hasn't done this, but should if he intends
IIS only as a test-bed.

user name and password. Where would I get that from?

Ali...

If you haven't set it, it will be the IIS default - check the config files
(and the IIS Help)

I can understand the need for protection, as one might be running an
operative server from one's computer, but you gotta start somewhere!

Ali...

You need to configure IIS locally, (or via ftp, but forget that), that is
by editing files with an editor, or by running an IIS configuration
program, not by using a browser.

Ali...

I have only used IIS for long enough to decide that it was too complex for
my needs, so I can't help with details.

Saxman...

I was informed by a book on ASP that I would need to have it installed.
I guess it would do, being a Microsoft product.

pmj...

So, are you writing Web Pages that use ASP (that is the micro$oft
Active Server Pages Scripting Languge)?

What about using PHP, rather than ASP?
PHP is an Open Source thing, whereas ASP is a micro$oft-specific
(Proprietory) thing.

There's a lot of Help & Documentation available for PHP.

Can I uninstall IIS if necessary?

pmj...

Yes.
Go to Add & Remove Programs (in Control Panel) & then Select the
"Add/Remove windoze Components" thing on the left hand side.
& UnTick the box for IIS

But, as Ali says, you'll find taht it actuall yleaves several bits
behind.
But that shouldn't affect things too much.
You'll still be able to use any other Web Server Software that
you Install.

Ali...

In theory.
There were bits of it still lying around until my hard disk crash.

So what's the best set-up?

pmj...

That all depends on what yo uare intending to do with it.

Ali...

That depends on what you want.
I don't know enough about any web server to make recommendations.

If you need ASP and haven't used any web server in the past, IIS may be
the way to go, if you don't need ASP, you don't /need/ IIS.

Can Apache handle ASP, PHP files?

pmj...

Apache handles PHP *very* well! - Much better than IIS, actually.
But ASP is a bit different.
Since ASP is an M$ Specific, proprietary technology, then support
for ASP in things like Apache isn't complete.

But basically (unless you want to use specific ASP features) anything
you can do using ASP, you can also do in Apache, with PHP (though the
actual Languages are totally different & things are done differently
in PHP than in ASP.

Ali...

web-search suggests it does, I've never tried. PHP is a standard offering from
Apache equipped hosting companies.

ASP in particular appears to need a special version, see

Remember that any web-server can be accessed in two different ways:
by a user, via a browser, from anywhere on the connected network;
by the owner, via command line or GUI, on the local machine, (or by
separate remote access tools - not needed in your case).

Don't confuse your two roles when testing.

Jeff Gaines...

Are you programming with .NET? If so IIS will be easier to start with as
it's what the help assumes you are using. There's a pretty good guide in
the Visual Studio documentation, have a look through the MS Visual Studio
menu, I can't point you to it because I use my own menus which don't
follow the standard layout.

Saxman...

No, I'm hand coding ATM and getting used to Dreamweaver. I'll be
working on dynamic sites eventually.

I get similar when accessing other servers, which is expected, as they
are located elsewhere and are 'live'.

Ali...

The server files (configuration, logs, etc) should NOT be accessible from
the internet via IIS, just the html and other files in the webspace,
although as you say, IIS has security flaws, which potentially allow
access to the whole of the host computer.

Ali...

Definitely.