Alternative to IIS

[DrumminBoy]

I'm trying to set up a simple server to host a few web pages and some pictures. nothing fancy, and security isnt that big of a deal. I've tried setting up IIS on xp, but its not working for me, or im just not accessing the pages right. (do i just use my ip as the addy?) Does anyone know of any simple personal web server software i could use, or could someone tell me how to set up and access my pages on IIS? thanks

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

apache works on windows, but i dont know how easy it is to use on windows, i know there is one at analogx.com, a simple web server program, you just tell it where the web root is, and thats it.

 

[Saltin]

If you are having trouble getting IIS to serve up pages, you probably arent going to want to tackle Apache running on Windows.

Serving up pages to the internet requires a decent amount of knowledge. Getting them up is one thing. Getting them up securely is another (especially true when it's IIS).

Fortunately for you, this information is free.

Technet

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Apache is not hard, but I'd venture to say IIS is even easier... Have you started the server? Is your web server pointing to the right DIR? We'd need more info to try and help...

 

[DrumminBoy]

I got the program from analogx, and it seemed perfect. The second i pushed start to get it running an error came up and told me to check the non-existent file "server.dat" for more information. 😕 I'm thinking there may be a problem with my router, because both of my computer share an IP. As for the security stuff, im not too worried about it. I'll just be hosting some pages to mess around with, and maybe a few pictures.

 

[ProviaFan]

If you're having trouble with IIS, you'd probably be better off not trying apache for now. Anyhow, there are some good docs for IIS; read them.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

i fail to see how apache is hard. install it, edit ONE configuration file, and thats it. how is editing one cleanly laid out, simple, self explanatory file harder than searching through countless gui gadgets and windows and checking/unchecking 15,000 checkboxes?

 

[Hullboy]

I'm with bingbongwongfooey here, I don't see apache is difficult.

You can get an installer file for windows. Version 2 is out which is actually made more for the windows platform. There's never been a better time to move from IIS!

Personally I found IIS a bit odd, what with all the config files under different tabs etc, but like they said, apache is configured (at a basic level) using just one plain text file that comes with a basic config anyway that works out the box...............

Not only that, but because apache is open source (I don't know if it's under the GNU licence, can someone confirm/deny this?) you get a whole load of documents describing every aspect of the product on lots of different OS types (yes, even windows).

Also, as apache is the worlds most popular web server there have been lots of questions on Usenet (now google groups: google groups)

Of course, IIS is popular and does the job too, but I'd go with apache. Just my tuppence worth (I'm from the UK 😀)

 

[Hullboy]

Whoops, bad bit of dyslexia on the link.......

here it is again, for those who think spelling urls matters 😀

google groups

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Actually, IIS is pretty linear. You only have the option to check, or uncheck a box, and all the configuring is done it one place. Don't get me wrong, I run two different Apache-FBSD web servers, each running Apache 1.3.27, mod_php4, mySQL server, mod_frontpage, and mod_cgi...

In IIS all you have to do is browse to the folder that you want to use as your webroot, and that's pretty much it. For the GUI driven person, it can't get much easier than that...