Table of contents: issue19

What Is Apache?

editor — Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Eddie Young gives the essentials of "Apache", the widely used Unix-based web server software.

Apache is the name of the software that allows you to run a web service on a UNIX server. Apache is very popular and provides access to most web sites on the internet. A recent Netcraft survey of Web Servers around the world placed Apache Powered sites at over 50 percent of the total. Part of the reason for this maybe that it is freely available, reliable and simple to set up and configure, and it can provide most of the requirements for a web site.

Windows NT Explorer

editor — Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Brett Burridge introduces his regular column on Windows NT with a description of Site Server's search facility.

In this new column, I hope to bring users' attention to the value of employing Windows NT server technology within their institution. While Windows NT has its fair share of problems, there is no denying that the quality of server-side software available for this platform has improved enormously in the last 12 months.

Kicking off, this article examines the use of Microsoft's Site Server 3.0 [1] to provide a sophisticated web based search solution for your institution.

Unix and the Web: Providing Web Access to Your Email

editor — Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Brian Kelly introduces a regular column on Unix and Web issues by describing how a combination of Apache, PHP and IMP can make email folders available using a web browser.

Email Use at UKOLN

UKOLN is a small research group based at the University of Bath. Software used by UKOLN staff probably reflects staff usage through the University, and is probably not too dissimilar to usage at other UK universities - most staff use a PC running MS Windows 95 or Windows NT and use Microsoft Office applications, although there are a number who prefer Unix systems are make use of X-Windows or Linux on their PC.

Web Focus: Extending Your Browser

editor — Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Brian Kelly on techniques for extending the capabilities of your browser.

The WebWatch project [1], which was based at UKOLN, involved the development and use of a variety of tools to analyse web resources and web servers. During the early development of the software, individual summaries (particularly of outliers in the statistical data) were often required in order to check that the software was working correctly. Initially summaries were obtained using simple Unix scripts. For example the urlget script displayed the HTTP headers for a resource as illustrated below:

WebWatch: Conclusions from the WebWatch Project

editor — Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Brian Kelly sums up conclusions from the WebWatch Project.

The WebWatch project [1], which was based at UKOLN, University of Bath and funded the the British Library Research and Innovation Centre (BLRIC), involved the development of robot software to analyse web resources in a variety of (mainly UK) communities. The project analysed several communities and has produced reports on the results. Following the successful completetion of the WebWatch project a final report has been produced. This article summarises the findings published in the report.