Setting up a web server

To run web applications, you need a web server. A web server is software that serves files in response to requests from web browsers. A web server is sometimes called an HTTP server. Common web servers include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Netscape Enterprise Server, Sun ONE Web Server, and Apache HTTP Server.

If you’re not using a web hosting service, choose a web server and install it on your local computer or on a remote computer. Windows users who want to develop ColdFusion web applications can use the web server included in the developer edition of the ColdFusion MX 7 application server, which you can install and use for free. For more information, see Installing a ColdFusion application server.

Other Windows users can run a web server on their local computer by installing IIS. This web server may already be installed on your system. Check your folder structure to see if it contains a C:\Inetpub or D:\Inetpub folder. IIS creates this folder during installation. If you want to install IIS, see Installing a Web Server in Getting Started with Dreamweaver.

ASP.NET pages only work with one web server: Microsoft IIS 5 or higher. Because IIS 5 is a service of the Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional operating systems, you can use these two versions of Windows to host ASP.NET applications. However, you can develop (as opposed to host) ASP.NET applications on any computer running Dreamweaver, including the Macintosh.

If you’re a Macintosh user, you can use a web hosting service or install the required software on a remote computer. You can also develop PHP sites locally using the Apache web server and PHP application server installed with your operating system. For more information, see Installing a PHP application server.

For information on installing and configuring other web servers, see the server vendor’s documentation or your system administrator.