Choosing your application server

The application server you choose depends on several factors, including your budget, the server technology you want to use (ColdFusion, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, or PHP), and your choice of web server.

Budget Some vendors sell high-end application servers that are expensive to buy and administer. Others vendors provide easier, more cost-effective solutions (examples include Macromedia ColdFusion and JRun servers). Some application servers are built into web servers (such as Microsoft IIS) and others can be downloaded for free from the Internet (such as Jakarta Tomcat and PHP).

Server technology Application servers use different technologies. Dreamweaver supports five server technologies: ColdFusion, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, and PHP. For more information, see Choosing a server technology in Getting Started with Dreamweaver. The following table shows common application servers available for the five server technologies supported by Dreamweaver:

Web server Your choice of application server can also depend on the web server you want to use. Make sure the application works with your web server. For example, the .NET Framework only works with IIS 5 or higher.