Requirements for a Server

Here I want to sum up the different requirements which a server may/must provide.

• Access
• Upload access
• Languages
• Space and Bandwidth
• Machine
• Domains
• Email
• Statistics
• Types of use
• Support

Some cases are only supported if the server is dedicated, i.e. if the server is taken completely for the applications of the client.

Access

If the server is a dedicated server you need to be able to control a number of programs you set on it. For instance, you may need access to the web server, or the mail files. Usually, the access is performed per SSH. If the user can only control the content of the pages of the web server, then an FTP access is usually enough. This access may also contain the access to the logs of the system. However, using FTP the user cannot start or stop any program. This might be done however using an Web client offering different standard actions, such as starting the web servers again, or even restarting the machine.

Upload access

For Web hosting possibilities, it is possible to offer different means of uploading the necessary data to the server. For this, FTP is generally used. But some server also provide PHP or JSP uploads.

Programming Languages

HTML + Javascript is the language which browser typically understand. But, for most complex pages, it is necessary to choose an appropriate language to generate the HTML as well as to perform the necessary actions on the server. For this, different kinds of frameworks and languages exist. In particular, script languages like PHP, Perl, Python and Ruby or interpreted but compiled languages such as Java. While PHP is mostly more suitable for small dynamical web pages, Java simplifies the construction of complex multi-tiered applications, i.e applications which can be distributed on a certain number of different computers.

Space and Bandwidth

Well I am not yet sure which requirements I have for this. I will have to try to find the answer for this question myself.

Machine

This is also not clear what requirements I have to the machine. It should be a linux box. But concerning the actual hardware, I do not really know.

Domains

I should set a domain. I have not done it yet. But it should be easily done.

Email

There should be the possibility to have a mail server in order to perform mail tests.
But I should take a close look at the configuration of mail servers.

Statistics

Types of use

I have planned a number of uses for a server:

• mail server
• Http server
• FTP server
• Tooling server
• vnc server if possible
• as application server for X
• test server

Support

Well this is a topic I have to see what is needed.