Checking for a web server

To develop and test dynamic web pages, you need a web server. A web 

server is software that serves web pages in response to requests from web 

browsers.

Make sure Microsoft IIS is installed and running on your hard disk or on a 

remote Windows computer. (Macintosh users need to install Microsoft IIS 

on a remote Windows computer.) A quick way to check whether IIS is 

installed on a computer is to look at the folder structure to see whether it 

contains a C:\Inetpub or D:\Inetpub folder. IIS creates this folder during 

installation.

If IIS is not installed, install it now. For instructions, see 

 Installing a Web 

Server  on page 231

.

After installing the web server, you need to install an application server. 

Installing an ASP application server

To process dynamic web pages, you need an application server. An 

application server is software that helps a web server process web pages 

containing server side scripts or tags. When such a page is requested by a 

browser, the web server hands the page off to the application server for 

processing before sending the page to the browser. For more information, 

see 

 Understanding Web Applications  on page 217

. 

If you installed IIS on a Windows computer, you don't need a separate ASP 

application server. IIS also functions as an ASP application server. For more 

information on installing and testing IIS, see 

 Installing a Web Server  

on page 231

.

You should test the server to make sure it works properly. 

272 Setup for Sample ASP Site