Quick Start Guide

272 Setup for Sample ASP Site
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.