Compaq 307560-001 Performance Analysis and Capacity Planning for Microsoft Sit - Page 3

WHITE PAPER (cont.) 3... INTRODUCTION TO MICROSOFT SITE SERVER As enterprise customers become more dependent on the Intranet, Internet, and World Wide Web, there is a tendency to get bogged down in the creation and management of web-based applications. Microsoft® Site Server, with its comprehensive publishing and site management capabilities, offers an easy to use and affordable solution to this problem. Microsoft® Site Server is designed for use in the creation and continuing management of Webbased applications. It is designed to work with Microsoft® Windows NT® Server network operating system (Windows NT) and Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS), and offers a sweeping set of server and client components. These include the client software Usage Analyst and Site Analyst, and the server side software Posting Acceptor, Internet Locator Server, Content Replication Server, and Personalization System. These components are used for deployment (Posting Acceptor and Content Replication System), management and analysis (Usage Analyst, Site Analyst, and Content Replication System), and site enhancement (Internet Locator Server and Personalization System). A brief description of each component follows. Posting Acceptor allows greater freedom with Web content by working with Web Publishing Wizard in the transfer of information to a specified Web server. Posting Acceptor is used on a Web server running Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, or Windows 95. It allows Microsoft Personal Web Server, IIS , and Microsoft Peer Web Services to accept content from Netscape Navigator 2.02 and Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard/API or, later, any standard HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) connection. Posting Acceptor allows users to post Web content to the server, Web content providers to publish their content using HTTP post (RFC1867), posts to be received from other clients that use HTTP-Post protocol, and includes ActiveX control for Web pages which allows the user to drag information to the Web server. It also manages Web pages posted to the server and allows for the transfer of files to a chosen Web server from a client's computer. Usage Analyst accesses and analyzes data from a Web site's log file in order to increase site efficiency (by identifying seldomly viewed pages, etc.). Usage Analyst reports on usage, visitor profiles, the number of "hits, visits, and page views," or customer interactions with a site, and can cross-reference information to identify useful trends. Usage Analyst is an invaluable tool for maximizing effectiveness in business and commerce. It is supported by Microsoft Access in the standard edition, and also supported by Microsoft® SQL Server in Site Server, Enterprise Edition. Usage Analyst includes over 25 standard analysis reports and enables the analysis of over 25 web server log file formats, including IIS, Netscape, and Apache. Site Analyst can be used by Webmasters, content authors, and Web server administrators. It creates WebMaps that allow for a quick survey of the site, no matter how complex. It even allows for different views of the site such as the Tree view, which shows the site in a hierarchical structure, and the Hyperbolic view, which maps items in a web-like structure to show their interconnectivity. These views can be helpful in site structure analysis, allowing the user to see the site from a different perspective. Site Analyst also enables analysis of the site structure and content, finds and repairs broken links, and creates reports. Content Replication System (CRS) is instrumental in automating the Web publishing process and managing network loads through the replication of content across multiple servers. CRS is an NT server-based Internet replication system that uses the authentication mechanism to ensure secure links between CRS servers. It replicates content from one NT server to as many others as desired, either locally, through any area of the Internet, or on any network that supports TCP/IP. CRS automatically replicates information to and from varied servers, using either API functions, Standard Windows NT file transfers, or its own frame file transfer mechanism. CRS can also distribute Web content to multiple remote servers, and is capable of providing administration