March 23, 2004 | View Comments (30) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: Poll on what is your favorite server platform.
I have only developed on two platforms in my career. Microsoft was the first with ASP (the horror) and of course the second is Linux. Windows 2003 Server is simply sweet for web administration. Linux and Apache have always been sweet with the ability to configure through a text file. I always tell myself that one day I will give BSD a try on a small server, but never had the need to switch over from Linux. OSX tempts me though. A server based on an OS OS (haha, figure that one out) with some pretty GUIs is very tempting. But seeing how I am not really an admin all those features might be for not. Anyways, what is your preferred platform of development. Yes this differs from favorite desktop.
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For my personal stuff and my clients, I use the Ensim control panel on RedHat linux with apache. It runs an assortment of stuff, I mostly use PHP and MySQL, occasionally perl and SSI. It's not just a webserver... mail and database also.
At the office, it's NT and 2k, IIS, a couple of versions of ColdFusion and Websphere. SQL server 2k, but I don't admin it beyond doing my own databases.
I find NT easier to admin than 2K, though that's almost entirely because 2k is a pain in the arse to do SSL certificates on (you can't reuse your old cert request string). On the other hand, 2k has terminal server while on NT i have to use VNC.
on the linux box, most of the administration is web based. I only have to go in and edit config files on rare occasions (for example, modifying php.ini to bump the timeout waaay up when exporting a backup copy of a 200 meg MySQL database from PHPMyAdmin).
For the brief time I ran a LAMP-L server on my iBook (XAMP?) it was more of a pain to administer since I had to edit config files by hand (I'd wiped the osx apache install and done one from source...this was on 10.0 when their install didn't work with PHP correctly), but I'm sure its much better now, particularly on OSX Server. But until MM officially releases ColdFusion for OSX, there's no chance on earth we'll be switching on the server side. :-)
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
My prefered server platform is W2k3. IIS 6.0 has really improved on the performance of ASP.Net. Plus Visual Studio is quite a tool for development.
dr.u (http://www.drusellers.com)
I've got to put in a vote (sans paper trail) for OSX... it's the best UI meshed with one of the best server architectures.
If you want/need the GUI goodness you can have that, as well as all the geeky command-line fun you think of. What's the difference between a Linux box and SSH'ing into a OS X box?
My second choice would be Linux, I feel plenty comfortable in the CLI so it's a very close second to OS X.
I haven't played much with Windows servers, do they have a command line environment "backed" or is it all GUI?
Chris Heisel (http://www.heisel.org)
I develop on a Mac running OS X (either an iMac when I'm at home or an iBook when I'm on the go) and then FTP up to a Linux server, usually some flavour of Red Hat.
Both platforms are running Apache, PHP, Perl and MySQL so my Mac can be pretty much a mirror of the live server.
OS X r0xxors! :-)
Jeremy Keith (http://adactio.com/)
I'm not much of a developer (yet, I'm a wanna be), but I have something to say for OS X.
I have a dual G5 and an old iMac. I used the iMac as a server running OS X long before I got the G5. Now, however it's a dedicated one instead, meaning I don't use it for anything else as I did before when it was my only computer.
A few weeks ago I replaced the regular OS X with OS X Server, and it's just brilliant. You have to know a little bit, of course, but Server makes it so much easier to administer, and has all you need built in. So you can set up your own server--local or online--very easily. And with software like BBEdit in addition, you're pretty much set. :-)
Travholt
JC,
Macromedia does not have to specifically release ColdFusion MX for Mac OS X because Mac OS X runs Java applications.
ColdFusion MX 6.1 is well, a Java Application, but it needs to run on top of a fully compliant J2EE server. There are quite a few J2EE servers out there, the easiet of which to run with ColdFusion MX is Macromedia's own JRUN4, which runs on any system with a JVM (wasn't that the point of this whole Java thing anyway?)
Installing ColdFusion MX for J2EE on Mac OS X
I have not done this myself, but based on how easy it was to get this up and running on my Windows machine with Apache I can't imagine the Mac version is much harder.
If my TiBook had more memory I would probably do it for on the road development.
Jason
Anything that runs .Net / SQL Server.
Although, if it wasn't for .Net, I would be on OS X Server in a heartbeat. (Mono is looking very interesting, but still a little early for me to jump ship.) Also, I'm not sure about MySql for lack of Stored Procedures. I haven't researched in a while, so this may be different now...
It is interesting to me to see so many people using OS X Server. My ignorant stereotype of the majority of Mac users would definitely not include those inclined to setup an Apache server. Nice to see though, and very encouraging for my goal of making "the switch."
Garrett Dimon (http://www.yourusabilityresource.com)
I'm going to have to go with OS X because it's the one I've had the most actual head-to-head experience with. I've used several other boxes, but mostly through a shell connection with limited permissions. I feel I've gotten to know all of them on a basic level, some more than others. But I find OS X to be simply simpler than the other options.
Again, this is based on my experience. My site is currently run from an OS X box sitting in my home office (as shown implicitly by the odd port number). I've had time and permissions to poke it in every which way, configure it exactly how I want it. My only complaint is that I have to renice apps like Starcraft, or httpd won't have enough free time to process requests (it seems the game requests more resources than it needs).
Chris Vincent (http://dris.dyndns.org:8080/)
Machines I've developed on: Windows XP, Windows NT, a Lisp machine (well, I didn't try to do too much with that one!), and Athena (MIT's Unix environment).
Web servers I've worked with: Jetty (great little server for Java/JSP apps), Weblogic (if you have to use EJBs and you have a lot of money), JRun (yet another Java web server), and I've used Apache once or twice.
Jetty is super for Java web apps. You can configure it through an XML file, or programmatically. It's nice if you want to embed a web server into some other larger application.
Jennifer Grucza (http://jennifergrucza.com)
Thanks, Jason. I saw those instructions a year or so ago... macromedia got them from someone at oreilly.net who figured it out on his own. I know that it's *possible*
But just *try* convincing the beaurocracy of a multibillion dollar corporation that we should put our production environment on an officially unsupported platform. Ain't gonna happen anytime soon. *Maybe* if MM provided full official support for their products we could get a couple of xserves through on the basis of licensing fees and ease of administration, but only for our intranet since we don't have any mac or bsd admins and aren't likely to hire any.
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
Garrett -
Stored procedures and functions are a new feature in MySQL version 5.0.
Version 5 is still in beta or alpha or something. Not ready for production. Hell, most people are still using 3.23 or something. But it's in the works, anyway.
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
i use two macs running os x for dev (albook and yosemite g3), but my online server is a linux server on a pc box.
running apache on my macs is nice though. i use subethaedit to live preview my design work, then save it and develop the backend (typically php)
ak (http://www.alexkeeny.com/simplicity/)
I use Apache with PHP and MySQL installed on Windows for project testing and then run those things on Linux with Apache installed. I am satisfied with my webhhost updating PHP and offering many good services.
dusoft (http://www.ambience.sk/)
If you are looking for stored procedures now in a production database why not go with PostgresSQL? Definitely one that is overlooked and I think has received significant backlash for its older releases which were slower than MySQL. However, now the performance is definitely on par with MySQL, if not faster.
Scrivs (http://9rules.com/whitespace/)
I use a LAMP solution - but on OpenBSD. It's super secure. I've had problems with lack of Java support in past versions of OpenBSD, but it's now better.
Sure it lacks the graphical-togetherness of GUI environments like Microsoft's tools, but it really can hum along.
I especially liked doing Java Servlet/JSP (jakarta stuff) with Ant. You can do builds, packages, and lots more.
Dan (http://www.tshin.com/~dan)
I'm a Mac OS X nut so I try to stick with that as much as possible and avoid Windows of any kind at all costs. Linux is a good second choice for hosted environments.
For development and hosting, there's not too much you can't do on the Mac in a fairly easy to setup and maintain way either via a nice GUI or through the command line. There's something there for everyone and each new release of the OS takes things a step further for improving the platform for web development.
Jason mentioned Coldfusion running on top of JRun and I can attest to how easy it is to setup. I've got it running on my Powerbook. It's great being able to have PHP, Apache, MySQL, Coldfusion, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, etc. all on one platform and much of it integrated into the OS itself -- then add on nice tools like ecto for managing MovableType posts, Dreamweaver, Flash and all the rest.
Open Source stuff tends to help fill in missing holes for things such as ASP, but I can't really comment on that since I've never used ASP.
MySQL 3.23.xx and 4.x have been real workhorses for me and I can attest to their stability. Sure there's a few missing features, but things look to be coming along nicely in the 5.0 builds and I can't wait for it to get a bit more stable.
And if you want to test on Windows, use Virtual PC. And you can run Linux through that too -- all right on your Mac.
Scott Boms (http://www.wishingline.com/blog/)
Like many others, I chose and recommend a "LAMP" platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL & Perl/PHP, although I substitute mod_perl fot Perl.
Why do I still use Perl? The simple answer is CPAN (http://www.cpan.org/) a vast library of open-source modules with solutions for even the most esoteric applications - I barely need to write a line of code myself!
DarkBlue (http://urbanmainframe.com/)
OS X. It does what I need very elegantly, and its UNIX underpinnings give me all the cool server and development tools I could want. Whether Java, PHP, Python, Perl, or something else, it's been great to be able to effectively mirror the deployment environment on my local machine. It's made developing much easier and removed a lot of the headaches. :)
I highly recommend it.
Travis Cripps (http://www.apparentmotion.com)
We're the same as dusoft, for development, WAMP, for live, LAMP.
Mike P. (http://www.fiftyfoureleven.com.com/sandbox/weblog/)
anything with java,perl,apache,tomcat & a db.
i find linux based is easiest to manage, and using an IDE like eclipse for the java stuff, in tandem with dreamweaver for jsp beats the pants off .NET.
(though .NET isn't all that bad).
pid (http://www.pidster.com)
Work: IIS on Windows 2000 server, ASP and .NET, SQL Server 2000 database.
Personal: LAMP-style setup, with PHP, Perl, and JSP available to me, and MySQL and PostgreSQL available. Right now I don’t use the JSP or PostgreSQL for much of anything though.
Vinnie Garcia (http://blog.vinniegarcia.com)
I guess I'll have to give MySQL & PostgresSQL another chance here in the near future.
I'm also a little surprised to see people using different environments for work and personal. I have a hard enough time staying on top of the latest advances and best practices in .Net, let alone trying to do that for another platform.
Has anybody had experience working with Mono at all?
Garrett Dimon (http://www.yourusabilityresource.com)
Garrett -
Makes sense if you think about it. At the office, you might have access to load balanced servers running win2k server and other assorted multi-thousand dollar software. LAMP is free if you host your own, and hosting for it is cheap. Sure, you can get windows hosting in a few places inexpensively, and there are even a couple that offer coldfusion or ASP inexpensively, but I've yet to see one that also offers serious SQL... if you want SQL server, you pay through the nose... and the other alternative is access.
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
JC hit the nail on the head. I actually prefer doing LAMP stuff for my personal sites because it's cheaper and "easier" (that's a relative term I guess), but every company I worked for has used Windows 2000 servers and SQL server. ASP is also the first server-side language I learned, so that was the determining factor as far as where I could work.
Vinnie Garcia (http://blog.vinniegarcia.com)
Freebsd 4.9, Perl 5.6+ and the latest version of Apache. Exceptionally stable, and it has FreeBSD's exceptionally sensible and predictable directory layout to work with.
When FreeBSD 5.x matures, I'll probably switch to that.
David Barrett (http://dave.antidisinformation.com/)
I develop on, and for, both LAMP and M$ systems.
Personally I prefer LAMP 'cause it's inexpensive, easier to mantain,stable and fast fast fast....
ruiseal
Hands down OS X and X Server. Second to that is Linux. I try to stay away from Windows when possible - too many security issues, stability issues, and takes too much work ot admin.
X and X Server are great platforms for what we deal with - Apache, PHP, and MySQL; WebObjects, Java, JSP with OpenBase or FrontBase.
Some of the benefits of X (10.3): ships with Apache and PHP installed out of the box. All you have to do is turn on "Personal Web Sharing" through the "System Preferences" with the push of a single button. It doesn't get any easier than that (except for X Server ;)). PHP's a bit more difficult, you have to enable root, find the httpd.conf file and uncomment the PHP lines. Or use Terminal to do it. Or use Entropy's solution. MySQL needs to be intalled/enabled on X and Entropy again makes it pretty easy.
On the Java side, Tomcat is there, it just needs to be initialized. So, X makes an excellent Java platform. And if you purchase WebObjects, you get the developer tools for X.
Not to mention X is super stable, and incredibly secure. Oh, and really easy to maintain.
Benefits of X Server: Ships with Apache, PHP, MySQL and Tomcat installed. And through the elegant, easy-to-use and powerful server admin tools, you can start them all with the push of a button. Yeah, one click for each. How simple is that? No need to go to the command line, but you can if you want.
Again, both platforms are built on UNIX (BSD). So, they're rock solid stable and secure. Finally, the power of UNIX with the simplicity of the legendary Apple interface.
Many of our public Web servers are Redhat, Apache, PHP, MySQL. Not as easy to maintain or administer, but with the use of CPanel, PHPMyAdmin, and WebHost Manager, it's not too awful. And again, still more stable and secure than the Windows counter part.
Todd Warfel (http://messagefirst.com)
LAMP 100%. I've used both Enism and Plesk to manage servers and in the end, I have to say that even though Plesk looks a lot beter, Ensim works better--especially if you're running the server and not just using shared hosting.
I use WebGUI for almost every website I create. Don't let their site fool you--the software will let you design 100% dynamic content without anything tying you to a certain look and feel like so many other CMS's do.
Code Red and Nimda scared me away from even considering Windows in the future unless something big changes. Price is another big factor... unless there's some very compelling reason for me to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for something I can get free, I can't justify it.
Marcus Vorwaller (http://www.marcusvorwaller.com)
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#1
Windows 2000 Server is still my current dev environment of choice, especially when dealing with less web-centric stuff. For web development, IIS definitely pales in comparison to Apache, and my hosting provider is LAMP anyway (and if you've caught my site while I'm in the midst of fiddling with stuff, you know that the live server is the dev server :), so Linux tends to win that battle hands down.
Paul G (http://www.relativelyabsolute.com)