Introduction

"No Cost" Option:
 Use web.mit.edu

"Some Cost" Option:
 Run a content-less webserver

"Some Cost" Option:
 Let W91 do it

"Last Resort" Option:
 Do-it-yourself

Webserver management essentials

Useful links

Example: webmail.mit.edu

About me

Run a "contentless" webserver

It may be that you need a webserver with features that web.mit.edu does not provide. You can still take advantage of some IS offerings to simplify setting up, testing and managing a webserver. Here is a general approach:

• Put your webpages in an Athena locker
• Get a private Athena workstation
• Run 'mkserv' to restrict access, change the root password, etc.
• Install and configure software from the apache-ssl locker. Currently, this will let you set up a simple webserver with a few specific features.
• Set the DocumentRoot in the webserver config file to the directory where your webpages are in your Athena locker (note: this is for the general case, where the pages are world-readable; restricting access is more complicated)
• Take care of the admin tasks: startup, shutdown, log-rolling, etc.
• If the website is going to be essential to your work, consider whether you can manage it yourself or whether to use W91 or other resources for managing it.