The 4D WebSTAR Server Suite is a complete set of powerful and easy-to-use Internet servers for the Mac OS. The 4D WebSTAR Server Suite consists of a Web, mail, and ftp server which can all be administered remotely and securely via TCP/IP. The server suite has integrated SSL, is fully extensible (supports API, CGI, Java plug-ins and more), and allows users to perform logging analysis and publish databases online.
The 4D WebSTAR Server Suite is considered the de-facto standard on the Mac since 1987, and is used by businesses ranging from small companies to large Internet Service Providers (ISP) and government agencies.
The 4D WebSTAR Server Suite is perfect for Internet or intranet serving, single or multiple sites, and small and large businesses on the Mac OS.
4D WebSTAR V (4DWSV) continues the ease of use for which WebSTAR products are renowned. The user-friendly, no command-line interface is designed to get you online quickly.
The new 4DWSV Admin Server monitors the server status. Should the Web server unexpectedly quit, the Admin application restarts it, guaranteeing that your site is back up and running within seconds.
With 4DWSV you can delegate administrator authority so that anyone can be avirtual host administrator. You can set limited administrative responsibilities for individual hosts, create host-specific log files in the format you choose, and more. Once again, the many administration features of 4DWSV are designed to make configuring and monitoring easy.
With its built-in, multithreaded architecture and acceleration for G4 machines with multiple processors, 4DWSV can handle 20 hits a day or 20 million hits a day. While there is no "formula" for calculating an exact amount of hits, there are various factors to consider:
1. What kind of site content do you have?
2. Do you use database searches or other types of dynamic page generation?
2. How are people connecting to your site? From a local network or slow modems?
3. What kind of bandwidth do you have to your upstream Internet provider?
4. What other services are you providing from the server machine- FTP, mail, DNS?
Content Considerations
If your site consists of HTML and small GIF images, they will be downloaded to the browser much more quickly than if your site includes large JPEGs, video or audio files. During a given time increment, you will be able to service more hits if you have smaller files.
It does not require much CPU power to serve basic files. Even a relatively older, slower machine can usually overwhelm any connection up to Ethernet and T-1 speeds if all you are doing is serving static Web content.
For large files, the limiting factor is bandwidth - on both the server and browser ends. For smaller files, the most significant issue is file access time, so caching configuration and hard drive speed are important..
Plug-ins and CGIs:
When you process files through plug-ins or CGIs before the server sends them out, it can have a big impact on actual or perceived server performance, depending on the kind of processing. Plug-ins will almost always be faster than CGIs for performing the same task. And some plug-ins or CGIs are coded to be more efficient than others.
Running other applications on the server machine can have an impact. Dynamic Web pages, with database searches, JavaScript or SSI will tend to be served more slowly than static pages. Faster CPUspeeds can help improve performance for these processes.
RAM based databases will be faster than disk based. Different database applications will have pros and cons in terms of cost, ease of use, speed, extensibility and performance under multi-user or high-demand situations. Many sites run their databases on a separate machine from their primary Web server.
4DWSV has a number of features that contribute to stronger, more dynamic Web sites. Some of these features include: server-side includes, 4D WebSTAR to 4D RDBMS connectivity, customizable interface for search queries, FlexMail form processing and e-mailing, support for Tomcat Java servlets and JSP, 4D WebSTAR API-based plug-ins, and AppleEvent and UNIX CGI support.
4D WebSTAR V Help Request Form
For registered users of 4D WebSTAR V products, 4D provides free, online-only technical support by using the Help Request Form. You are entitled to 12 months or 12 incidents (whichever comes first) of technical support. An incident is considered a single thread covering a single technical issue.
4D WebSTAR 4.x Help Request Form
For registered users of 4D WebSTAR products,
4D provides free, online-only technical support by using the Help Request
Form. You are entitled to technical support for 30 days from registration.
Technical support for 4D WebSTAR is available from 9 AM to 5.30 PM, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
Additional Support Resource:
4D WebSTAR mail discussion list:
Sign up
As part of the 4D WebSTAR Continuous Improvement Program, new licenses, upgrades, and cross-grades come with one year of support or 12 incidents of technical support (whichever comes sooner). Unused incidents of technical support do not carry over from year to year. Licenses must be renewed in order to continue receiving 12 months or 12 incidents of support each year.
Complete upgrade and full product pricing can be found on the 4D UK Price List.
Upgrade prices are as follows:
For 2.x owners: Unfortunately upgrades are not available for WebSTAR 2.x users. Click here for full product pricing.
For WebSTAR 3.x owners: £250, including support and upgrades for one year.
For WebSTAR 4.4 owners: £195, including support and upgrades for one year.
Here's the short way to update for those of you running from Startup:
1. Connect with Admin Client.
2. Select Shutdown from the Admin Server menu.
3. Quit Admin Client
4. Install new W*.
5. Reboot to start W* running.
The new pricing scheme, which we call the Continuous Improvement Program, allows us to focus on what we think you want us to do, namely, to develop and deliver top-quality software. We will add new features as we go along and they will be available almost immediately for your use. Read the full 4D WebSTAR V Pricing Backgrounder for more details.
Mac OS X provides the ultimate environment for 4DWSV. The 4D WebSTAR Web server has always been designed to be extremely efficient; with Mac OS X, 4DWSV can now take advantage of the incredible speed of which it has always been capable.
No. For more information on Lasso products, please visit Blueworld.
PHP support is now provided as a Unix CGI in default 4D WebSTAR 5.0.1
install. No compiling or installing is required. To test, make a copy of
your index.html file and rename it index.php. Then use a browser to hit
"http://localhost/index.php". It should display like an ordinary html
file.
The PHP CGI provided with 5.0.1 is compiled with default options. To
compile
and install the CGI yourself, see below.
Compiling the PHP CGI:
----------------------
Requirements:
- Apple Developer Tools
- You should be logged in to the Finder as a Mac OS X Admin-level user.
- You need to know the password of the default Mac OS X Admin-level user.
You will need to enter this password when prompted after using 'sudo'
commands in a Terminal session.
1. Download the latest copy of PHP source code from <http://www.php.net/.
2. Open the Terminal application (in Applications/Utilities).
3. Type in "cd " and then drag the PHP source folder from the Finder to
the
Terminal.
4. Click back in the Terminal and hit return. This should put you in the
PHP
source folder.
5. Type in "./configure" and hit return. If you get a "command unknown"
error, type in "sudo chmod a+rx configure" and retry. Wait for the script
to
complete.
NOTE: By default, this script prepares for a compile of PHP as a CGI
(usually with XML and MySQL support). Check the documentation at
<http://www.php.net/ for a complete list of compile-time configuration
options.
WARNING: When reviewing PHP documentation, keep in mind that most
instructions for Mac OS X assume that you will be compiling PHP as an
Apache
module instead of a CGI.
6. Type in "make" and hit return/enter. Wait for the compile to complete.
Install the PHP CGI:
--------------------
1. From the Finder, open the PHP folder.
2. If "php.ini" does not exist, rename the file "php.ini-optimized" to
"php.ini".
3. Copy "php" and "php.ini" to the "4DWebSTAR/WebServer/cgi-bin" folder.
4. Go back to the Terminal and type in "cd 4DWebSTAR/WebServer/cgi-bin"
and
hit return.
5. Set the file ownership of "php" and "php.ini" to user 'webstar' and
group
'admin'. (Type in "sudo chown webstar:admin php*" and hit return.)
6. Make the CGI executable by 'webstar'. (Type in "sudo chmod u+rx php*"
and
hit return. When prompted, type in a Mac OS X Admin password.)
7. Open the WebSTAR Admin Client application and log into your virtual
host
(e.g. DefaultSite).
8. Select the CGI Settings Panel and create a New entry for PHP.
Name: PHP
URI: Ends With: PHP
Type: Unix
Path: /cgi-bin/php
4D WebSTAR has an extensive plug-in interface and a large third-party community. To learn more about the third-party solutions available to WebSTAR users visit the Extending WebSTAR section of our site.
If a plug-in is not working:
Plug-ins are often responsible for instability of the server. If you are experiencing crashes of your server, remove all unused plug-ins. You may need to remove all plug-ins and reinstall them one-by-one until you can determine which one is problematic. WebSTAR must be restarted whenever you add or remove plug-ins.
To write your own plug-ins, see the Developer Central section of the 4D WebSTAR site and consider subscribing to the 4DWebSTAR-Dev mailing list. 4D technical support cannot assist individual users with debugging of scripts, CGIs or plug-ins. See Mailing Lists.
In general, plug-ins are much faster than CGIs.
Plug-ins load as an actual part of the application at start-up, and are sometimes the cause of server instability. If you are experiencing server crashes, one or more third-party plug-ins may be the cause. This is a good time to try substituting CGIs, if available, for the same function.
- Turning the "Update on Save" check box on does not do anything unless the "Update Every" check box is on.
- A search index file cannot be renamed or moved from its original location.
- Weekly and monthly-based archiving schedules may not activate as configured. If you encounter this problem, please use an alternative schedule.
- Not all WLF and ELF log tokens are functional.
- Renaming reusable security tables (including User lists, Permissions tables, and Allow/Deny tables) will result in the loss of previous content. Please export table contents before renaming.
- The Transmit FTP client is incompatible with WebSTAR FTP accounts that have blank passwords. If you see this problem, please give the account a password or use a different FTP client.
4DWSV uses the latest SSL/Encryption and authentication. In addition, 4DWSV has central SSL storage and administration, reusable realm security, and flexible port configuration.
4D WebSTAR is committed to protecting your site from hack attacks and proving tools to make setting site security straightforward and easy. Security is easy right out of the box because default settings are pre-set for tight security.
A major advantage of 4DWSV is ease-of-use and delegable authority. Features such as the secure GUI for easy editing of all settings (including user lists and security realms), and the drag-and-drop plug-in architecture put 4DWSV ahead of the game. WebDAV services are turned on with a check box in the 4DWSV UI, for example, whereas the mod_dav Apache module usually has to be compiled and properly configured.
Besides being up to 20 times faster than WebSTAR version 4.4, the biggest advantages of 4DWSV over previous versions of WebSTAR are stability with a more robust operating system, new features such as WebDAV, improved search capabilities, and more.
View the complete 4D WebSTAR version comparison chart.
Initializing Admin Client/Server encrypted connections may take a while.
- Launching the WebSTAR Server Suite too soon after quitting may cause
problems since the Admin ports (9494 and 9495 by default) may not yet be
closed out by the operating system. Be sure to quit all applications
(Launcher, Monitor and Client) before attempting to relaunch.
- When editing tables, keep in mind that one mouse click is required to
leave the table editing mode, and a second click to activate another user
interface component, such as a Save button. Buttons will highlight when
activated.
- Hiding the Admin Client application may cause window redraw problems when it reappears. Refreshing the window (F5) may help resolve this issue.
- The Web virtual hosts may not immediately appear in the Admin Client's
"Please select a host" dialog. If this happens, choose "Admin" instead.
After connecting, select the Virtual Hosts panel from the Web Server group
and click on Save. Then select Disconnect from the Admin Client's File menu
to close the connection. Reconnect, and the "DefaultSite" option should
appear.
- Some menus are greyed out until selected.
- Drag-and-drop between tables causes some unusual but transient cosmetic
behaviors.
- When editing table data in the Admin Client, linked text fields may be
enabled even though no table row is selected.
- On some networks or machines, 'localhost' will not resolve to the local
machine. In these cases, use 127.0.0.1 in the Connection dialog instead.
- Renaming a Virtual Host (via the Admin Client) will not automatically
rename its preference file in the 4DWebSTAR/WebServer folder. This needs to be done manually.
- 4D WebSTAR may not have read and/or write access to files created in the
Finder. To solve this issue, we recommend that you create or copy all new
folders and files while logged in to the Finder as the special 'webstar'
user, or via a WebSTAR file sharing service (WebDAV or FTP).
- The 'Configure File Permissions' custom install option in the 4D WebSTAR
Installer ensures that WebSTAR will have read and write permissions for all
files within the /Applications/4DWebSTAR hierarchy, including new folders
and files created since the initial install.
- When using Netscape Navigator 4.7 and earlier, an error dialog may appear
when connecting with SSL to a 4D WebSTAR V site.
- If you continue to have problems successfully running the Suite, use the
Console application in Applications/Utilities to view the WebSTAR Server
Suite initialisation process. Keep in mind that the Console log keeps old
information, so watch the time stamps. You may also want to set the Console
log preferences to about 200 lines to reduce the time it takes to load.
- Currently, 4D WebSTAR V does not include support for Mac OS aliases. If
you need this type of functionality, please use Unix-style symbolic links,
suported by both the Mac OS X Finder and 4D WebSTAR V. To make a symbolic link, open the Terminal application in Applications/Utilities, and enter "ln-s <actualpath <linkpath" at the command prompt (e.g. ln -s
/Applications/4DWebSTAR/WebServer/DefaultSite/Examples
/Applications/4DWebSTAR/WebServer/DefaultSite/ExamplesAlias).
International |
Company | Contact
4D | Site Map | Privacy
Policy | © 4D UK 1995-2008 | Change font size: [A]
[A]
[A]
| 