Windows Server 2012, managing web sites and setting up configurations
Windows Server 2012, managing web sites and setting up configurations
I recently asked you for advice on HTML coding and web design. Now I realize I wasn’t supposed to manage my group’s website or store. I’m still using my Windows Server 2012 machine and would appreciate some guidance on getting started. How should I set up the server and host the site? I was using XAMPP, but if there’s another alternative that works well with Windows Server 2012, that would be great! Any tutorial links or a recommended book would be really helpful. Thanks again for your support!
Windows server feels like a mess compared to Linux—much better in my opinion! I really like Windows, but the server side isn’t great.
The Windows web server is named IIS and it comes pre-installed but isn’t activated in every version of Windows Server. You enable it under the Add Roles section: How to set up your first IIS Web site. There are several guides available, such as installing IIS 7 and creating a static website in just 13 steps. It’s worth noting why someone might question its quality—across our corporate environment (excluding development or support servers), we manage over 2100 servers running various Windows Server editions. These systems power Active Directory (with 87 domain controllers), DNS, DHCP, RADIUS, file servers, SCCM, Hyper-V, IIS, Tomcat, WSUS, Exchange, MS SMTP, Print Services, TeamCity, and more. We also deploy Linux for tools like Cacti, SVN/Git, Puppet, Postfix/Dovecot/Sendmail, Mailscanner, etc. As an application admin, I regularly work with both environments, recognizing their unique strengths and limitations. Labeling either as "bad" would be unfair; it’s more accurate to say one excels in certain tasks while the other falls short overall. Running a small PHP site or WordPress blog? LAMP works, but IIS can also handle it easily—WordPress can be installed quickly via the Microsoft Web Platform Utility. For ASP.NET apps like Sitfinity, you’ll need IIS combined with MSSQL. Minecraft servers run best on Linux, while DayZ needs Windows. If someone is looking for a VPS or dedicated server, I’d suggest Linux unless they specifically require an MS stack, since Linux hosting is generally more cost-effective. Since the user already has the server, the focus should be on supporting what’s available rather than criticizing the choice made.
It's accurate that Windows Server requires more resources than Linux, though it's not significantly worse than the Windows Desktop version. A web server with minimal traffic can function well on just 2-4 GB of RAM and a single CPU core. The primary advantage of Windows for most users is its familiarity—no need to adapt to a new system. Linux excels in stability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. In this scenario, the user should be comfortable with Windows Server even if they had to start over. If you don't plan to use IIS or MSSQL, Linux would be a better choice.
Disregard James. "I love Windows, but the server is terrible!" Reveals your computer skills—Windows Server is vastly superior to the client OS.
ya... the instant I saw his reply, I completely ignored his view. He didn’t provide any evidence or solid reasons for why he didn’t like it. @jameshumphries47 - I received a key from my teacher at school so I could tackle it alongside my group’s project. I actually think it’s more user-friendly, though that’s mainly because of my previous experience with Linux and the challenges I’ve faced with it, which makes my perspective obvious. I also acknowledge that my technical skills aren’t strong enough to debate which Server OS is better.
Sure, I like Linux because it’s simpler and faster for handling more tasks! But I’ve tried both, so I guess you just pick what you prefer, right?