Server start-up mechanism

Servers can be started when the system boots and run continuously, spawning a new process for each request. Alternatively they can be started for each request. Each method has its pros and cons. If the server runs continuously it may use system resources and degrade the performance of other programs even when it is not servicing requests, but the processes it spawns will not need to read configuration files. The configuration mechanisms of most servers are quite complex and if the server is started for each request, server initialization must occur each time, which adds to the overhead and leads to slower responses to requests and a higher load on the system. It is generally considered better to start Web servers at system start-up time. The GN server may be an exception here as its configuration information is compiled-in, which speeds its initialization.

The command line to start the server has to be placed in a start-up file. The start-up file varies according to the start-up mechanism selected and the actual command line arguments depend on the server being used.

[ITCP] Spinning the Web by Andrew Ford
© 1995 International Thomson Publishing
© 2002 Andrew Ford and Ford & Mason Ltd
Note: this HTML document was generated in December 1994 directly from the LaTeX source files using LaTeX2HTML. It was formatted into our standard page layout using the Template Toolkit. The document is mainly of historical interest as obviously many of the sites mentioned have long since disappeared.