Dear Final Debug: My company insists on using Apache as its Web server. (Fine with me, it’s not like Microsoft needs any more money, right?) Is it still the top server on the Web? — Chris Larson, Chicago.
Final Debug Responds: Yes, Chris, freeware Apache is still tops. According to the most recent Netcraft survey, among the nearly 2.6 million Web sites the company checked, here’s how the Web-server market is shaking out:
Apache 49.69 percent
Microsoft 22.36 percent
Netscape 4.94 percent
Other 23.01 percent
Aside from this being more bad news for Netscape, it’s worth noting that, if you check older Netcraft reports, Apache is slowly widening its lead over Mirosoft and will likely inch over the psychologically important 50 percent line before November. The Apache news will only get better, since IBM is adapting commercial support for Apache, perhaps in reaction to the poor market performance of its existing Web-server products (i.e., Lotus Domino).
Apache is currently in version 1.31, with the 1.3x line being the first version of Apache to include Win32 support (previously the program worked only on Unix and OS/2 platforms).Developers acknowledge that the young Windows version of the program is far less tested than the nearly-bulletproof Unix distributions. Here’s a sample quote off the Apache Web site: “Apache still performs best, and is most reliable on Unix platforms. Over time we will improve NT performance.” It’s worth noting that the most precise Apache performance on Windows systems comes when you lose the graphical interface and revert to the DOS prompt.
Some of the most important improvements in 1.31 include:
-Dynamic Shared Object support allow Apache modules to load at runtime, so memory usage is slashed.
-Reliable piped logs let Apache recover a logging child without having to restart a server. This means much less down time.
And best of all, as you know, it’s free.
More on FAT32
Recently, Silicon Prairie covered various Windows 98 upgrade issues, particularly FAT32. One of our pieces yielded this response, from reader Eric Adair.
As an all-around PC guru-type-guy, I must point out several things you didn’t mention about FAT32:
1: Windows NT doesn’t read it. So, if you happen to run a dual boot of WinNT and Win98, like many power users I know you’re out of luck. MS has no plans to put FAT32 support into NT until NT 5.0, due out sometime next year.
2: It’s likely an interim standard. I don’t know MS’s plans, but I would presume that when NT and Win9x finally converge, we’re going to get NTFS, with its inherent access-control features, rather than FAT32.
3: Not sure why, but even the disk recovery utils that claim to work with FAT32 don’t do so all that well. If a FAT16 drive blows up (and is not physically damaged), I can get the data back 90 percent of the time. FAT32 users have no such luck. And, of course, many of my older utils don’t support it at all, so they’re entirely useless, and no new product exists to take their place.
4: Biggest issue: Performance. In the most hopped-up speed demon of a computer, formatting the drive as FAT32 causes a 1 percent to 5 percent drop in overall system performance. On older systems, the impact can be enormous. I don’t have any hard numbers, but my experience is that a 16MB p133 grinds almost to a halt with FAT32, as it seems to need more memory and processor time to keep itself happy.
A caveat: All the performance tests I’ve done were with a Win95 OSR/2 machine, and not Win98. Perhaps the ’98 implementation is a bit speedier, or maybe not.
Thank you, Eric. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?
Contest
Summer must be winding down; we have received a correct answer to our heat-related hardware question “What is the hottest temperature at which 3Com has certified that the Palm III will work?”
James Yoo submitted the first correct answer: “3com certifies their Palm lll at operating temps of up to 45 degrees Celsius.” For sweating out the answer, James wins a copy of George Landow’s “Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology,” a pre-Web landmark in figuring out what etexts are all about.
Come back next week for a new contest. And if you have questions, send them in!
