Re: AS400 web server -- MIDRANGE-L

Thomas Q. McCollem wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> I am interested in using my AS400 as a web server.  Could someone point me
> in the right direction?

there are several good books from Midrange Computing and Duke Press
(news400)
on the subject.  Check out both of thier websites as well, and the
magazines themselves.  It's not hard at all to configure the box, the
tough part is getting an internet service provider.

> Do I need V4R1?

no.  I/Net has a product - webserver/400 that allows you to serve the
web on any v3r1 and up machine.  IBM's version started at v3r2/7, I
think, but isn't  , IMO, as robust as the I/Net product.  

> Is CA required?

no, I believe you can key your html and serve them to the web out of
source files using SEU, but I would recommend getting a decent web page
design tool - they are cheap, and can be found all over the web.

I'm pretty sure you will need some sort of router (netsoft, ca, etc) to
allow you to access the IFS file system on the as/400.  This is where
you have to save your graphics, etc.

> Are there tools used for web page development?

plenty.  names like Hot Dog, Hot Metal, Netscape Gold, MS front page,
etc.  Most of them have demo/shareware versions downloadable from the
web, and most  of them create decent pages, but most good web designers
only use them to get a page started, then go into the html source
themselves to tweek it.

If your web site is going to be dynamic (has forms for inputing data,
changes based on user input and/or host data) rather than static (just
your basic page, with graphics and links to other pages), the learning
curve is going to be much sharper.

In this case, you will need to learn about cgi-bin programming, or use
products such as IBM's Net.Data and/or Net.Commerce.  You can find more
about these products from IBMs website.  Net.data uses a scripting/macro
language that allows you to access as/400 data, format it and display it
on the web.  Net.Commerce is more of a complete web site developement
tool that incorporates net.data.

> As you can tell I am new to the Web,  so any information you can give me
> will be greatly appreciated.

The worse part is getting an ISP.  figure out what kind of band width
you'll need to the web (based on how much traffic you expect) and shop
around to your local and national providers to get the best rates, and
check references for how their customer service is.  talk to someone
who's been thru it.  

As for your site developement if you pretty much know what you want it
to look like there are plenty of college kids out there who know html
and will work for around 10 bucks an hour to create your site.  

There are plenty of companies (mine included) who can take any and/or
all of this stuff off of your hands and within a couple months can get
you serving up a well designed, professional looking, functional and
feature rich internet/intranet web site at a reasonable cost.  Once
again, shop around. (or just let us do it and we'll bill you :)

If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to help.

Hope this helps,

rick
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