Web Server recommendation?

[Kevin C. Marsh]

>
>We are trying to setup a web server for the library.  What would you
>recommend for a combination of hardware and software.  We have a very
>tight budget :(
>
>What are the pros and cons for a Mac group server vs. a pentium w/
>linux or a pentium w/ windows 95 or NT?  Thanks for your time.

In my opinion you will get the best price/performance from the Pentium w/
Linux server.  I reccomend this configuration if:

1. You or your tech. staff are familiar with Unix
2. You want to set up CGI scripts to access Z39.50-compliant databases with
multiple fields of data like freeWAIS.sf or ISITE

I reccomend the Mac, Win95, or WinNT platforms if:

1. You or your tech. staff are familiar with that platform and not with Unix
2. You are willing to provide access to WAIS databases with full text rather
than field-specific searching, or even (shudder) no databases at all!

Yes, there are commercial Z39.50 servers that support fielded searching for
the Win 95 and NT platforms, but they cost more than the original hardware.  

For a simple Web server with html documents giving information about your
Library and links to other resources, you should use whichever combination
of hardware and OS you prefer to work with, since any of them will be
sufficient for the job.

Kevin C. Marsh, Executive Director, Information Access Institute
IAI at neosoft.com