DNS stub zones are a new feature in Windows 2003 server. What are they, what do they do and are they of any benefit? In this article I try and answer these questions and make the complicated subject of DNS that little bit easier. 

System administrators like myself always want the latest technologies. With Longhorn still in beta and not yet a viable option many companies using the “One operating system behind” policy are now looking at upgrading to 2003 server. This is not a system I agree with as Windows 2003 server has been stable and better than W2k since service pack 1 in my opinion.

This tutorial documents the steps needed to create an internal DNS Server that will allow you to use "friendly" names within your LAN (Local Area Network) or provide a platform for Host Headers to be used within your IIS (Internet Information Services) configuration.

This tutorial will guide you, step by step, through the installation of Apache, along with PHP and MySQL (and phpMyAdmin), under Windows.
For this tutorial, we used apache_2.0.54-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi, php-5.0.4-Win32.zip, mysql-essential-4.1.12a-win32.msi and phpMyAdmin-2.6.3-pl1.zip, on a machine running Windows XP Home SP2 (but this tut works fine with XP Pro, but there is a little problem with Win 2000 - but that won't prevent you from running the full server though).

Need exchange hosting services? Or Microsoft exchange hosting for your computer? For hosted exchange and other technology needs, Intermedia

About PHP5.
PHP5 is an "Open Source" scripting language and provides similar functionality to Microsoft's ASP. Obviously, both have their advantages and a comparison of the two technologies is outside the scope of this tutorial. However, a common misconception is that PHP is "Linux only" and not compatible with Microsoft systems.
To find out more about PHP, visit the following site:
http://www.php.net

As all other unix tricks this is also the result of laziness and the need. I wanted to backup data on my windows laptop to a central linux/unix server. I didn't want all the features of available expensive backup solutions. Just a simple updated copy of my data on a central machine which is backed up to the tape daily. rsync is known for fast incremental transfer and was an obvious choice for the purpose.

One of the most important functions a Web site has is the ability to track who is visiting it, where they are coming from, and what they are doing. While logs themselves may not always be the most accurate measurement of what's going on, they do provide a high level overview useful for tracking common user functions and tasks. There are instances when certain types of data aren't logged such as referrers, cookies, user agents, and POST data. Logging can also be used to track abnormal behavior including malicious requests sent by a potential attacker trying to break into your site. These logs can be extremely valuable in identifying if an attack was successful or not, as well as some of the exact commands that an attacker may have executed.

This document is intended as a starting checklist to harden Windows 2000 Server and IIS for security vulnerabilities. This checklist is designed for those that are extremely familiar with Windows and IIS, as explanations for the checklist actions are not included. It is strongly recommend that you visit the Microsoft Security and Privacy page, at http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.asp, for specific information about each step and the reason behind each action.

With the recent release of PHP 5.0, many PHP developers might be thinking about upgrading their existing PHP installations to the new standard. Although PHP 5.0 may not be ready yet for a live environment, this tutorial will show you how to build a PHP 5.0 server on Windows that would be suitable for hosting live applications with future builds of PHP 5.x.

Having Your Own Web Server Locally
When designing a web application, as opposed to a web site, you will need to make the jump from client-side technologies like DHTML, to server-side technologies like PHP and Perl. In order to successfully develop in any language, you must possess the ability to test your work before you launch it into the public domain of the Internet. This can be problematic, however, if your web site is hosted remotely by a hosting company, where you need to upload your work to their web server before you can test it. This can be a time-consuming process.

Shared or virtual hosting is usually available in two varieties: UNIX and NT. What is the difference between hosting on these operating systems?

I'm writing this article assuming you're running Windows XP on your computer. Even if you are not, you can use this article to setup these three on almost all basic Windows flavors.

This article may help you to get starting in using MySQL under NT. There is no distinction made between Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. These three operating systems support 'Windows services' which you will not find with the Windows 95/98/ME versions.

I've been supporting Internet Information Services since IIS3 (that sure was a challenge! :>). Each time a new version came out, I would test extensively both the upgrade process and also a fresh install configuration -- just to be familiar with issues in both cases. But whenever dealing with production systems, I *always* opted for a fresh install and then migrated the site(s) from the older version to the new version.