What is the CityU Web Server?

 

Annie Yu

People often talk about the "Web". Bringing up the "Web" is straightforward in CityU. All you need to do is click the Netscape browser on the Campus Network menu and then you'll be taken to the default home page of CityU (http://www.cityu.edu.hk/). It does seem very convenient indeed, but have you ever thought about what is actually working behind the scene? Why is it possible to retrieve HRO application forms or watch the president's interview on the web? The answer is the WEB SERVER. It renders the Dover machine (www.cityu.edu.hk) capable of serving all CityU web documents to clients, e.g. the Netscape browser, when requested. The computer is able to do this because it is running the WEB SERVER program that speaks the same language as the web browser. When such a server is installed, the server administrator specifies a directory to contain all the files he/she wants to serve to its clients. In our case, all departments’ web documents are kept in that main content directory and made available to clients. The most basic type of content at the CityU web site is HTML files. Additionally, departments’ web sites can contain programs that perform special tasks for people who visit them. To name a few examples, the "Staff Phonebook", the "Computer Shop Buyer's Guide", "Select Personal Email Name" are programs offered by CSC.

Computing Services Centre City University of Hong Kong ccnetcom@cityu.edu.hk