There are two approaches you can take to set up multiple Web servers on your NetWare server:
Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses; you should choose the one that's right for your situation.
Hardware virtual servers allow you to map multiple IP addresses to multiple document roots. For example, if you have two IP addresses, you could map the first IP address to one document root and the second IP address to a second document root. Although hardware virtual servers take fewer system resources than multiple instances of the server, they must also share the same configuration information. For example, if one hardware virtual server has enabled security features or Web Publishing, they all must have it enabled.
Software virtual servers give you the ability to map a single IP address to multiple server names. Each software virtual server can have its own home page, which allows you to host multiple Web sites from one IP address. However, in order for software virtual servers to work correctly, the users accessing the server must use client software that supports the HTTP host header. Like hardware virtual servers, software virtual servers all must have the same configuration.
For more information, see Setting Up Hardware Virtual Servers and Setting Up Software Virtual Servers.
A hardware virtual server lets your server respond to multiple IP addresses without your having to install multiple servers. With hardware virtual servers, you map multiple IP addresses to multiple document roots. For example, if you have two IP addresses, you could map the first IP address to one document root and the second IP address to another document root.
Although hardware virtual servers take fewer system resources than multiple instances of the server, they must also share the same configuration information. For example, if one hardware virtual server has enabled security features, they all must have security features enabled.
To set up hardware virtual servers, dothe following:
Load and bundle all IP addresses.
Enter the following command at the NetWare server console:
add secondary IPaddress IP_address
Add the above command to the AUTOEXEC.NCF file after the LOAD and BIND statements or after INITSYS.NCF if INETCFG is being used to configure the server.
Click Enterprise Web Server servername > Content Management > Hardware Virtual Servers.
In the IP Address field, enter the secondary IP address.
In the Document Root field, enter the document root. For example, SYS:NOVONYX\SUITESPOT\DOCS.
To secure your hardware virtual server, check the Encryption check box.
See About Securing a Hardware Virtual Server for additional information.
Click OK > Save and Apply.
Repeat the previous steps for each hardware virtual server.
For more information on security, refer to Novell Certificate Server Administration Guide.
While the Enterprise Web Server doesn't have to be secured for a hardware virtual server to be secured, you do have to specify a Key Material Object (KMO) during installation to use encryption. Once the KMO is created, use Server Preferences > Encryption On/Off to select a KMO.
IMPORTANT: Once you have turned Encryption on, you must use HTTPS to contact this server rather than HTTP.
A software virtual server is a way to host several Web sites on one computer without needing to have more than one IP address on the computer. For example, you can set up your system so that both www.novell.com and www.cambridge.com resolve to 192.3.4.5, and then set up software virtual servers to handle both server names (for example, http://www.novell.com/ and http://www.cambridge.com). The server can respond differently to requests depending upon the URL, even though the server only has one IP address.
For example, an Internet service provider (ISP) installs a Web server and then wants to set up a software virtual server for each of its customers (for example, customers aaa, bbb, and ccc) so that each customer can have an individual domain name.
The ISP first configures the Domain Name System (DNS) to recognize that a customer's URL, www.aaa.com, resolves to the ISP's IP address. The ISP then creates a subdirectory for each company (aaa, bbb, and ccc) in the document root. These subdirectories contain the files for that company, including the home page, aaa/HOME.HTML. Next, the ISP sets up software virtual servers. The URL host would be www.aaa.com and the home page would be aaa/HOME.HTML. The ISP would do this for each company it services.
Because software virtual servers use the HTTP host header to direct the user to the correct page, not all client software works with software virtual servers.
Only client software that supports the HTTP host header will work. In the previous example, the ISP would set up the INDEX.HTML file in the document root to be an index page that links to all the virtual servers hosted by the system, so all users could access the home pages.
To set up a software virtual server, do the following:
Click Enterprise Web Server servername > Content Management > Software Virtual Servers.
Create a directory under the DOCS directory. For example, SYS:\NOVONYX\SUITESPOT\DOCS\TEST.
In the URL Host field, enter the URL host whose custom home page you want to set up. For example, test/.
In the Home Page field, enter the path to the home page you want to use for this virtual server. For example INDEX.HTML.
If you enter a full path, the server uses that specific document. If you enter a partial path, the server interprets it as relative to your primary document directory.
Click OK > Save and Apply.
If you want to modify preferences on the default home page, click Edit the Default Home Page at the top of the form.