BLOCK 3

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND

HOSTING
BLOCK 3 WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND
HOSTING
This is the third block of the course “E-Commerce”. This block is structured
to cover the various phases of website development process, web server
hardware, web server software and E-commerce software. The block on the
theme “Website Development and Hosting” comprises of three units, the
detail of which is mentioned below:
● Unit7: This unit gives the basic introduction about website development.
The unit covers the various aspects related to the websites such as their
various types, evolution and usages in everyday life along with the
website’s developments process focusing on the various phases of
development and briefly stating the various inputs and output of each
phase/step. The later part of the unit states various ingredients required
for website development as well the various types of website hosting.

● Unit-8: This unit discusses the various e- commerce software for mid-
sized, large sized and mid to large sized companies. Apart from that the
unit also explains various e-commerce initiatives, strategies for
developing e-commerce websites as well as the management of e-
commerce implementations.

● Unit-9: This unit helps the learners in understanding about the basics of
web servers, their essentials, various types of web servers and their
distinction along with the web server software and application server
software.
 Website
UNIT 7 WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT Development

Structure

7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Meaning of Website
7.3 Evolution of Website
7.3.1 Rapid growth and expansion of WWW and the browsers
7.4 Website Usage
7.5 HTTP & HTTPS Protocols
7.5.1 HTTP

7.5.2 HTTPS
7.5.3 Difference between HTTP and HTTPS
7.6 Types of Website
7.7 Development of Website
7.8 Ingredients Required for Website Development
7.9 Website Hosting
7.9.1 Types of Website Hosting
7.9.2 Website Hosting Alternatives
7.10 Let Us Sum Up
7.11 Keywords
7.12 Terminal Questions

7.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

● understand the origination of websites;

● describe website usages;
● explain HTTP and HTTPs Protocols;
● explain the various types of websites;
● describe the process of development of websites over time;
● explain the various ingredients required for website development; and
● explain the concept and various types of web hosting;

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Website Development
and Hosting 7.1 INTRODUCTION

Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as

news, education, commerce, entertainment, or social networking. Hyper
linking between web pages guides the navigation of the site, which often
starts with a home page. Users can access websites on a range of devices,
including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones. The software
application used on these devices is called a web browser. Web development
is the building and maintenance of websites. It is basically the work
happening behind the scenes to make a website look great, work fast and
perform well with a seamless user experience. Website development is done
by the web developers by using a variety of coding languages which depends
on the type of tasks they are performing and the platforms on which they are
working. This unit explains the meaning, origination, usages of websites
along with the process and ingredients required for website development.

7.2 MEANING OF WEBSITE

A website is a compilation of web pages and associated content that is

acknowledged by a general domain name and published on at least one web
server. A website (also known as web site) is a collection of web pages and
related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on
at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org, google.com,
amazon.com and www.ignou.ac.in. The software application used on these
devices is called a web browser. Basically, for a layman a website is a set of
data and information about a particular subject which is available on the
Internet. Websites can be used in various ways for a number of purposes such
as a personal website for someone’s own business or profession, a corporate
website for a company, a government website for any government
organization or any other organizational website, etc. Websites can be the
work of an individual, a business or other organization, and are typically
dedicated to a particular topic or purpose. Any website can contain a
hyperlink to any other website, so the distinction between individual sites, as
perceived by the user, can be blurred. For an example below is a snapshot of
IGNOU University portal.

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Source: www.ignou.ac.in

Fig 7.1: Website of IGNOU

The above snapshot depicts that IGNOU is an abbreviation of Indira Gandhi

National Open University which is a National Resource Centre for Open and
Distance Learning (ODL), with international recognition and presence. It
aims to provide seamless access to sustainable and learner-centric quality
education, skill up gradation and training to all using innovative technologies.
The University is committed to quality teaching, research, training and
extension activities, and acts as a national resource centre for expertise and
infrastructure in the ODL system. Emphasis is now being laid on developing
interactive multimedia and online learning, and adding value to the traditional
distance education delivery mode with modern technology-enabled education
within the framework of integrated distance and online learning.

7.3 ORIGINATION OF WEBSITE

The development of the World Wide Web (WWW) began in 1989 by Tim
Berners-Lee and his colleagues at CERN, an International scientific
organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. They created a protocol,
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which standardized communication
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Website Development between servers and clients. Their text-based Web browser was made
and Hosting
available for general release in January 1992. CERN announced that the
World Wide Web would be free to use by anyone. Before the introduction of
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), other protocols such as File
Transfer Protocol and the Gopher Protocol were used to retrieve individual
files from a server. We will discuss the HTTP and HTTPs in more
elaborative manner in later section

Fig 7.2: World Wide Web (WWW)

7.3.1 Rapid Growth and Expansion of WWW with Browsers

The WWW gained rapid acceptance with the creation of a Web browser
called Mosaic, which was developed in the United States by Marc
Andreessen and others and was released in September 1993. Mosaic allowed
people using the Web to use the same sort of “point-and-click” graphical
manipulations that was possible in personal computers also. In April 1994,
Andreessen co founded Netscape Communications Corporation, whose
Netscape Navigator became the dominant Web browser soon after its release
in December 1994. By the mid-1990s the World Wide Web had millions of
active users.

Table 7.1: Various Software Support Internet Applications

Year of Internet Application Logo & Parent Product Mandate
Origin Company

1994 The company's first Netscape web browser was once

product was the web dominant but lost to Internet
browser, called Mosaic Explorer and other competitors in
Netscape 0.9, released on the so-called first browser war, with
October 13, 1994. Within its market share falling from more
four months of its release, than 90 percent in the mid-1990s.
it had already taken three- Netscape advertised that "the web is
quarters of the browser Netscape for everyone" and stated one of its
market Communications goals was to "level the playing
Corporation field" among operating systems by
providing a consistent web
browsing experience across them.

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1995 Internet Explorer (IE), in Internet Explorer is a series of Website
1996 1995 as an add-on to the graphical web browsers developed Development
Windows 95 operating by Microsoft and included in the
system. Microsoft Windows line of
IE soon became the most operating systems, starting since
popular Web browser 1995. It was first released as part of
the add-on package Plus! for
Windows 95 that year.
IE was integrated into the Windows
Microsoft operating system in 1996 and came
Corporation “bundled” ready-to-use within the
operating system of personal
computers.

2002 Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox Browser for Android is

Firefox, is a free and automatically private and incredibly
open-source web browser fast.
developed by the Mozilla
Foundation and its
subsidiary, the Mozilla
Corporation. Firefox uses
the Gecko layout engine
to render web pages,
which implements current Mozilla
and anticipated web Organization.
standards
2003 Apple’s Safari is the Safari is a graphical web browser
2005 default browser on developed by Apple, based on the
2007 Macintosh personal WebKit engine. First released on
computers and later on desktop in 2003 with Mac OS X
iPhones (2007) and iPads Panther, a mobile version has been
(2010) bundled with iOS devices since the
Safari 2.0 was the first iPhone's introduction in 2007.
browser with a privacy Apple.
mode.

2008 Google launched Chrome, By 2013 Chrome had become the

the first browser with dominant browser, surpassing IE
isolated tabs, which meant and Firefox in popularity
that when one tab is
crashed, other tabs and
the whole browser would
still function
Alphabet Inc.
2015 Microsoft discontinued Microsoft Edge is a cross-platform
Internet Explorer and web browser developed by
replaced it with Edge. Microsoft. It was first released for
Windows 10 and Xbox One in
2015, then for Android and iOS in
2017, for macOS in 2019, and as a
preview for Linux in October 2020.
Microsoft
Edge includes integration with
Cortana and has extensions hosted
on the Microsoft Store.
Source: Google

For more details about web browsers refer to the unit-3 of BCOS-183:
Computer Application in Business which is a 3rd semester course of B.Com
(G). In the early 21st century, smart phones became more computer-like, and
more-advanced services, such as Internet access, became possible. Web
usage on Smartphone steadily increased, and in 2016 it accounted for more
than half of Web browsing.

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Website Development
and Hosting 7.4 WEBSITE USAGES

The proliferation of mobile phones has given birth to new categories of web
users and expanded the target audience for the businesses, and this all has
become possible with the easy access to the internet. Despite the availability
of mobile apps, mobile friendly responsive web is gaining popularity and is
preferred among the audience. A website provides a quick and easy way of
communicating information between buyers and sellers. Websites are useful
not only for the customers but also for buyers in many ways. Websites can be
tailored according to the hosts requirements. A website can provide much
information such as opening hours, contact information, images of location or
products and also the AI enabled contact forms to facilitate enquiries from
potential customers or to obtain feedback from existing ones. Various usages
of websites are explained in detail below:

1. Online Presence 24/7: Website enables customers to contact the service

provider anytime, anywhere. Even outside of business hours, website
continues to find and secure new customers. 24/7 presence offers the
user convenience as the information needed by them can be accessed in
their comfortable zones be it either their own home or workplace with no
added pressure to buy.

2. Information Exchange: Through a website a seller can provide as much

information as he wants and requires for the customers. Websites provide
the easiest way of information exchange between the buyer and sellers,
which really helps the businesses to engage the customer and sell in an
effective and cost-efficient way.

3. Credibility: Having an online presence is imperative on the part of any

sort of business these days. It makes them get ahead of their competitors
in one way or another. Most of the reputed businesses have their
presence in virtual places, which helps in building reputation and
improved credibility of the businesses in the eyes of customers. A
website can be used for answering all what’s and why’s of potential
customers. Moreover, having a good quality, easy-to-use website makes
them believe that they will get the same positive experience in all areas
of the business.

4. Market Expansion: Online presence helps in the expansion of the target

market, as it can be accessible to anyone all over the world. Anyone,
from any country, can easily find the company and as such becomes a
potential customer. Online presence actually helps the companies to
increase their market share and capitalize by a great extent which
otherwise is not possible.

5. Consumer Insights: These days various customers analytic tools such as

artificial intelligence, big data help in identifying typical customers, their
136 preferences, demand and behavior towards certain products. The diverse
 range of data available also offers hands to the businesses to better Website
Development
understand their potential customers and thus offer them products as per
their needs.

6. Advertising: Tools like Google Ad Words or advertising on Facebook

gives the power to reach customers with much more accuracy and
reliability than with traditional offline advertising methods. SEO and
online advertising are a great way to help build up awareness and
increasing traffic in no time.

7. Competitors Online: If any business player do not have a website it is

highly likely that their competitors will have. This can lead to missing
out on gaining new customers and opportunities to be at the forefront. It
is crucial that no opportunity is missed and every prospect is gained by
competition. Therefore, to stay ahead of the competition and have a
greater market presence it is required by every business to have online
presence.

8. Customer Service Online: Websites provide an easier and effective way

to handle customer service. AI enabled chat boxes can address all the
queries immediately which also helps the companies to save the costs of
customer representatives. Timely responses to the customer queries help
in improving their relationships with the service provider.

9. Growth Opportunity: Websites, in general, are great ways to provide a

place that potential investors can be referred to. It shows what the
company is about, what it has achieved and what it can achieve in the
future. Thus, having a website incredibly provides various growth
opportunities.

7.5 HTTP & HTTPS PROTOCOL

Every URL link that begins with HTTP uses a basic type of “hypertext
transfer protocol”. Which was developed in early 19909’s by Tim Berners-
Lee. This network protocol enables web browsers and servers to
communicate through the exchange of data. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data
is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The
'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications
between browser and the website are encrypted. For more details we will
study both the terms separately:

7.5.1 HTTP
HTTP is a protocol which allows the fetching of resources, such as HTML
documents. It is the foundation of any data exchange on the Web and it is a
client-server protocol, which means requests are initiated by the recipient,
usually the Web browser. A complete document is reconstructed from the
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Website Development different sub-documents fetched, for instance text, layout description, images,
and Hosting
videos, scripts, and more. It is an application-level protocol for distributed,
collaborative, hypermedia information systems.

7.5.2 HTTPs
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol. It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and
is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is
encrypted using Transport Layer Security or, formerly, Secure Sockets Layer.

7.5.3 Difference between HTTP and HTTPs

HTTP is a protocol using which hypertext is relocated over the Web. Due to
its ease, HTTP has been the most commonly used protocol for data transfer
over the Web but the data (i.e. hypertext) exchanged using HTTP is not as
secure as we would like it to subsist. In precise, by using both the
HTTP/HTTPS the information of a particular website is exchanged between
Web Server and Web Browser. But what’s difference between these two is
extra ‘s’ present in HTTPS, Which that makes it secure! The below
mentioned table would meticulously provide concise difference between
HTTP and HTTPS.

Table 7.3: Difference between HTTP and HTTPs

Basis HTTP HTTPs
Definition It stands for Hyper Text It stands for Hyper Text
Transfer Protocol Transfer Protocol Secure
Encryption It does not encrypt the text It encrypt the text so that
no one can access it
Usage of SSL They don’t require Secure They use Secure Socket
Socket Layer at Transport Layer to encrypt the code
layer
Type It is a default protocol It is not a default protocol
Beginning URL begins with http:// URL begins with https://
Security It is an unsecure protocol It is a safe transfer
protocol
Validation It does not require any It requires validation like
validation domain verification
Address bar It has simple address bar It has green colored
address bar that shows it is
secure
Hacking It can be easily hacked It cannot be hacked easily

7.6 TYPES OF WEBSITES

As we know that Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and

individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. Websites are
hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers. When Internet users
138 desire to sight the website, all they need to do is to type the website address
or domain name in the browser. The choice of the type of websites depends Website
Development
on the requirement of the seller. Websites can mainly be categorized into four
broad categories namely authority website, lead generation website, sales
website and utility website explained in detail later. By knowing, what kind
of website is needed before making any design or marketing decision, one
can save oneself from a world of hurt and waste money and that also helps in
attracting the audience they want.

1. Authority Website: An authority website is a trusted, reliable source of

information. The authority website serves as an online presence for the
business. This is the place potential customers can go to see what the
company has done and how to get in contact with someone about
services and leads are generated offline. People visiting the website
already know about the company and reach there to gather more
information. Here the website serves as an online placeholder, giving
more legitimacy to the business in the eyes of customers. For example:
Healthambition.com is a great Authority site in the health sector which
has dozens of review articles that compares different products and makes
it easy for viewers to buy the recommended products from the affiliate
links as shown in the Fig. 7.3 below:

Fig 7.3: Example of Authority Websites

2. Lead-Generation Website: As its name suggests, this site is focused on

generating leads through its online presence. SEO and targeted
marketing strategies play a huge role in bringing in new customers.
Sales, however, still occurs offline. These websites are found online by
people who have buyer’s intent. This means that the prospective
customer is basically ready to spend their money and they just need to be
convinced that the business is the perfect place to do this spending. For
example, Live Chat is online customer service software with online chat,
help desk software, and web analytics capabilities which can be used as a
tool for lead generation.

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Fig 7.4: Examples of Lead-Generation Websites

3. Sales Website: These are the sites that sell products or services through
e-commerce. If a site has a cart function, then it falls into the sales
website category. This site is especially popular, as both leads and sales
are all done completely online. A company’s website can still fall into
the sales category if that business utilizes online scheduling and
payment, but provides the service in-person. For example, Amazon.com,
flipkart.com, myntra.com are the sales websites, here customers can buy
products and services online as per their needs.

Fig 7.5: Examples of Sales Websites

4. Utility Website: A utility website functions more like a tool than a

standard website. These are the companies whose business and website
are one and the same. Air BNB and Facebook are examples of utility
websites. They don’t necessarily generate leads or sales online. They just
exist in the online space and are accessible to anyone that chooses to use
them.

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Development

Fig 7.6: Examples of Utility Websites

7.7 DEVELOPMENT OF WEBSITE

Website development is the effort involved in developing a website for the

Internet or an intranet. Web development can vary from developing a simple
single static page of plain text to complex Web-based Internet applications,
electronic businesses, and social network services. Web development is the
maintenance and development of a website, basically it is the effort that
happens in the backdrop to make a website look enormous, work speedy and
perform sound with flawless user knowledge. Website development is a
comprehensive process which is carried by the Web developers by using a
diversity of coding languages. Various steps of web development process are
explained in detail below:

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Website Development
and Hosting Step 1 • Innovative Requirement
Step 2 • Information Gathering
Step 3 • Planning
Step 4 • Web Design
Step 5 • Web Development
Step 6 • Testing
Step 7 • Maintenance
Fig 7.7: Steps off Website Development Process

Step-1:
1: Innovative Requirement: Innovative requirement is the first and
foremost requirement of the web development process. This is basically a
discussion oriented step in which the client shares his ideas, needs and
requirements
ments with the web developers and on the basis of their demands the
developers provide them innovative suggestions best suiting their
requirements. Various inputs and outputs of innovative requirement are stated
below:
Table 7.4: Various inputs and outputs of innovative requirement
Input Output

● Potential interview with the ● Development process

client, initial emails, proposals ● Estimated cost
and supporting docs by the ● Team requirements (No of designers,
client, discussion notes. developers, BA, QA, SEO etc.)
● Recorded telephone ● Hardware-software
software requirements
conversations and Skype Chat ● Report documents
● Estimated Budget Portfolio ● Final client approval for the project.
Showcase

Step-2:
2: Information Gathering: Information gathering stage is also known
as discovery phase
phase. Inn this phase, the designer portrays the client’s vision into
the paper and is most important phase of website design & development
process. In this step
step, it is important to understand the purpose
purp of creating a
website, target audience as well as the content they look for. These factors are
very crucial to determine in the fundamental phase of website design.
Various inputs and outputs of information gathering are stated below
below:

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 Table 7.5: Various inputs and outputs of information gathering Website
Development
Input Output

● Reports from clients and ● Complete final project documentation

documentations from with requirement specifications and
Business Analyst individual work described to the
designers as well as developers.

Step-3: Planning: Good website is the result of good planning. After the
information gathering planning is important. Planning is nothing but
prioritizing tasks for website completion. In this step, the sitemap of the
website is developed in which menu, contents, navigational system etc. of the
websites is developed. Various inputs and outputs of planning are stated
below:
Table 7.6: Various inputs and outputs of planning
Input Output

● Final project documentation ● clickable prototype and sitemap

containing all WebPages

Step-4: Web Design: Web design is the website that supports good look, feel
and makes it different from others. This is the creative phase of website
design. This is the phase where designers put their efforts to make the
website look good and different from others. The designer needs to
understand each and every aspect of the client's expectation and try to sketch
it. In this step logo design, templates etc. are discovered. Various inputs and
outputs of web design are stated below:
Table 7.7: Various inputs and outputs of web design
Input Output

● Wireframes ● Site design with layout templates and images

Step-5: Web Development: After designing, there is a development phase

also known as ‘implementing phase’. Now, this is the phase where the actual
website starts its implementation. The development phase is also a very
crucial phase for the website design. In this phase, all the information
gathered from the initial phase is integrated like creating a database, logic &
actual programming to name. Various inputs and outputs of web development
are stated below:
Table 7.8: Various inputs and outputs of web development
Input Output

● Website with forms and complete ● Website with database driven

requirement specifications functions, Coding docs
Tools: Dreamweaver CS6, Bootstrap, Jquery, AngularJS, CoIgnitor, PHP, CSS3, HTML5,
Javascript
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Website Development Step-6: Testing: After the Development phase, there is a Testing &
and Hosting
Discovery Phase. The testing in this phase are done by Quality Assurance
(QA), also responsible for preparing the test cases. The various types of
website testing are. Content Testing, Functional Testing, Design Testing etc.
Various inputs and outputs of testing are stated below:
Table 7.9: Various inputs and outputs of testing
Input Output

● The site, Requirement ● Complete website testing and error logs

specifications, supporting reports, frequent interaction with the
documents, technical developers and designers.
specifications, and technical
documents.
Tools: GTmatrix, Google Page speed tool, W3c Validation, Screaming Frog

Step-7: Maintenance: The last phase is Maintenance, in this stage, the

maintenance of the website is done for a limited time period only.
Maintenance means updating the contents & design of the website. The
maintenance facility is provided for limited time by the company but if the
user wants to extend the service, they are charged extra for it. Various inputs
and outputs of maintenance are stated below:
Table 7.10: Various inputs and outputs of maintenance
Input Output

● Live Website, Analysis reports. ● Updated Website, Maintenance

reports

Check Your Progress A:

1. Name the various phases of website development.

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2. How does a website help in market expansion?
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3. Distinguish between the sales websites and utility websites. Website
Development
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4. What is the significance of websites in information exchange?
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7.8 INGREDIENTS REQUIRED FOR WEBSITE

DEVELOPMENT

These days, the web is approximately unrecognizable from the early days of
white pages with lists of blue links. Now, sites are premeditated with
multifaceted layouts, exceptional fonts, and customized color schemes. For
staying ahead of the competition, the interactivity of websites is a must and
adding some of these types of capabilities requires a stronger programming
language. Web design is actually how a site works and the feelings it invokes
with its users. With this expanded perspective, below explained are
ingredients that are critical for an optimal website:

1. Clean navigation: Navigation is the first thing people notice about the
site. Top-notch navigation allows the users to move from page to page,
and finding everything they want without wasting a fraction of a second.
For example, in the figure 7.8, navigation is properly given through
which the visitors can easily locate what they are looking for.
2. Beautiful typography: Typography is a really big deal. A website that
looks great always has beautiful typography. Typography starts with font
choices, but goes far beyond into color, sizing, line height, paragraph
margins and padding. For example, in the figure 7.8, content is very well
designed and put to make it understandable for the visitors.
3. White space: Proper spacing is critical for a great site. In fact, it may be
the most important element. A message’s impact depends on the element
of space just as much as that message’s content. Without white space, a
site will turn into visual garbage quickly. For example, the figure 7.8
given below, proper space is provided between all the major and sub
heads.

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Website Development 4. Logical layout: Logical Layout is somewhat vague, but a site must be
and Hosting
connected in a way that makes sense. A great design will take a prospect
through a journey, yet allow them to skip around at will. This is about
presenting the right thing at the right time in the right way.

Fig 7.8: IGNOU Website

5. Design with a purpose: The best design is as little design as possible.

This is a core foundational concept for beautifully designed sites.
Everything within a great website should pack a punch; it should all
accomplish something without getting in the way of itself. For example,
IGNOU website is designed keeping in mind the motive to provide all
necessary and mandatory information about the results, admission
process, and assignments submission by the learners.

6. Speed: Speed wins over the internet. Customers do not like to wait much
for their needs and they want to find what they need as soon as possible.
Making the desired customers wait is more or less equivalent to losing
forever. The speed of the website must be taken into proper
consideration, the pages must download quickly and the orders must be
processed quickly.

7. Detail: The website must provide the details the customers can look for
such as product information, service information, customer service
information etc. The details provided must be easy to access and
sufficient enough to address the queries potential customers may have.
For example, the IGNOU website in fig. 7.8 also provides various details
about its locations, study centres, headquarter, contact information etc.

8. Multiple feedback channels: The website must provide the multiple

communication and feedback options to the visitors such as phone
number, an email, a live chat link, a discussion board or social media
tools so that they can contact the concern authority in no time. In short,
the website should be great, but it should also showcase other channels
that allow the user to contact easily.

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7.9 WEBSITE HOSTING Development

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows

individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via World
Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that rent out their services and
technologies to host websites on the internet.

A space on a web server is allocated to store the files by the hosting provider.
Web hosting makes the files available for viewing online. Web hosting
provides services and infrastructure to develop, store, and deploy globally
available websites and web apps in the cloud so startups can focus on
applications and users.

Once the hosting company hosts the website, users can access it by typing in
the web address (domain name) in their web browser. When they do this,
their computer connects to the server on which the website is hosted. Web
hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for
other servers located in their data center, called Co-location. All websites on
the internet, need web hosting. When someone enters the domain name in a
browser, the domain name is translated into the IP address of the
web hosting company's computer. This computer contains website's files, and
it sends those files back to the users' browsers.

7.9.1 Types of Website Hosting

Various types of web hosting services are explained in detail below:

1. Shared hosting: Shared hosting is perfect for entry-level website

hosting. With a shared hosting plan, all domains share the same server
resources, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and CPU (Central
Processing Unit). However, because all resources are shared, the costs of
shared hosting plans are relatively low, making them an excellent option
for website owners in their beginning stages. Although shared hosting
provides website owners with a more simplistic approach to the web.
This means that surges in usage can ultimately affect the website’s user
experience. Shared hosting plans are ideal for website owners that do not
receive a large amount of web traffic.

2. Virtual private server (VPS) hosting: A VPS hosting plan is the

ultimate middle ground between a shared server and a dedicated server.
It is ideal for website owners, who need more control, but do not
necessarily need a dedicated server. VPS hosting is unique because each
website is hosted within its own space on the server, though it still shares
a physical server with other users. VPS hosting provides website owners
with more customization and storage space. Typically, VPS hosting is
used by website owners who want dedicated hosting but do not have the
technical knowledge needed.

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Website Development 3. Dedicated server hosting: Dedicated hosting gives website owners the
and Hosting
most control over the server on which their website is hosted. Dedicated
servers’ cost is one of the most expensive web hosting options. They are
mostly used by website owners with high levels of website traffic, and
those who are in need of complete control of their servers. In addition, a
high level of technical expertise is required for the installation and
ongoing management of the server. The user has full administrative
access to the server, which means the client is responsible for the
security and maintenance of his own dedicated server.

4. Cloud hosting: Cloud hosting is the current buzzword of the technology

industry. In Web hosting, it means many computers working together,
running applications using combined computing resources. This allows
users to employ as many resources as they need without having to build
and maintain their own computing infrastructure. The resources that are
being used are spread across several servers, reducing the chance of any
downtime due to a server malfunction. Cloud-based hosting is scalable,
meaning that site can grow over time, using as many resources as it
requires and while the website owner only pays for what they need.

5. Managed hosting: The user gets his or her own Web server but is not
allowed full control over it (user is denied root access for
Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, they are allowed to
manage their data via FTP or other remote management tools. The user is
disallowed full control so that the provider can guarantee quality of
service by not allowing the user to modify the server or potentially create
configuration problems. The user typically does not own the server. The
server is leased to the client.

6. Co-location web hosting service: Co-location web hosting service is

similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the
co-server; the hosting company provides physical space that the server
takes up and takes care of the server. This is the most powerful and
expensive type of web hosting service. In most cases, the co-location
provider may provide little to no support directly for their client's
machine, providing only the electrical, Internet access, and storage
facilities for the server

7. Clustered hosting: Cluster hosting allows multiple servers hosting the

same content for better resource utilization. Clustered servers are a
perfect solution for high-availability dedicated hosting, or creating a
scalable web hosting solution. A cluster may separate web serving from
database hosting capability. Usually, web hosts use clustered hosting for
their shared hosting plans, as there are multiple benefits to the mass
managing of clients.

8. Grid hosting: Grid hosting is a service that provides grid computing

Capabilities to its clients This form of distributed hosting is adopted
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 when a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes. Website
Development
Much like cluster hosting, grid hosting makes it less likely that a spike in
resource needs will take site offline

7.9.2 Web Hosting Alternatives

Websites are an important component of business these days. Hosting of
websites may not be feasible due to technology, budget, infrastructure, and
continuous updating. Web hosting is referred to as storage of contents on the
web server (host) of the hosting service provider. The host can be anywhere
in the world but it has power, internet connections and dedicated IP
addresses. Data Centre has all necessary hardware and software that provide
the connections through the Internet, Intranet, and Extranet. In a Co-location
(also spelled Co-location) service, the service provider rents a physical space
to the client to install its own server hardware. These features make your site
available 24×7×365.

The service provider is responsible for maintaining the Web server hardware
and software, and provides the connection to the Internet through its routers
and other network hardware. Since the whole world is moving from brick &
Mortar system to click & Mortar system and due the usage of Smartphone the
app based business restricts to mobile hence the app is taken as a replacement
to websites.

Check Your Progress B

1. Differentiate between HTTP and HTML.

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2. What is a URL? Give an example of URL.
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3. What do you understand by web hosting?
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4. Distinguish between cloud hosting and cluster hosting.

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7.10 LET US SUM UP

A website (also in black and white as a web site) is a compilation of web

pages and associated content that is acknowledged by a general domain name
and published on at least one web server. Various examples of websites are
wikipedia.org, google.com, and amazon.com and www.ignou.ac.in etc.
Basically, for a layman a website is a set of data and information about a
particular subject which is available on the Internet. Websites can be used in
various ways for a number of purposes such as a personal website for
someone’s own business or profession, a corporate website for a company, a
government website for any government organization or any other
organizational website, etc.

Every URL link that begins with HTTP uses a basic type of “hypertext
transfer protocol”. Which was developed in early 19909’s by Tim Berners-
Lee. This network protocol enables web browsers and servers to
communicate through the exchange of data. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data
is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The
'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications
between browser and the website are encrypted.

The choice of the type of websites depends on the requirement of the seller.
Websites can mainly be categorized into four broad categories namely
authority website, lead generation website, sales website and utility website
explained in detail below respectively. By knowing the requirements of
website in advance, one can save unnecessary wastage of time, money and
opportunity cost.

Website development is the effort involved in developing a website for the

Internet or an intranet. Web development can vary from developing a simple
single static page of plain text to complex Web-based Internet applications,
electronic businesses, and social network services. Web development is the
maintenance and development of a website. Basically, it is the effort that
happens in the backdrop to make a website look informative, speedy
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processing and provide exact information. Process of website development Website
Development
includes various steps such as, innovative requirement, information
gathering, planning, web design, web development, testing & maintenance.

These days the web is approximately unrecognizable from the early days of
white pages with lists of blue links. Now, sites are premeditated with
multifaceted layouts, exceptional fonts, and customized color schemes. For
staying ahead of the competition, the interactivity of websites is a must and
adding some of these types of capabilities requires a stronger programming
language. Web design is actually how a site works and user friendliness.
Expanded perspective ingredients critical for an optimal website are clear
navigation, beautiful typography, white space, logical layout, synergy
between message and design, design with a purpose, speed ,detail, multiple
feedback channels etc.

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows

individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via World
Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that rent out their services and
technologies to host websites on the internet. Once the hosting company
hosts the website, users can access it by typing in the web address (domain
name) in their web browser. When they do this, their computer connects to
the server your website is hosted on. Various types of web hosting are Shared
hosting, Virtual private server (VPS) hosting, Dedicated server hosting,
Cloud hosting, Managed hosting, Co-location web hosting service, Clustered
hosting, Grid hosting etc.

7.11 KEY WORDS

HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the set of markup

symbols or codes inserted into a file intended for display on the Internet. The
markup tells web browsers how to display a web page's words and images.

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a connectionless text-based

protocol. Clients (web browsers) send requests to web servers for web
elements such as web pages and images. After the request is serviced by a
server, the connection between client and server across the Internet is
disconnected.
Search Engine: Search engine is a web service that helps in finding other
web pages, such as Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. are normally accessed through
a web browser or through a web page.
URL: URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is nothing more
than the address of a given unique resource on the Web.

Web Browser: A web browser is an application used to access and view

websites. Examples of most commonly used web browsers are Microsoft
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etc.

Web Hosting: Web hosting is an online service that enables the publishing
of a website or web application on the Internet. When one signs up for a web
hosting service, they basically rent some space on a physical server.

Web Page: Web pages are also called just pages. Basically, a web browser is
a document which can be displayed in a web browser.

Web Server: A server is a computer that provides data to other computers.

The data may be served to a system either on a local area network (LAN) or
on a wide area network (WAN) over the Internet.

Website: A website is a collection of related web pages, including

multimedia content, typically identified with a common domain name, and
published on at least one web server.

7.12 TERMINAL QUESTION

1) What is a website?
2) Briefly explain the origin of the website.
3) What are the various types of websites?
4) State the usages of websites.
5) State the differences between HTTP and HTTPs.
6) State the various phases of the website development process.
7) What are the various ingredients required for making a website?
8) What is web hosting? What are the various types of web hosting?

These questions are helpful to understand this unit.

Do efforts for writing the answer of these questions
but do not send your answer to university. It is only
Note for your practice.

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 E-Commerce
UNIT 8 E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE Software Platform

PLATFORM

Structure

8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 E-commerce Software Platform
8.3 Types of E-commerce Platform
8.3.1 Shopify- An Online Store Builder

8.3.2 E-Auction Processes The Real-Time Visibility

8.3.3 Paypal Holdings Online Payments

8.3.4 SAP Commerce Cloud
8.4 Functions of E-Commerce software Platforms
8.5 Advanced Functions of E-Commerce Software
8.6 E- Commerce Software for Small & Midsize Companies
8.7 E- Commerce Software for Midsize to Large Business
8.8 E- Commerce Software for Large Business
8.9 Planning Electronic Commerce Initiatives
8.10 Strategies for Developing E- Commerce Websites
8.11 Managing E- Commerce Implementations
8.12 Let Us Sum Up
8.13 Key Words
8.14 Answers to Check Your Progress
8.15 Terminal Question

8.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you should be able to,

● understand basics of e-commerce software;

● know about various types of software platforms;
● know about the functions of e- to understand commerce software;
● understand the uses of e-commerce software for small, midsize, large
business;
● explain strategies for developing e-commerce websites; and
● learn managing the implementation process of e-commerce in business.

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Website Development
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E-commerce software platform is the driving force of an online store, making

it feasible to effortlessly manage inventory, add or remove products, calculate
taxes, and everything else required to manage a website and fulfill orders.

Today’s competitive organizations need to develop a wide range of e-

commerce software that can tap as much data as possible and quickly deploy
that data via the web to managers, employees, partners, suppliers, customers
and constituents everyone they depend on to make decisions. Developing
usable, deployable, and scalable e-commerce software is becoming essential
every day. Finally, a true Web architecture is essential for rapidly providing
these business intelligence applications to unlimited number of people, and
see a quick return on investment. It can use the same Web-based, integrated
Windows development solution to deploy information with speed, quality,
and effectiveness that users of all levels can use to access information in any
format. In addition, it can securely manage and administer the system while
still allowing power users to develop their own application. The unit further
brief on various popular E-commerce software.

8.2 E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE PLATFORM

A platform is basically a position of software and connecting an ecosystem of

resources that helps companies to grow the business. A platform enables
expansion through relation, its value comes not only from its own features,
but from its ability to tie external tools, teams, data, and processes etc. E-
commerce software platform is the engine behind the scenes of an online
store, making it possible to easily handle inventory, add or remove products,
calculate taxes, and everything else required to administer a website and
fulfill orders.

E-commerce software simplifies intricate processes in a friendly user

interface that enables people from non-technical backgrounds to oversee an
entire e-commerce process. Despite the ease of use that e-commerce software
brings to an online business, it is a versatile and complex machine. In the
coming heads we are going to discuss the various functions of software
which would be useful in running a business.

8.3 TYPES OF SOFTWARE PLATFORMS

More or less, every grassroots entrepreneur who starts a setup from scratch or
runs the existing business needs some kind of a ‘platform’. Yet very few will
self-assuredly respond a seemingly simple, but very significant query: What
kind of platform do you build?

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Google Search, Facebook, Android, Uber, AirBnB, Waze, Amazon Web E-Commerce
Software Platform
Services, Amazon Marketplace, WeWork, and even Bitcoin are all platforms.
At the same time, these platforms are very dissimilar in how they generate
network effects, interactions they facilitate.

There are various kinds of E-commerce software which have certain

characteristics and could be used as per the need and requirement. We will
throw light on a few of them on one-to-one basis so that learners are able to
visualize how these types of software platforms work.

Figure 8.1: Types of Software platforms

8.3.1 Shopify- An Online Store Builder

Shopify is an easy-to-use online store builder trusted by over 1,000,000
stores. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from
Shopify. 100+ Professional Themes. Drop Shipping Integration. Social
Media Integration. Unlimited Bandwidth. SEO Optimized.

*Source: https://www.shopify.in
Figure 8.2: Shopify
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Website Development 8.3.2 E-Auction Processes the Real-Time Visibility
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E-Auction processes the real-time visibility of the bids happening on any
product. Sellers will have the elasticity to offer products with different prices
and at the same time, buyers will have a translucent bidding process to show
their instant response. Selling Products online with an auction setup helps the
merchants to know the competitive environment of E-Commerce as well as
the auction industry. Bidders who participate in the auction will have an
unlimited reach of the global audience and can easily filter out the products in
high demand.

8.3.3 Paypal Holdings Online Payments

PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American company operating an online payments
system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and
serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like checks
and money orders. PayPal is one of the largest online payment processors in
the world. Shopping or selling with PayPal, make it faster, safer and easier
for everyone to shop or sell globally with confidence.

*Source: PayPal
Fig 8.3: PayPal

8.3.4 SAP Commerce Cloud

SAP is at the centre of today’s technology revolution. The market leader in
enterprise application software, SAP helps organisations fight the damaging
effects of complexity, generate new opportunities for innovation and growth,
and stay ahead of the competition. SAP Commerce Cloud Helps the business
lead through innovation to deliver exceptional omni-channel buying
experiences with a cloud-native, headless e-commerce solution.SAP India is
the fastest growing subsidiary of SAP SE, the world's leading provider of
business software solutions.

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 E-Commerce
Software Platform

*Source: SAP
Figure 8.4: SAP Commerce Cloud

8.4 FUNCTIONS OF E
E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE
PLATFORMS

E-commerce software is the driving force behind the scenes of an online store
which making it likely to effortlessly administer stock, add or remove
products, compute taxes, and the whole thing else required to handle a
website and accomplish orders. The basic function of ee-commerce software
includes the following three important sections:

Shopping
Catalog Transaction
Cart
Display Processing
Capbilities

Figure 8.5: Function of E

E-Commerce Software

1. Catalog display: To display products offered by an organization they

have to be arranged in a systematic manner including customer
preferences with the help of simple static catalog. The webpage is
written in HTML to display a series of Web pages which can be edited
by companies
mpanies as and when needed. Dynamic catalog stores that are
specifically designed on the basis of customer choice including multiple
photos of each item description of product including search feature that
allows customers easily search product availabilit
availability. A dynamic catalog
stores the information about items in a database, usually on a separate
computer that is accessible to the server that is running the Web site
itself.

2. Shopping cart capabilities: Selected items in the early days of

e-commerce,
commerce, they have to fill a form or a list they want to purchase by
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Website Development filling out online forms. Using text box and list box form controls to
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indicate their choices, users enter the quantity of an item in the quantity
text box, the SKU (stock-keeping unit) or product number in another text
box, and the unit price in yet another text box. This system is full of
hassles especially if your order nature is multiple items at the same time.

3. Transaction processing: Transaction processing includes, checking

in/out process shoppers initiate on website or mobile application. The
electronic software performs necessary calculations such as number of
items, volume, discounts, tax, and shipping cost. When order is placed
and customer checks out; the transaction process enters the next stage
where secure communication caution states from buyer to seller for
necessary transactions. Transaction process is an important and complex
part of online sales. Transaction processing is always a typical part of
online business. Once order is placed, then the responsibility and moral
duty of the seller is towards the customer to provide secure, effective and
in time communication for the delivery of goods and services with
feedback.

8.5 ADVANCED FUNCTIONS OF E-COMMERCE

SOFTWARE

Integrating different components is important for large businesses houses,

because range of products are not limited, their business interest spread over
many products and services. The other operations of e-commerce activities
are as follows:

1. Middleware: Such larger companies need to establish the connections

between their e-commerce software and their existing
business/accounting system by using a type of software called
middleware. Some large companies that have sufficient IT staff write
their own middleware. However, most companies purchase middleware
that is customized for their businesses by the middleware vendor or a
consulting firm. Thus, most of the cost of middleware is not the software
itself, but the consulting fees needed to make the software work in a
given company. Making a company’s information systems work together
is called interoperability and is an important goal of companies when
they install middleware. Middleware cost range from few lakhs to
several millions depending on complexity and existing systems.

2. Enterprise application integration and databases: A program that is

used to perform specific functions, such as creating and arranging
invoices, calculating payroll, or processing payments received from
customers, is performed by different application software or, more
simply, an application. An application server is a computer that takes the
request messages received by the Web server and runs application
158 programs that perform some kind of action based on the contents of the
 request messages. The actions that the application server software E-Commerce
Software Platform
performs are determined by the rules used in the business. These rules
are called business logic. An example of a business rule is, when a
customer logs in, check the password entered against the password file in
the database. Application servers are usually grouped into two types,
page-based and component-based systems. Page-based application
systems return pages generated by scripts that include the rules for
presenting data on the Web page with the business logic. Larger
businesses often prefer to use a component-based application system that
separates the presentation logic from the business logic. Each component
of logic is created in its own module.

3. Web services: Web server includes all information that can be

communicated across organization in the different applications and
clients. Although a generally accepted definition has not yet evolved,
many IT professionals define Web services as a combination of software
tools that let application software in one organization communicate with
other applications over a network by using a specific set of standard
protocols known by their acronyms as SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL etc.
Another definition of Web services that IT professionals use is a self-
contained, modular unit of application logic that provides some business
functionality to other applications through an Internet connection.

4. Integration with ERP systems: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

connects to existing information available on the basis of B2B websites.
ERP software is a collection of different programs that integrate all facts
of business including accounting, logistics, manufacturing, planning,
project management, and treasury function. The major ERP vendors
include Baan, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP. A typical installation of ERP
software costs between 10 lakhs to 15 lakhs. Thus, companies that are
already running these systems have made a significant investment in
them and expect their electronic commerce sites to integrate with them.

8.6 E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE FOR SMALL

AND MIDSIZE COMPANIES

Web hosting services can be hired so that in-house burden can be shifted and
dedicated hosting services can be used. Web host CSPs (Compute cycles
Service Providers) have the same advantages as ISP (Internet Service
Provider) hosting services, including spreading the cost of a large Web site
over several “renters” hosted by the service. The biggest single advantage -
low cost - occurs because the host provider has already purchased the server
and configured it.

Mall-style Commerce service providers (CSPs) provide small businesses with

a high speed Internet connection, Website creation tools, and little or no
banner advertising clutter. Web hosts in this group charge a monthly fee that
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Website Development is often higher than that of lower-end providers, and may also charge one-
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time setup fees. Some of these providers also charge a percentage of or fixed
amount for each customer transaction. These Web hosts also provide high
quality tools, storefront templates, an easy-to-use interface, and quick Web
page generation capabilities and page maintenance.

Mall-style CSPs provide shopping cart software or the ability to use another
vendor’s shopping cart software. They also furnish customer payment
processing so that customers can choose to purchase their goods and services
with a credit card or other form of payment. The CSP processes the
acceptance and authorization of credit cards on behalf of the merchant.
Another benefit is that because they are paying a monthly fee to the CSP,
sites do not have to display any Web banners, which can be unattractive and
distracting. The fourth benefit of the mall-style CSPs is that they provide
higher-quality Web store building and maintenance tools than do the basic
CSPs. CSPs that offer mall-style commerce services include eBay Stores and
Yahoo! Store. Another CSP that began as a mall-style service is big step, but
it no longer uses the mall structure. All three of these CSPs offer Web site
construction tools that can be used by small and midsize businesses to take
their businesses online.

8.7 E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE FOR MIDSIZE

TO LARGE COMPANIES

There is a number of E-commerce software available for midsize and large

businesses. These software packages differ on price, capabilities, database
connectivity, software portability, software customization, tools and technical
expertise required to manage the software. Some of them are mentioned
below:

1. Website development tools: Although they are more often used for
creating small business sites, it is possible to construct the elements of a
midrange e-commerce Web site using Web page creation and site
management tools. For example, recent versions of Macromedia
Dreamweaver include all integrated development environments.

2. Inter shop enfinity: It Provides search and catalog capabilities,

electronic shopping carts, online credit card transaction processing, and
the ability to connect to existing back-end business systems and
databases.

3. IBM Web Sphere commerce professional edition: It is a set of

software components that provide software suitable for midsize to large
businesses to sell goods and services on the Internet It includes catalog
templates, setup wizards, and advance catalog tools to help companies
create attractive and efficient electronic commerce sites.

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4. Microsoft commerce server 2002: It allows businesses to sell products E-Commerce
Software Platform
or services on the Web using tools such as user profiling and
management, transaction processing, product and service management,
and target audience marketing.

Check Your Progress A:

1) What is a shopping cart?

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2) What are the advantages of mall-style CSPs?
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3) What is the usage of E-commerce software Inter shop enfinity?
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4) What is a middleware?
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Website Development
and Hosting 8.8 E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE FOR LARGE
COMPANIES

Large e-commerce sites deal with transactions of higher volume and

therefore needs dedicated software to handle specific elements of their online
business such as customer relationship management, supply chain
management, content management and knowledge management. So, the
prices as well as support cost are high for large-scale e-commerce software.
Large scale e-commerce software is also called enterprise E-commerce
software. Enterprise e-commerce software provides tools for both B2B and
B2C commerce and can interact with a wide variety of existing systems,
including database, accounting, and ERP systems. The enterprise software is
also capable of making changes in the system automatically (e.g., inventory
checking and order placement for items needed). In contrast, both basic and
midrange E-commerce software usually require an administrator to manually
make such changes. Enterprise E-commerce software usually requires several
dedicated computers. IBM Websphere Commerce Business Edition, Oracle
E-Business Suite, and Broad vision Commerce Agility Suite are few
examples of E-commerce software. Various e-commerce software for large
sized companies are stated below:

1. Enterprise-class electronic commerce software: Enterprise-class

e-commerce software running large online organizations usually requires
several dedicated computers - in addition to the Web server system and
any necessary firewalls. Examples of enterprise-class products that can
be used to run a large online business with high transaction rates include
IBM Websphere Commerce Business Edition, Oracle E-Business Suite,
and Broad vision One-To-One Commerce.

2. Customer relationship management software: This software obtains

the data from operations software that conducts activities such as sales
automation, customer service center operations, and marketing
campaigns. The software must also gather data about customer activities
on the company’s Web site and any other points of contact the company
has with its existing and potential customers.

3. Supply chain management software: This software helps companies to

coordinate planning and operations with their partners in the industry
supply chains of which they are members. SCM software performs two
general types of functions: planning and execution.

4. Content management software: These software help in arrangement of

data in such a manner that can be accessed easily for business decision
making. Helps companies control the large amounts of text, graphics,
and media files that have become a key part of doing business. With the
rise of wireless devices, such as mobile phones, handheld computers, and
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 personal digital assistants (PDAs), content management has become even E-Commerce
Software Platform
more important.

5. Knowledge management software: This software is used by different

companies to do four main things: collect and organize information,
share the information among users, enhance the ability of users to
collaborate, and preserve the knowledge gained through the use of
information so that future users can benefit from the learning of current
users. KM software includes tools that read electronic documents (in
formats such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF), scanned paper
documents, e-mail messages, and Web pages processing.

8.9 PLANNING E-COMMERCE INITIATIVES

The ability of the businesses to plan, design and implement cohesive

electronic commerce strategies will make the difference between success and
failure for the majority of them. The tremendous leverage that a firm can gain
by being the first to do businesses a new way on the web has caught the
attention of top executives in many industries. The key to successful
implementation of any information technology project are planning and
execution. A successful business plan for an electronic commerce initiative
should include activities that identify the initiative’s specific objectives and
link those objectives to business strategies. In setting the objective for an
electronic commerce initiative, managers should consider the strategic role of
the project, its intended scope, and resources available for executing it. Thus,
four major steps in planning electronic commerce initiatives are as follows:

1. Identify potential e-commerce initiatives: Electronic-commerce can

provide two benefits to companies: first, value creation or value
enhancement for one or more of a company’s stakeholder groups; and
second, lower costs.

2. Analyse the functional scope of e-initiatives: Electronic initiatives

decided on the basis of e-commerce network and Functional scope
between them. Managers should keep in mind about the architecture
needed for e-commerce and its functional scope. Services and
capabilities are the basis of the e-commerce network layer which include
basic communication services and infrastructure components like
security and reliability. These do not add value but are necessary for
further process. Decision process ameliorates management’s ability to
make decisions. Integration process permits the automation of processes
between a company and its customers or suppliers. Trade processes
support buying and selling online. They can both add value and save
costs for business transactions.

3. Analyse the sustainability of benefits from e-commerce initiatives: E-

commerce is coordinated use of software and system that enables
external parties in business which includes competitors to obtain insight 163
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commerce interactions can be easily copied and even ameliorated upon
by competitors, often at lower cost. So, it is important to examine the
sustainability of any competitive advantage that might be derived from
an e-commerce project. For the most part, sustainability is acquired from
two key factors i.e. barriers to entry and early mover advantages.

4. Prioritize e-commerce initiatives: The outcome of planning is planned

since several e-commerce plans may well be under analysis at the same
time, perhaps by different groups or units within the same organization.
Mangers (executives) must be able to choose among them. Decision
making is based upon the alternatives available according to plan; the
traditional cost-benefit analysis can be applied to electronic commerce
initiatives and combined with a portfolio drafting approach for
prioritizing and scheduling projects for effective e-commerce houses.

8.10 STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING E-

COMMERCE WEBSITES

The commerce industry is growing with rapid speed as growth rate is

continuously increasing. The process of e-commerce website development
project are categories into seven major steps which are as follows:

1. Identify the product/service, and the customer: The first step for e-
commerce website development is to identify the products/services
which the company wants to sell in the market to the target population.
As it is essential to identify which products are to be sold and to whom.

2. Know your e-commerce customer: KYeC is vital for any business to

understand who their customer is for success in the long run. So, they
can allure them in the best possible way. One way to obtain this is by
evaluating the customers of the competitors.

3. Choose the right e-commerce website development platform:

Appropriate e-commerce platform is a software suite that aids build the
e-commerce store where marketers make their products available, and
customers can process transactions. Choosing the right e-commerce
platform is vital to any online business as it is the very foundation of the
business.

4. Choose the right e-commerce website hosting platform: Business

success and failure choice of server and hosting are a crucial factor. It
determines the website’s accessibility and performance efficiency. Costs
cutting are an important factor while deciding about website hosting and
support; outsourcing can be exercised.

5. Choose the right e-commerce development partner: Choosing for

e-commerce technology development partners or e-commerce vendors
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 can be very difficult. The market is very crowded with service providers E-Commerce
Software Platform
and with each one claiming to offer the services which suit best to
company needs.

6. E-commerce website testing: After completion of the website

development, the next crucial step is e-commerce website testing.
Testing checks usability, customer convenience, checks for bugs, and is
important to providing a good shopping experience. Testing is usually
implemented in various browsers, across platforms, and across devices.
Websites can be tested manually, or automatically, or a combination of
the two followed by feedback.

7. Effective marketing: E- marketing plays a crucial role at this stage, it is

important to advertise it to people. For advertising the website, marketers
need to have a promotional plan drafted out including all means of
advertising. In a crowded market of business owners competing for
customers’ attention, it is hard to get new customers or sustain existing
ones without proper marketing.

8.11 MANAGING E-COMMERCE

IMPLEMENTATIONS

E-commerce business depends upon implementation and adoption in process;

successful systems have seven key steps such as

1. Strategic business planning and roadmaps: Strategy is about making

the right choices that will help reach the stated e-commerce business
objectives. There should be an articulated vision, mission and objective
about what will be achieved, time limit for it, financial budget,
identification of the right resources for and constraints in the face of
implementing the strategy mentioned in the business plan, and what
elements will be considered for future.

2. Technology selection/ website audit and analysis: To provide the

maximum benefit to or creating value for the end customer, selection of
e-commerce technology should have the capability of adapting according
to customers’ needs, and be able to complement the business model, and
ensure the alignment with the existing best practices in offline retail.

3. Customer acquisition: Online or popular digital marketing consists

multiple tools for contact to the new generation of customers, who access
online content through multiple devices, through search engine
optimization, search engine marketing (paid advertisement), social media
marketing ( both cost per click and cost per thousand impressions), email
campaigns, display advertisements through various ad networks, referral
programs and retargeting campaigns.

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Website Development 4. Customer engagement: Engaging customers through various social
and Hosting
media channels also instills superior trust in the minds of customers.
Nowadays, customers seek to analyse the brands to understand the core
benefits and unique value proposition provided by the brand, they look
for offers, discounts and offers during special seasons, a mechanism for
queries/clarifications relating with the products displayed and interaction
with customer support executives etc.

5. Customer retention: It should be noted that to fully leverage best

technology, there should be a constant effort to pay attention for features
and functionalities that will strengthen the customer experience. With the
arrival of sophisticated electronic-commerce technologies, one-to-one
customer experience is becoming a reality in business and new age
retailers will be able to retain by providing customized services and
products and that’s the best a customer can really expect.

6. Optimization based on key metrics: Some of the key elements to

measure the health of an e-commerce venture are the total revenue
generated, customer acquisition cost, percentage of customers converted,
and percentage of customers entering the website by using various
channels. However, these elements may vary based on the business
objectives and so every electronic business needs a fully customized
approach for defining the key elements and further analysis. After that, a
deeper level of optimization is needed at 2 levels – on the technology and
the business front.

7. Business analysis and customer insights: The last step of this process
is about knowing the product group that has performed well in
comparison to other products in the webstore. Assessing this is crucial
for a company to survive in the market as those categories occupy the
prime real estate in the online world – the web store. It should consist of
understanding the customer segments, demographics, profitable
customers, source of channels, per customer contribution in profit of the
company in percentage and the marketing spends that has gone into
acquiring these customers.

Check Your Progress B:

Part A: State which of the following statements is true and which are
false.

i) Websites are effective tools for E-business.

ii) E-commerce software is a tool that drives online processes.
iii) There is no role of the Internet for dramatic transformation of companies.
iv) E-commerce strategies are a group of E-business plan.
v) Future of business is E-commerce prioritization.

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Part B: Fill in the blanks. E-Commerce
Software Platform
i) _____________ is a collection of web pages.
ii) Web hosts can _____________ in the world.
iii) Language to write web pages is __________.

8.12 LET US SUM UP

Websites are an important component of business these days, hosting of

websites may not be feasible due to technology, budget, infrastructure, and
continuous updating. Web hosting referred to as service providers where the
website has to be stored on some server, that server is your host. The host can
be anywhere in the world but it has power, internet connections and dedicated
IP addresses.

More or less every grassroots entrepreneur who started a setup from scratch
or runs the existing business currently fabricates some kind of a ‘platform’.
Google Search, Facebook, Android, Uber, AirBnB, Waze, Amazon Web
Services, Amazon Marketplace, WeWork, and even Bitcoin are all platforms.
At the same time, these platforms are very dissimilar in how they generate
network effects, interactions they facilitate.There are various kinds of E-
commerce software which have certain characteristics and could be used as
per the need and requirement.

The basic function of e-commerce software includes catalog display,

Shopping cart capabilities and Transaction processing. Integrating different
components is important for large businesses houses, because range of
products are not limited, their business interest spread over many products
and services. The other operations of electronic commerce activities are
Middleware, Enterprise Application Integration and Databases, Web
Services, and Integration with ERP Systems. Web hosting services can be
hired so that in-house burden can be shifted and dedicated hosting services
can be used. Web host CSPs (Compute cycles Service Providers) have the
same advantages as ISP (Internet Service Provider) hosting services,
including spreading the cost of a large Web site over several “renters” hosted
by the service. The biggest single advantage - low cost - occurs because the
host provider has already purchased the server and configured it.

There are a number of E-commerce software available for midsize and large
businesses. These software packages differ on price, capabilities, database
connectivity, software portability, software customization, tools and technical
expertise required to manage the software. Some of them are Web site
development tools, Inter shop enfinity, IBM WebSphere Commerce
Professional Edition and Microsoft Commerce Server 2002. Large e-
commerce sites deal with transactions of higher volume and therefore needed
dedicated software to handle specific elements of their online business such
as customer relationship management, supply chain management, content
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Website Development management and knowledge management. The enterprise software is also
and Hosting
capable of making changes in the system automatically (e.g., inventory
checking and order placement for items needed). In contrast, both basic and
midrange E-commerce software usually require an administrator to manually
make such changes. Enterprise E-commerce software usually requires several
dedicated computers.

The ability of the businesses to plan, design and implement cohesive

electronic commerce strategies will make the difference between success and
failure for the majority of them. The key to successful implementation of any
information technology project are planning and execution. four major steps
in planning electronic commerce initiatives are Identify Potential e-
Commerce Initiatives, Analyse the Functional Scope of Electronic Initiatives,
Analyse the Sustainability of Benefits from e-commerce Initiatives and
Prioritize e-Commerce Initiatives.

The commerce industry is growing with rapid speed as growth rate is

continuously increasing. The process of e-commerce website development
project are categories into seven major steps which are identify the
product/service, and the customer, Know your e-commerce customer, Choose
the right electronic commerce website development platform, Choose the
right electronic commerce website hosting platform, Choose the right
electronic commerce development partner, Electronic commerce website
testing and effective marketing. E-commerce business depends upon
implementation and adoption in process; successful systems have seven key
steps such as Strategic business planning and roadmaps, Technology
selection/ website audit and analysis, Customer acquisition, Customer
engagement, Customer retention, Optimization based on key metrics and
Business analysis and customer insights.

8.13 KEYWORDS

Enterprise resource planning (ERP): ERP is a process used by companies

to manage and integrate the important parts of their businesses. Many ERP
software applications are important to companies because they help them
implement resource planning by integrating all of the processes needed to run
their companies with a single system.

Middleware: Middleware is software which lies between an operating

system and the applications running on it. It establishes connection between
e-commerce software and existing business and enables communication and
data management for distributed applications

Online Business: Online Business or e-business is any kind of business or

commercial transaction that includes sharing information across the internet.
Online business does not only deal with online transactions of selling and
buying of a product and/or service but also enables to conduct business
168 processes within the value chain through internal or external networks.
Shopping Cart: A shopping cart is a piece of software that keeps the record E-Commerce
Software Platform
of the items a buyer has ‘picked up’ from the onlionline store. Shopping cart
enables consumers to select products, review what they selected, make
modifications or add extra items if needed, and purchase the products.

Web Hosting: Web hosting makes the files that ccomprise a website (code,
images etc.) available
ble for viewing online. Every website you've ever visited
is hosted on a server. When a hosting provider allocates space on a web
server for a website to store its files, they are hosting a website.

Website:: A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages

and related content that is identified by a common domain name and
published on at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org,
google.com, and amazon.com etc.

8.14 ANSWER TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress B

Part A:
(i) True ii) True iii) False iv) True v) False
Part B:
(i) website ii) anywhere iii) HTML

8.15 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1) What is web hosting software? Why are they important in online

business?
2) Describe various types of software platforms.
3) Name commonly used e-commerce
commerce software for small & midsize
companies.
commerce initiatives?
4) How do we plan e-commerce
5) What are the most advanced functions of ee-commerce software?
6) “Web site development is a creative process” comment.
7) Why is customer engagement and retention an important tool for an ee-
commerce business?

These questions are helpful to understand this unit.

Do efforts for writing the answer of these questions
but do not send your answer to university. It is only
Note for your practice.

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Website Development
and Hosting UNIT 9 WEB SERVER HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE

Structure

9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Meaning of Server
9.3 Web Server Essentials
9.3.1 Different Types of Web Server

9.3.2 Characteristics of a Web Server

9.7.3 Functioning of a Web Server

9.4 Mail Server
9.4.1 Types of E-mail Server
9.4.2 Process of sending E-mails
9.5 Operating System
9.5.1 Windows
9.5.2 Linux
9.5.3 Linux vs. Windows
9.6 Web Server Hardware
9.6.1 Meaning of Hardware Servers
9.6.2 Hardware used in Web Servers

9.7 Web Server Software

9.7.1 Features of Web Server Software
9.8 Application Server Software
9.9 Web Server & Application Server
9.10 Web Site and Internet Utility Programs
9.11 Let Us Sum Up
9.12 Key Words
9.13 Answers to Check Your Progress
9.14 Terminal Questions

9.0 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

● understand about web servers and its essentials;
● understand different operating systems;
● know about various types of utility programs; and
170 ● differentiate between web server and application server.
 Web Server
9.1 INTRODUCTION Hardware and
Software

We subsist in a world where the community is totally reliant on smart phones

and laptops. Just with a sheer internet connection, everything can be easy to
get in a present scenario. Be it online shopping, e-commerce, procuring
information, downloading music or movies, and social media, it’s all at the
moment a click away! But have you ever thought how it has become
feasible?

The web server can refer to hardware or software, or both of them working in
sync. On the hardware side, a web server is a computer or gadget or device
that stores web server software and a website's component files. On the
software side, a web server includes numerous parts that control how web
user’s admittance hosts files. The Web server includes the hardware,
operating system, Web server software, TCP/IP protocols and site content
(Web pages, images and other files). If the Web server is used within and is
not exposed to the public, it is an "Intranet Server".

9.2 MEANING OF SERVER

A server is any computer used to present (or “serve”) files or make programs
available to other computers associated with it through a network (such as a
LAN or a WAN). In computing, a server is a piece of computer hardware or
software (computer program) that endows with functionality for other
programs or devices, called "clients".

Figure 9.1: Servers

Archetypal servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print
servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers. The software that
the server computer uses to formulate these files and programs easy to get to
the other computers is sometimes called server software. Sometimes this
server software is integrated as part of the operating system that is running on
the server computer. Thus, a few information systems professionals off the
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Website Development record refer to the operating system software on a server computer as server
and Hosting
software, a live out that adds substantial confusion to the use of the term
“server”.

We may occasionally use the terms server and web hosting interchangeably,
though there are obviously varying levels of differences depending on which
plan type you purchase. For example, if you purchase a shared hosting plan,
talking about a physical server might include more than you have access to.

9.3 WEB SERVER ESSENTIALS

The foremost work of a Web server computer is to act in response to requests

from Web client computers. The three main elements of a Web server are the
hardware (computers and related components), operating system software,
and Web server software.

It is well versed from the above term that the term web server can refer
to hardware or software, or both of them working together. On the hardware
side, a web server is a computer that stores web server software and a
website's component files. On the software side, a web server includes
several parts that control how web user’s access hosted files. All three of
these elements must work together to provide sufficient capacity in a given
situation. We will discuss all these terms in a more elaborate manner in the
coming sub head but prior to that let’s talk about different types of web
server.

9.3.1 Different Types of Web Server

1. Static web server: Static web server is a stack which consists of a

computer (hardware) with an HTTP server (software). It is called as
“static” because the server sends its hosted files as-is to your browser’

2. Dynamic web server: It consists of a static web server plus extra

software, most commonly an application server and a database. It is
called "dynamic" because the application server updates the hosted files
before sending content to your browser via the HTTP server.

For example, to produce the final Web Pages you see in the browser, the
application server might fill an HTML template with content from a
database. Sites like MDN or Wikipedia have thousands of Web Pages.
Typically, these kinds of sites are composed of only a few HTML
templates and a giant database, rather than thousands of static HTML
documents. This setup makes it easier to maintain and deliver the
content. There are many other different types of servers, such as:

• File server: It is a computer and storage device dedicated to storing

files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.

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 • Print server: It is a computer that manages one or more printers and Web Server
Hardware and
a network server is a computer that manages network traffic. Software

• Database server: It is a computer system that processes database

queries.

9.3.2 Characteristics of a Web Server

The web server has following characteristics:

● The primary function of a web server is to store, process and deliver web
pages to clients.
● A web server can, in general, contain one or more websites.
● A web server processes incoming network requests over HTTP and
several other related protocols.
● The web server process is an example of the client/server model.

9.3.3 Functioning of a Web Server

The main job of a web server is to display the website content. If a web
server is not exposed to the public and is used internally, then it is called
Intranet Server. When anyone requests for a website by typing the URL or
web address on a web browser’s (like Chrome or Firefox) address bar (like
www.economictimes.com), the browser sends a request to the Internet for
viewing the corresponding web page for that address. A Domain Name
Server (DNS) converts this URL to an IP Address (For example
192.168.216.345), which in turn points to a Web Server.

The Web Server is requested to present the content of the website to the
user’s browser. All websites on the Internet have a unique identifier in terms
of an IP address. This Internet Protocol address is used to communicate
between different servers across the Internet. These days, Apache server is
the most common web server available in the market. Apache is open source
software that handles almost 70 percent of all websites available today. Most
of the web-based applications use Apache as their default Web Server
environment. Another web server that is generally available is Internet
Information Service (IIS).

Check Your Progress A

1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:

i) A ……………. is any computer used to present (or “serve”) files

or make programs available to other computers associated with it
through a network (such as a LAN or a WAN).
ii) The foremost work of a Web server computer is to act in response
to requests from ……………. computers.

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Website Development iii) ……………. web server is a stack which consists of a computer
and Hosting
(hardware) with an HTTP server (software).
iv) ………………. web server consists of a static web server plus
extra software, most commonly an application server and a
database.
v) ……………. server is a computer and storage device dedicated to
storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.
2. State whether the following are true or false.
i) The three main elements of a Web server are the hardware
(computers and related components), operating system software,
and Web server software.
ii) File server is a computer that manages one or more printers and a
network server is a computer that manages network traffic.
iii) Print server is a computer system that processes database queries.
iv) Any computer can be turned into a Web server by installing server
software and connecting the machine to the Internet.
v) Static web server is a stack which consists of a computer
(hardware) with an HTTP server (software).
3. What is a server?
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
4. What are the three elements of a web server?
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….

9.4 Mail Server

A mail server (sometimes also referred to an e-mail server) is a server that

handles and delivers e-mail over a network, usually over the Internet. A mail
server can receive e-mails from client computers and deliver them to other
mail servers. A mail server can also deliver e-mails to client computers.

174
Some examples of the most common free email servers and the format for Web Server
Hardware and
their mail server addresses are given below
below: Software

• AOL outgoing mail server

server- smtp.aol.com.
• Outlook incoming mail servers
servers- eas.outlook.com or
imap-mail.outlook.com
mail.outlook.com or pop
pop-mail.outlook.com.
• Outlook outgoing mail servers
servers- smtp-mail.outlook.com.

Ann email server (or mail server) is a digital postal service. It is a machine or
application responsible for handling messages. In other words, an email
server receives and delivers emails..

So, when you send an email, your message usually goes through a series of
email servers until it reaches the recipient. The process is so fast and efficient
that it looks simple, but there is a great deal of complexity behind sending
and receiving emails. To avoid confusion, it is important to be clear that the
term email server can have different meanings depending on the context.
Sometimes an email server can mean a computer or a machine that has a
complete system that includes different services or applications. At other
times, the term email server can be used precisely as a synonym for some of
these services or applications.

9.4.1 Types of E-mail

mail Server
When we use the term email server in the sense of services or applications,
we can separate email servers into 2 main categories: outgoing email servers
and incoming email servers.

1. SMTP: Outgoing email servers are called SMTP servers. SMTP stands
for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is a set of communication
guidelines
delines that allow software to transmit an electronic mail over the
internet. It is a program used for sending messages to other computer
users based on e-mail
mail addresses.

Figure 9.
9.2: SMTP Servers

2. POP3: Incoming email servers are known by the acronyms POP3 (Post
Office Protocol). In computing, the Post Office Protocol is an
application-layer
layer Internet standard protocol used by email clients to
retrieve e-mail
mail from a mail server. POP version 3 is the versi
version in
common use.

3. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): IMAP (Internet Message

Access Protocol) is a standard email protocol that stores email messages
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Website Development on a mail server, but allows the end user to view and manipulate the
and Hosting
messages as though they were stored locally on the end user's computing
device(s).

In general, IMAP is more complex and flexible than POP3. With IMAP,
messages are stored on the server itself. While with POP3, messages are
usually kept on the device, that is, on your computer or cell phone.

9.4.2 Process of sending E-mails

To facilitate understanding, we have created a basic step-by-step process for
sending email. It is a very simplified version, but it allows you to understand
how an email is sent and delivered.

Step 1: Connecting to the SMTP server: When you send an email, your
email service or provider, such as Gmail, Exchange, Office 365, and Zimbra,
will connect to the SMTP server. That SMTP server is connected to your
domain and has a specific address, such as smtp.gatefy.com. or
smtp.example.com. At this stage, your email service will provide the SMTP
server with some important information, such as your email address, the
message body, and the recipient's email address.

Step 2: Processing the recipient's email domain: After connecting to the

STMP server it will now identify and process the recipient's email address. If
you are sending an email to someone else in your company, that is, to the
same domain, the message will be directed directly to the IMAP or POP3
server. Otherwise, if you are sending the message to another company, for
example, the SMTP server will need to communicate with that company's
email server.

Step 3: Identifying the recipient's IP: At this stage, SMTP server will need
to connect with DNS (Domain Name System) to find the recipient's server.
The DNS works like a translation system. It will help to convert the
recipient's domain into an IP address. By the way, the IP is a unique number
that identifies a machine or server connected to the internet. SMTP needs IP
to perform its function correctly, thus being able to direct the message to the
recipient's server.

Step 4: Delivering the email: When the recipient receives the email, the
SMTP checks the message and then directs it to the IMAP or POP3 server.
The email then enters a queue and is processed until it is available for the
recipient to access. There, now the email can be read.

9.5 OPERATING SYSTEM

In our preceding course BCOS-183 we had elaborately defined the term

Operating system. An Operating System (OS) is an interface between
computer user and computer hardware. The foundational software on a server
176 is the operating system. Commonly speaking, it is the basis on which
everything else you use runs. Without an operating system, the server is just a Web Server
Hardware and
collection of electronics that does not identify how to communicate with the Software
rest of the humankind. An operating system is software which performs all
the basic tasks like file management, memory management, process
management, handling input and output, and controlling peripheral devices
such as disk drives and printers. A web Server software must match
with Operating System. Windows systems are usually used only by those
who aim to use and therefore, to choose which Operating System to use, one
must know about the Web Server software they choose. There are two types
of operating systems commonly used for web servers, Windows and
Linux/Unix.

9.5.1 Windows
Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several
proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed
and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the
computing industry. If you use The Official Microsoft ASP.NET Site, MS
SQL or Access databases you need Windows hosting because those
technologies are not available on other platforms. The support for traditional
Asp is better on Windows and ColdFusion hosting is most common on
Windows servers, even though ColdFusion runs just as nice on Linux. On the
downside, Windows servers are more exposed to viruses and hacker attacks.
Windows hosting is also more expensive, and Windows servers tend to crash
a bit more often. Windows also takes more server resources than Linux,
resulting in fewer hosting accounts on each server and higher prices.

Figure 9.3: Windows

9.5.2 Linux
With Linux, one get a stable server platform with high security and no
threatening viruses. Linux is free, and does not take as much server resources
as Windows, so Linux hosting is cheaper.

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Website Development
and Hosting

Figure 9.4: Linux

It provides a good selection of scripting languages (most are also supported

by Windows servers). The most common database solution for Linux is
MySQL, which also is open source and works great. PostGreSQL is on its
way to Windows, but not quite there yet. And with the great selection of free
online resources, Linux hosting is the best choice for most self-taught
webmasters and businesses too. Ubuntu or Fedora was the most common
choice.

9.5.3 Linux vs. Windows

Those seeking to privately operate a web server or rent one as a part of a
web-hosting package through a provider are often confronted with a
seemingly age old question: Linux or Windows? These two operating
systems have dominated the web-hosting market for years and compete today
for digital hegemony, with Linux maintaining a noticeable lead.

Due to the minimal differences between the two systems in terms of

functions and applications, making a decision sometimes proves to be no
easy feat. Taking a closer look at Windows and Linux is a task worth its
while and allows users to more clearly understand the different advantages of
both systems. Most of the time, such comparisons come down to a question
of compatibility for applications. Looking into these various differences
between Windows and Linux are stated below:

Table 9.1: Comparison between Windows and Linux

S. No Windows Linux

1. It is a closed source software It is a open source software

2. It is a cost software It is a free software
3. It is less efficient It is more efficient in comparison
4. It is not customizable It can be customized according to the
needs
5. Windows provides less security in Linux provides more security in
comparison to Linux. comparison to Windows
6. It has high hardware cost It has low hardware cost
7. Windows does not provide much It is widely used in hacking purpose-
efficiency in hacking. based systems

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 Web Server
9.6 WEB SERVER HARDWARE Hardware and
Software

1989, the first web server, known as CERN http, was created, along with a
browser called World Wide Web. As we know that a web server is software
and hardware that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other
protocols to act in response to client requests made over the World Wide
Web. The foremost situation of a web server is to exhibit website content
through storing, processing and delivering web pages to users. Besides
HTTP, web servers also hold up SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and
FTP (File Transfer Protocol), used for email, file transfer and storage. If we
go more into the relevance of a topic which focuses on a hardware
perspective, it is a web server that stores web server software and a website's
component files.

9.6.1 Meaning of Hardware Servers

A hardware server is the actual computer that stores the website data and
delivers it to site visitors when they demand it by click on the website. These
big computers are housed in datacenters that are manned by a gamut of
security squad and other security measures such as video surveillance, CCTV
monitoring in brick-and-mortar mode or cloud mode.

Planning for hardware capability necessitate focusing on the whole lot from
server frame to network card, everything from making an accurate estimate
of how much physical space one need to logical space and the connection
infrastructure.

There is a big role of web server hardware as it facilitates in connecting to the

internet and allows data to be exchanged with other connected devices, while
web server software controls how a user accesses hosted file. Thus, for a very
small company either it could be MSME, SME, a single computer can control
the HTTP server along with an FTP server for file downloads, an SMTP
server for email and other Internet-related functions. In a large company
which has a multiple location and has cross border business, every service
would run in one or more dedicated servers, and a gigantic website may
require hundreds of servers to switch through Web hosting and cloud
computing.

The three main hardware components to consider when choosing a web

server are the CPU or processor, memory (RAM) and hard drive (storage).
However, it is also important to consider other factors such as bandwidth,
reliability, security, support, backups and other issues that help your server to
run efficiently.

9.6.2 Hardware used in Web Servers

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Website Development A static web server, or stack, consists of a computer (hardware) with an
and Hosting
HTTP server (software). We identify it "static" for the reason that the server
sends its hosted files as-in to your browser. A dynamic web server consists of
a static web server plus extra software, most frequently an application server
and a database.

Table 9.2: Hardware Specifications for Web Server

Large Medium Small

Supports up to 7500 Supports up to 1000 Supports up to 400

concurrent users. concurrent users. concurrent users.
1 TB of disk space for cache 500 GB of disk space for 200 GB of disk space for
cache cache
16 CPU cores 12 CPU cores 8 CPU cores

64 GB RAM 32 GB RAM 16 GB RAM

9.7 WEB SERVER SOFTWARE

A web server software that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and
other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web.
A web server software, dedicated to running this software, which can gratify
client requests on the World Wide Web. Web servers can repeatedly be found
embedded in devices such as printers, routers, webcams and serving only a
local network.

On the software side, a web server includes several parts that control how
web user’s access hosted files. At a minimum, this is an HTTP server. An
HTTP server is software that understands URLs (web addresses) and HTTP
(the protocol your browser uses to view web pages). An HTTP server can be
accessed through the domain names of the websites it stores, and it delivers
the content of these hosted websites to the end user's device.

Figure 9.5: Web server and Browser

The web server may then be used as a part of a system for monitoring or
administering the device in question. This typically means that no other
software has to be installed on the client computer since only a web browser
is obligatory (which now is incorporated with most operating systems). These
web pages are more often than not static content that includes HTML
documents, images, style sheets, tests etc. Apart from HTTP, a web server
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also supports SMTP (Simple Mail transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Web Server
Hardware and
Protocol) protocol for emailing and for file transfer and storage. Software

Web Stone is popular benchmarking software that measures performance on

various types of Web pages (static and dynamic) such as:

● HTML: This is the standard static Web page containing only HTML
tags.

● CGI: Common Gateway Interface or CGI protocol causes the Web

server to run another program and return the result to the Web server.

● API: Application Programming Interface or API is a set of protocols that

uses “multithreading” to handle user requests of the dynamic Web pages.

9.7.1 Features of Web Server Software

Various features of web server software are explained below:

● Client Request Processing: A Web server processes client requests that

are sent using HTTP protocol, both for static and dynamic pages
● IP-Sharing or Virtual Server: A Web server can work as many virtual
Web servers, serving many businesses with individual domain names but
all domains directing to the same IP address of the computer.
● Logical File: A Web server can have a logical file name corresponding
to a physical file. The physical file may be in the same computer or in
another computer, and also the logical name and the physical name do
not have to be the same. The Web server translates a logical URL into a
physical file address.
● Security: Web servers are located publicly on the Internet or privately in
an organizational intranet, usually behind the firewalls. The public
documents are configured to be viewed by anonymous users. For
extranet users, the files and folders are configured for validation of
username and password. Access controls provide or deny access to files
based on the username or by extranet company URL. Web servers allow
processing digital certificates and private/public key pairs and also
support Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
● Site Management: Web server provides tools to manage multiple Web
sites, file security, virtual file, and log file analysis Administration of a
Web server can be performed from a remote computer in the network
Administrators can grant or deny Web access to individual computers,
groups of computers, or entire domains. Administrators can stop and
restart all Web services without stopping and restarting the computer Site
management also include authoring tools such as Microsoft Front page
2000.
● Application Development: Application development includes Web
editors and extensions to produce Web pages – either static or dynamic.
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Website Development These include HTML editors such as FrontPage for static Web pages for
and Hosting
dynamic Web pages, there are protocols such as Common Gateway
Interface (CGI), Application programming Interface (API), and Active
Server Pages (ASP) that are used by programs such as Java, C++, and
VBScript to develop dynamic Web pages.

9.8 APPLICATION SERVER SOFTWARE

An application server is a server particularly designed to run applications.

The "server" includes both the hardware and software that make available an
environment for programs to run. Application servers are used for countless
purposes such as, running web applications, hosting a hypervisor that
manages virtual machines, etc. The various types of application software are
explained below:

1. IBM Server: Power Systems is a family of server computers from IBM

that are based on its POWER processors. These accelerated computing
servers are built for modern analytics, high-performance computing
HPC, and Artificial intelligence (AI).

2. NGINX: NGINX Unit is a dynamic application server, capable of

running beside NGINX Plus and NGINX Open Source or standalone.
NGINX Unit supports a RESTful JSON API, deploys configuration
changes without service disruptions, and runs apps built with multiple
languages and frameworks. Designed from scratch around the needs of
your distributed applications, it lays the foundation for your service
mesh.

3. Tomcat: Tomcat 3.x can be remotely caused to crash or shut down by a

connection sending the right sequence of bytes to the AJP12 protocol
port (TCP 8007 by default). Tomcat 3.x users are advised to ensure that
this port is adequately firewalled to ensure it is not accessible to remote
attackers. There are no plans to issue an update to Tomcat 3.x for this
issue

4. IIS 7.5: Internet Information Services is extensible web server software

created by Microsoft for use with the Windows NT family. IIS supports
HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SMTP and NNTP.

5. vCenter Server: vCenter Server is the centralized management utility

for VMware, and is used to manage virtual machines, multiple ESXi
hosts, and all dependent components from a single centralized location.
VMware vMotion and svMotion require the use of vCenter and ESXi
hosts.

6. Oracle WebLogic: Oracle WebLogic Server is a Java EE application

server currently developed by Oracle Corporation. Oracle acquired
WebLogic Server when it purchased BEA Systems in 2008.
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7. LiteSpeed Web Server: LiteSpeed Web Server is proprietary web Web Server
Hardware and
server software. It is the 5th most popular web server, estimated to be Software
used by 6.4% of websites as of April 2020. LSWS is developed by
privately held LiteSpeed Technologies

8. Apache: Apache Tomcat is an open-source application server that

executes Java Servlets, renders and delivers web pages that include
JavaServer Page code, and serves Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE)
applications. Released in 1998, Tomcat is the most widely used open-
source Java application server.

9.9 WEB SERVER & APPLICATION SERVER

Despite the contrast implied by “application server vs. web server,” on the
Internet the two types of server are usually deployed together for a common
purpose: fulfilling user requests for content from a website. There are no
standard documents that define the properties of web servers and application
servers, but let’s look at how the terms are commonly understood.

A web server‘s fundamental job is to accept and fulfill requests from clients
for static content from a website (HTML pages, files, images, video, and so
on). The client is almost always a browser or mobile application and the
request takes the form of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) message, as
does the web server’s response.

Figure 9.6: Web Server and App server

An application server’s fundamental job is to provide its clients with access

to what is commonly called business logic, which generates dynamic content;
that is, it’s code that transforms data to provide the specialized functionality
offered by a business, service, or application. An application server’s clients
are often applications themselves, and can include web servers and other
application servers. Communication between the application server and its
clients might take the form of HTTP messages, but that is not required as it is
for communication between web servers and their clients. Many other
protocols are popular, including the variants of CGI.

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Website Development Table 9.2: Difference between Web server and Application server
and Hosting
S. NO Web Server Application Server
1. It is a server that handles HTTP It is a server that exposes business logic to
protocol. client applications through various protocols
including HTTP.
2. It is used to serve web-based It is used to serve web-based applications
applications. and enterprise-based applications.
3. It encompasses web containers only. It encompasses Web container as well as
EJB container.
4. It is useful or fitted for static content. It is fitted for dynamic content.
5. It consumes or utilize less resources. It utilizes more resources.
6. These arrange the run environment These arrange the run environment for
for web applications. enterprise applications.
7. In web servers, multithreading is not In the application server, multithreading is
supported. supported.
8. Their capacity is lower than Their capacity is higher than web server.
application server.
9. In web servers, HTML and HTTP In application servers, GUI as well as HTTP
protocols are used. and RPC/RMI protocols are used.

9.10 WEB SITE AND INTERNET UTILITY

PROGRAMS

To run any software and work on different programs, on a computer system,

one needs the operating system to work smoothly. Utility programs, as the
name suggests not only help in executing various crucial tasks for the
operating system but also help in overall maintenance of the system. Utility
software helps to manage, maintain and control computer resources.
Examples of utility programs are antivirus software, backup software and
disk tools. A device driver is a computer program that controls a particular
device that is connected to the computer. There are many programs that are
used with Web server software. Some of these programs are on the server,
while some are on the computer being used by the Web designer. One of the
most used Internet utility programs is e-mail. Electronic mail (e-mail) is a
process, by which digital information can be sent, received, forwarded, and
stored using telecommunications networks. Using the Internet, e-mail can be
transmitted outside of corporate networks. Messages can also be sent to
bulletin boards.

About Utility Program

Utility program is a system application that executes a specific task, generally

pertaining to optimal maintenance or operation of the system resources.
Operating systems such as Windows, macOS and Linux come with their own
set of utility programs to maintain and execute different utility functions such
as formatting, compressing, scanning, exploring and much more. Utility
programs also assist with the management of computer functions, resources
and files. one can ensure complete password protection and keep systems
virus free using different utility programs.

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9.10.1 Types of Utility Programs Web Server
Hardware and
Software
Various functions are executed by a utility program to make the system’s
operations smoother and more efficient. Overall, utility programs can be
broadly categorized into four parts:

1. System Utilities: Some of the system utility programs are memory

manager, antivirus and firewall, registry checker and cleaner, package
installer and explorer. Also, with the help of such system utility
programs, users can execute functions that are crucial for smooth running
of an operating system.

2. File Management Utilities: File management utilities include tools such

as data archives, software backup tools, file compression tools and
managers. With the help of these, users can manage their data in the form
of files and folders. These utilities help users to sort out, store and
categories files according to the requirement.

3. Storage Device Management Utilities: Storage device management

utility programs provide solutions for enhancing disk capacity, such as
disk clean-up, partition management, formatting, disk space allocation,
defragmentation, etc. With the help of this utility program, users can
compartmentalize systems and external drives for efficient management
of programs and files that are stored within.

4. Miscellaneous Utilities: Apart from these three utility program

categories, there are various other programs that help in managing
business operations. Some of these programs include data generators,
HTML checkers and hex editors, to name a few.

Check Your Progress B

1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:

i) An ……………. is an interface between computer user and

computer hardware.
ii) ……………. is a group of several proprietary graphical operating
system families, all of which are developed and marketed by
Microsoft.
iii) Computer ……………. includes the physical parts of a computer,
such as the case, central processing unit, monitor, mouse and others.
iv) ………………. is a server that exposes business logic to client
applications through various protocols including HTTP.
v) ……………. utilities include tools such as data archives, software
backup tools, file compression tools and managers.
2. State whether the following are true or false.
i) Windows server is more exposed to viruses and hacker attacks.
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Website Development ii) A web server is software and hardware that uses HTTP (Hypertext
and Hosting
Transfer Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client requests
made over the World Wide Web.
iii) Web server encompasses Web container as well as EJB container.
iv) Utility program is a system application that executes a specific task,
generally pertaining to optimal maintenance or operation of the
system resources.
v) With the help of file management utility programs, users can execute
functions that are crucial for smooth running of an operating system.
3. What is an electronic mail?
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
4. What are the four types of utility programs?
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….

9.11 LET US SUM UP

A server is any computer used to present (or “serve”) files or make programs
available to other computers associated with it through a network (such as a
LAN or a WAN). In computing, a server is a piece of computer hardware or
software (computer program) that endows with functionality for other
programs or devices, called "clients".

The foremost work of a Web server computer is to act in response to requests

from Web client computers. The three main elements of a Web server are the
hardware (computers and related components), operating system software,
and Web server software.

An Operating System (OS) is an interface between computer user and

computer hardware. The foundational software on a server is the operating
system. Commonly speaking, it's the basis on which everything else you use
runs. There are two types of operating systems commonly used for web
servers, Windows and Linux/Unix. Computer hardware includes the physical
parts of a computer, such as the case, central processing unit, monitor, mouse,
keyboard, computer data storage, graphics card, sound card, speakers and
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motherboard. A web server is software and hardware that uses HTTP Web Server
Hardware and
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client Software
requests made over the World Wide Web. A web server is server software, or
hardware dedicated to running this software, that can gratify client requests
on the World Wide Web.

Web server is a server that handles HTTP protocol whereas application server
is a server that exposes business logic to client applications through various
protocols including HTTP. Web server is used to serve web-based
applications (i.e. servlets and jsps) whereas application servers are used to
serve web based applications and enterprise based applications (i.e. servlets,
jsps and ejbs). It may contain a web server internally.

Utility program is a system application that executes a specific task, generally

pertaining to optimal maintenance or operation of the system resources.
Various functions are executed by a utility program to make the system’s
operations smoother and more efficient. Overall, utility programs can be
broadly categorized into four parts namely; system utilities, file management
utilities, storage device management utilities and miscellaneous utilities.

9.12 KEY WORDS

Application server: It is a server that exposes business logic to client

applications through various protocols including HTTP.

Database server: It is a computer system that processes database queries.

Dynamic web server: It consists of a static web server plus extra software,
most commonly an application server and a database. It is called "dynamic"
because the application server updates the hosted files before sending content
to your browser via the HTTP server.

File server: It is a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files.

Any user on the network can store files on the server.

Hardware: Hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the

case, central processing unit, monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data
storage, graphics card, sound card, speakers and motherboard.

Operating System: An Operating System (OS) is an interface between

computer user and computer hardware.

Print server: It is a computer that manages one or more printers and a

network server is a computer that manages network traffic.

Server: A server is any computer used to present (or “serve”) files or make
programs available to other computers associated with it through a network
(such as a LAN or a WAN). In computing, a server is a piece of computer
hardware or software (computer program) that endows with functionality for
other programs or devices, called "clients".
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Website Development Static web server: It is a stack which consists of a computer (hardware) with
and Hosting
an HTTP server (software). It is called as “static” because the server sends its
hosted files as-is to your browser’

Utility program: It is a system application that executes a specific task,

generally pertaining to optimal maintenance or operation of the system
resources.

Web server: It is software and hardware that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer
Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client requests made over the
World Wide Web.

Windows: It is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system

families, all of which are developed and marketed by Microsoft.

9.13 ANSWER TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress A

1. (i) Server (ii) web client (iii) static (iv) dynamic (v) file
2. (i) True (ii) False (iii) False (iv) True (v) True
Check Your Progress B
1. (i) Operating system (ii) Windows (iii) hardware (iv) application
server (v) file management
2. (i) True (ii) True (iii) False (iv) True (v) False

9.14 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. What are the different types of web servers?

2. What is a mail server? What are different types of E-mail servers?
3. Explain various steps of sending an E-mail
4. What is an operating system? Explain the two most commonly used
operating systems.
5. Explain web server software.
6. What are the various features of web server software?
7. Differentiate between web server and application server.
8. What are utility programs? What are the different types of utility
programs?

These questions are helpful to understand this unit.

Do efforts for writing the answer of these questions
but do not send your answer to university. It is only
Note for your practice.

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