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Project Proposal

Summary
Utilizing two separate servers and build a data server and a web server on each of them. The data server is configured to response only to the inquiries from the web server and the web server will host a webpage which allows worldwide internet access. This setup will increase security and productivity of a website. Upon the completion of the project, it is expected to cover the installation and configuration of Windows Server 2003, IIS, Windows Firewall, VB.Net, ASP.Net, Microsoft FrontPage and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Introduction
Entry level web hosting has its web and data locate on the same server as it is relatively easy to setup. However, this method is insufficient for more advance use and has concerns in different field such as security, resource allocation, management and more. As a result, many websites have separate web server and data server.

Under such practice, it also embraces the possibility of future expansions. At later stage, additional data servers can be added as data backup in the situation of unexpected failures (web server will request data from backup data servers if the server is not accessible), extra bandwidth with each additional server (allow more traffic than what one server can handle due to its physical limitation or cost effective consideration), customized security policy for servers with specific use.

Project Description
Establish a web hosting with a web server and a separate data server. Use combination of FrontPage, VB.Net and ASP.Net to create the website and employ SQL Server 2005 for the database. Place the IIS on the web server for building and administering website(s) and other web service. Finally, configure the two servers and have them communicate to each other via TCP/IP.
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Project Analysis
Having the data server on different server than the web server will help keeping the systems more cleanly separated. It could simplify management and alternatively result in cheaper maintenance. It also increases the stability as the systems are more organized and will not be affected if the other system failed. For example, certain service of the website can stay functional while the data server crashed. Vice versa, internal services running in the background of the data server will not be interrupted as the web server go down. Better security can be expected. If the functionality of systems is carefully configured, one system may remain secure while the other is compromised. For instance, various information used for computing on the data server may not be available to the web server. This ensures the confidential information stays within that machine. At last, database consumes a lot of I/O resource. Having web server and data sever separate to each other would allow additional computing power and prevent them from competing for I/O resources.

Requirements
Software
• Windows Server 2003
o IIS
o Windows Firewall
• VB.Net
• ASP.Net
• Microsoft FrontPage
• Microsoft SQL Server
Hardware
• Two server computers
• Ethernet cables
• Switch

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