Web-Enable your OpenVMS Application!

OpenVMS makes an ideal web server. The combination of security, reliability and VMSclusters allows you to build a scalable web server that just never fails.

VSM Software Services has used OpenVMS to power its web sites for a number of years and hosts a number of customers' web sites on the same servers.

There are three web server packages available for OpenVMS:

  • Apache
    is supported by OpenVMS Engineering, who have turn it into a product called "Compaq Secure Web Server" with a licence that is bundled into the OpenVMS operating system licence. It provides most of the features of the Unix Apache web server so chances are that your existing web site administrator will know how to configure it. However, it doesn't run on VAX systems and new releases tend not to be supported on older versions of OpenVMS or TCP/IP.
  • WASD
    is developed here in Australia and provides all the services you'll need for a web server in a package which is well written and very well documented. Unlike Apache, the WASD server runs on VAX, Alpha and Itanium and tends to be the best-performing web server under load.

    • Note: VSM hosts the home page for the WASD web server but is not responsible for ongoing developement or support.

  • OSU
    aka the "DECthreads" web server, is developed at Ohio State University. It's been around longer than the others and like WASD runs on VAX and Alpha. However we find that it's not well documented and tends not to be as efficient, especially on VAX systems.

In addition to the web servers described above, many of the supporting tools which have evolved on Unix systems have been ported to OpeNVMS. Please see the Tools page for further ninformation on PHP, Perl, Python, Tomcat, Java, MySQL and others.

All of these packages will let you serve web pages to your Intranet or out to the Internet. The WASD package and web site includes a number of scripts which run on all three web servers.

For further information or advice about web-enabling your OpenVMS application, please contact us.

© VSM Software Services Pty.Ltd 2003/2004. All rights reserved.

 


06:20:42 AM, Thursday, October 16, 2008


OpenVMS with Apache, OSU and WASD by Alan Winston, Stanford University
ISBN 1555582648