Conclusion

I have covered four major types of server-side systems in this book:

• Traditional Windows 2000 service applications
• ASP applications
• ISAPI applications and filters
• SQL Server integration

Each of these systems has its own strengths and weaknesses. Traditional Windows 2000 service applications are the basis of many server-side applications. Services can be configured to run whenever the system they are on is running. There are virtually no limits to what these services can do within the constraints of the Win32 environment. Each of the other three types of server-side development depends upon Windows 2000 services.

ASP and ISAPI extensions allow you as a server-side developer to integrate with IIS to create applications available over an intranet or the Internet. Of course, IIS itself is a Windows 2000 service. ASP and ISAPI extensions can do much of the same work, and the decision to use one or the other can depend upon the application's end user as well as the application's performance requirements. As we have seen, you can take steps to allow ASP applications to scale up beyond what might be possible with just scripting. ISAPI applications allow you the freedom to do virtually anything that Windows 2000 can do, and you can use them over the Web.

SQL Server provides persistent storage that can be used by both server-side applications and client applications. While SQL Server can be used as just another data source, doing so would be a mistake. A SQL Server database allows you to create stored procedures and triggers that can encapsulate and enforce business logic at the server. In this multiclient world, with traditional fat clients and thin browser clients both interacting with the database, having this business logic on the server can greatly simplify client software design.

The Web monitoring sample in this chapter integrates all of these server-side systems. Building on the MonitorService example created in Chapter 14, I used ASP to add a Web interface that monitors and modifies the SQL Server database. To allow Web users even more information about the inner workings of the MonitorService application, I created ISAPIMonitoring, an ISAPI extension that communicates using WinSock. ISAPIMonitoring shows ISAPI s potential to open up the entire server world to Web-based clients.

There you have it. I hope you have enjoyed this inside look at service-based applications. What you do with server-based applications is limited only by your imagi-nation. As Windows 2000 and its successors expand the role of server-based appli-cations, new technologies will undoubtedly arise and build on what I ve covered in this book. I hope I have provided the foundation that will allow you to grow with those changes.