Download IT Applications Theory Slideshows

VCE IT Theory Slideshows
Web servers
and related hardware and
software
By Mark Kelly
[email protected]
Vceit.com
Contents
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Operating systems
Web server software
Protocols
Security
Proxy servers
Operating systems
Choices:
• Windows
• Linux, Unix, FreeBSD
Windows OS
• Smoothly integrates with MS apps like Access,
MS SQL, Frontpage
• Less stable under heavy web traffic
• Can be more vulnerable to viruses, hackers
• Good if you run ASP
*nix
• Stable, even under heavy web traffic load
• Can run Frontpage extensions if you use
Frontpage to develop the site
• Cheaper than Windows
• Preferred if using PHP and MySQL
Web server software
• Handles the processing of HTTP protocol web
page requests
• Delivers web pages to visitors
• Hosts application software e.g. wiki, blog,
forum, CMS, databases.
Web server software
Choices:
• Apache – the most popular. Free. Open
source. Runs under Windows, Mac OS X or
*nix.
• Microsoft IIS (only runs under Windows)
• Dozens of other small and large, free &
proprietary packages
From Wikipedia
Vendor
Product
Web Sites Hosted
Percent
Apache
Apache
148,085,963
59.36%
Microsoft
IIS
56,637,980
22.70%
Not just for websites
• Can even be embedded in devices e.g. routers,
printers, NAS devices to act as control panels
• E.g. to control your home router, do you go to
10.1.1.1 or 192.168.1.1?
• If so, the device has a little web server
embedded in it!
• No software except a browser needed on
client PCs to administer the device.
Web server functionality
• Decode requests for webpages
• Map a URL (uniform resource locator) to
either:
– a static HTML file in the local file system
– Software to handle the request for dynamic
content (e.g. PHP, ASP, SSI, CGI)
• E.g. http://www.example.com/path/file.html is
mapped to //server2//home/www/path/file.html
• Deliver webpages to clients
Functionality
• Virtual hosting – many websites can be served
from a single server with a single IP address
• Bandwidth control – to limit upload speeds to
prevent clients hogging bandwidth, and share
bandwidth with many clients
• Server-side scripting – to generate dynamic
websites without interfering with the web
server software
Web Server Protocols
• TCP/IP, of course to get files between
browsers and the web server
• Web servers must run HTTP
• File transfer – FTP – to upload pages to the
web server
Web Server Protocols
• May also need mail – SMTP Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol) to send/receive mail.
• Client mail apps use SMTP to send mail, and
POP or IMAP to download mail from a server.
• SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or the newer TLS
(Transport Layer Security) to encrypt outgoing
web traffic and decrypt incoming data.
Other Web Server Protocols
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telnet protocol to remotely control a server
NNTP - to send Usenet news posts
RIP – a dynamic routing protocol
NTP – network time protocol, to synchronise
clocks of computers and servers
• RTP - Real-time Transport Protocol, delivers
audio & video, and is foundation for VoIP
Web Server Security
• Protecting yourself: The moment you install a
Web server at your site, you've opened a
window into your local network that the
entire Internet can peer through.
• Protecting the site: Unauthorised access can
lead to damaged or stolen data
Create a written Security Policy
Lays down your organisation's policies about:
• who is allowed to use the system
• when they are allowed to use it
• what they are allowed to do (different groups may be
granted different levels of access)
• procedures for granting access to the system
• procedures for revoking access (e.g. when an employee
leaves)
• what is acceptable use of the system
• remote and local login methods
• system monitoring procedures
• protocols for responding to suspected security
breaches
Benefits of a security policy
• You will understand what is and is not permitted on
the system. If you don't have a clear picture of what
is permitted, you can never be sure when a violation
has occurred.
• Others in your organisation will understand what is
allowed. People can’t claim ignorance of the rules
when they misbehave.
• A written policy raises the level of security
consciousness.
• The security policy serves as a requirements
document to guide later equipment purchases, rule
changes etc. (Thanks to w3.org)
Web server security
• Put the server in a secure location (e.g. data
centre)
• Environmental control, flood & fire prevention
• Uninterruptible power supply, including
backup generators
• Backup servers & redundant data feeds
• Effective firewall
• Secured operating system, with
patches up to date
• Don’t do application
testing on working servers:
bad software can make
systems vulnerable to
attack or crashing.
• Monitor and audit the
server regularly, looking for
suspicious activity in the
logs.
• Disable idle accounts
Security
Web server security
• Disable unnecessary services e.g. remote
access.
• Secure remote access with encryption and
strong passwords, limit user privileges, use
single-use sign-ons.
• Tight control over administrator passwords
and permissions
• Disable unnecessary anonymous access (e.g.
FTP without needing a login)
Web server security
• Don’t store sensitive corporate or financial
data on web servers.
Proxy servers
• Proxy server is hardware or software that sits
between a web server and its users
• E.g. at an ISP, in large LANs
• Stores recent downloads
• Filters new download requests
• If a user requests content that’s stored in the
proxy, a caching proxy delivers a copy from its
store
Proxy advantages
• Faster access to resources – the original data
does not have to be downloaded again from
the source.
• Cheaper – on bandwidth.
• Gives control over local internet usage
Proxy power
• Proxy servers can also be used to:
• Keep machines behind it anonymous
(for security).
• Block undesired sites
• Filter out undesired content.
• To log / audit usage, i.e. record who
downloads what via user authentication and
access logs.
• Rewrite requests (e.g. if the named server is
overloaded it can use an idle server instead)
Proxy power
• To bypass security/ parental controls using an
open proxy.
• To scan content for malware before delivery.
• To scan outbound content, e.g. to detect and
prevent the leaking of sensitive data.
• To circumvent regional restrictions.
Proxy Problems
• Since all data flow goes through a
proxy, operators can eavesdrop on
the data-flow between client
machines and the web: including
passwords and account numbers.
• Is vital that passwords to online
services (e.g. webmail and banking)
should always be exchanged using
SSL or TLS.
Resources
• wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_server
• w3.org
• www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/s
-wssec.html
• www.acunetix.com/websitesecurity/webserve
r-security.htm
VCE IT THEORY SLIDESHOWS
By Mark Kelly
[email protected]
vceit.com
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