NCSA-type Server Performance Problems Overcome The problem with using .htaccess files in servers such as the NCSA server, is their very low performance. Not only does an NCSA server need to consult the .htaccess file in the document's own directory, it must also load the .htaccess file in each of the parent directories too, before it can decide upon its access control.
PowerWeb's Access Control Database PowerWeb Server++ bypasses these performance limitations by managing an object-orientated access control database that contains all the security rules. These rules have the advantage of being more powerful as well as being more flexible.
Re-Use of Security Rules with Templates Taking advantage of object orientation, not only can groups of documents be considered a single object, so can groups of security rules. This means you can define an access control policy and store it in a template object which can be applied to any document object or resource.
Managed Consistency This extremely powerful concept allows for reuse of security rules and for ensured consistency. For example, a security policy could be defined for all user home directories on a given server. If that policy changes, the rules only need changing in one place.
Simplification Through Inheritance PowerWeb Server++ takes the concept still further. Unlike any other server on the market, it can use inheritance to define a security template based on another existing security template, overriding just those rules that differ.
Restrict Administration Access Administrators can define security rules to restrict remote administration to particular workstations based on their IP address or host name. In addition, a separate database of user names and passwords is used to control who may access the administration facilities.
View Diagnostic Information Administrators can use their browser to examine diagnostic information such as error and audit trails, which are always available.
Secure and Fast PowerWeb's approach has the benefit of ensuring completeness and consistency, as well as minimum downtime. If the live configuration was modified as each change was made, security leaks would occur because the administrator would still be busy making further modifications.
Why not CGI? The CGI interface is a simple-to-use method of executing programs to deliver custom responses within a Web server. PowerWeb Server++ provides the full functionality of CGI, while also offering PowerWeb Server++ APIs as a much faster and more powerful alternative.
Reference Manual See the API Extensions Reference Manual for detailed information.
Reference Manual See the Web Macros Reference Manual for detailed information.