How to establish a Web Server at the Trade Points

For many Trade Points to establish the World Wide Web Server is now a top priority. Several Trade Points are now offering WWW services to their members and they have local servers connected to the Global Trade Point Network and related sites on the Internet. In some cases Trade Points are using the UNTPDC Server Incubator Services to help them have a real presence on the Internet. For Trade Points to have the opportunity to participate as an electronic publisher on the World-Wide Web is of great importance. The WWW allows Trade Points and in particular Trade Points in developing countries to reach a large amount of people connecting to the Web. There are certain essential logistical considerations that must be disposed of before they can proceed to the installing of the Web Server at national level. These are all related to network connectivity, and although some of them may sound straightforward, it is recommended to work closely with the national Internet service provider to get everything on the list accomplished.

• Select the hardware configuration for the Trade Point Web Server depending on number of end-users to provide local access to the GTPN. Several hardware configurations are possible from a PC based Server with Windows NT to a full UNIX environment.. The basic hardware configuration can start with a PC based configuration which could be expended simultaneously with the number of users accessing the TP Web Server and which should include the following:
  Micro-Computer DX2 66 or DX4 100 or Pentium
  1 GB hardDisk
  16 MB RAM
  X25 Path
  14.4 kbps Modems
  
  
  
• Establish the connectivity to the GTPN via Internet between the Trade Point Server and the Internet as a whole. In most Trade Points, this connection will be in the form of a SLIP connection using 14.4-Kbps modems, a router communicating via 56-Kbps hard-wired modems on a dedicated leased phone line, or a network router communicating via a T1 (1-Mbps) dedicated digital line. Other alternatives are possible via the SITA Network connecting via X25 to the UNCTAD Server in Geneva or using the IBM Network to connect via IBM Nodes. In the future a Trade Point Mobile software will be available to assist in the connection to the Geneva host.
  
  
• Assign an IP number to the Trade Point computer to use for a Web server. When the Trade Points obtains Internet connectivity, it is allocated a range of IP numbers. The Trade Point network manager or IS department will then suballocate one of the IP numbers of this range for each Trade Point member participating at the Trade Point at national level (customs, insurance, transport, banks, etc).
  
  
• Assign a DNS host name for your World-Wide Web server. When the Trade Point obtains Internet connectivity, it is assigned a domain name and required to set up primary and secondary DNS servers. Individual names for each machine, or host, that has an IP number are derived from that original domain name. By convention, Web servers are given names of the form www.xxxx.domain--for example, www.unicc.org
  
  .
• "Bind" your Web server's name to its IP number and Ethernet ID so that Web browsers on other machines can connect to your Web server by name. This requires an update to the tables on the DNS servers that are authoritative for your domain and (usually) propagation of those changes to the DNS servers maintained by your Internet service provider.In some countries to complete the steps we have just listed can take weeks or months if the Trade Point is not in the situation of having Internet connectivity and DNS servers already set up. It is important that Trade Points study the connectivity requirements before acquiring and installing the server. Once the above steps completed the remaining steps are required for a full Web Server operation:
  
  
• Install a TCP/IP protocol stack on the computer dedicated as Server, if it doesn't have one already previously installed. TCP/IP stacks are built into Microsoft Windows NT, Macintosh System 7.5, OS/2 Warp, Version 3.0, and all versions of Unix; stacks are available at nominal or no charge for Microsoft Windows and earlier versions of the Macintosh OS.
  
  
• Configure the Trade Point Web Server's TCP/IP stack for the server's IP number, the IP numbers of the primary and secondary DNS servers for your network domain, and (frequently) the IP number of the machine or router that serves as your domain's "gateway" to the Internet as a whole.
  
  
• Install a Web browser on your machine. Web browsers are most easily obtained from Web servers or FTP file archive servers maintained by the creators of Web tools, such as NCSA and CERN. But many of the popular Web browsers are also available for downloading on on-line services such as ZiffNet or CompuServe and on large BBS systems. Web browsers are also available at the UNTPDC Interactive Multimedia Training Centre, and can be downloaded free-of-charge for non-commercial use of the software.
  
  
• Install a Web server on your machine and create a home page for your server. Web server software is available at no charge on the Web itself for a wide variety of operating systems and CPUs. The best starting point to locate the software you need for your particular machine's environment is the World-Wide Web home page at CERN (URL http://info.cern.ch).
  
  
• Establish your link with the UNTPDC WWW Incubator Server Many Trade Points are using the UNTPDC Web Server Incubator, allowing them to use the resources and services of the UNTPDC. A Home Page is available for each individual Trade Point linking with national Web servers and the Electronic Trading Opportunity ETO System.
  
  
• Train the Trade Point staff to create HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) documents It is important to train local staff at the Trade Points to create documents using the hypertext document-encoding scheme that is used for resources published on World-Wide Web servers. HTML document is a mixture of ASCII text and special reserved character sequences called tags that control formatting of the text. Many HTML formats are now available at the UNTPDC WWW for creating ETOS, electronic catalogues, Home Pages, Importers, exporters directories, etc. Trade Points can use the existing HTML as model to develop their national applications.
  
  
• Announce your Web server's existence to the Web at large. This can be done most efficiently by linking to the Global Trade Point Network Master Index available at the UNTPDC WWW and by posting messages to newsgroups and mailing lists where people discuss topics related to the material you plan to publish on your Web server. Trade Points Web servers with similar interests will incorporate hyperlinks to other TP servers into the content on their servers, making it easier for people to navigate to the GTPN.