Chilisoft ASP for Linux

Making the proprietary cross-platform: an ambitious goal, to be sure. How well do Chilisoft deliver?

Want to run ASP applications? Don't want to run Microsoft IIS? Until Chilisoft came along, the large number of developers in this situation were simply out of luck. Then, in 1997, Chilisoft began releasing its ASP server software for alternative platforms - which now include Windows NT, OS/390, Solaris, HP-UX and IRIX, amongst others. Now this already-impressive lineup has been expanded further by the latest addition - Linux.

There can be little doubt that Linux has won the hearts and minds of many a system administrator. In partnership with Apache, it makes an extremely powerful, flexible and above all cost-effective web server. With the addition of a server-side application like Chilisoft ASP, the platform can be used to serve the most complex and sophisticated of web applications; it acts as an extra layer to your existing web server, automatically interpreting ASP code embedded in HTML as it is served.

Putting it in place

The product comes as a single tar file with an accompanying install script. However, disappointingly the package only supports an extremely limited selection of software. Specifically, it supports only Red Hat 6.0 and 6.1, although it should work with any similar RPM-based distribution. In addition, only very specific versions of Apache are supported (1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.6, 1.3.9, 1.3.11), for no obvious reason. This will apparently be fixed in the next release, but given the unrestricting nature of Linux it's disappointing to be so hampered in choice of distribution. It also means that any deviations from these exact specifications are, naturally, unsupported by Chilisoft.

Therefore, after abandoning installation on a Debian system, we tried on a RH6.1 machine. The install script ran flawlessly, even restarting Apache automatically to initialise the ASP server, but any attempt to use ASP resulted in an 'ASP not available' error message. A quick hunt around the Chilisoft support forum revealed that the problem was caused by two lines added to the Apache configuration file by the installer being in the wrong place. Simply moving them to a different point in the file fixed the problem. Although most Linux system administrators will be quite comfortable doing this, it is still unforgivably sloppy of Chilisoft and an easily rectifiable fault.

The server

Chilisoft ASP offers a rich ASP implementation. It includes support for FrontPage server extensions and the Microsoft Visual InterDev IDE, which allows RAD solutions developed under Windows NT to be immediately deployed on a Linux server. Indeed, Chilisoft seem keen to suggest this model; development performed and tested on inexpensive Windows NT servers, then production code rolled out onto high-availability Unix or Linux servers.

It provides database communication directly to MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, as well as support for ODBC connectivity. Furthermore, it contains a complete implementation of ADO, thus allowing ASP scripts to be completely portable. All in all, database communications are well catered for, as is of course necessary for any serious web development system.

Further extension is possible by 'Chilibeans'; this allows connectivity to Java (and other CORBA objects) directly in the ASP script. Additionally, a number of remote-administration ASP scripts are included with the package, allowing ASP servers to be maintained from any web browser.

Conclusion

If, for whatever reason, you need to serve ASP pages from a Linux server then you will most likely need this product. It will therefore come as a relief to find out that it;s actually rather good, installation hiccups notwithstanding.

If you're developing web applications for hosting on Linux, then the water is a little muddier. ASP offers several advantages - such as cross-platform support and Windows-based RAD - that set it apart from the likes of Allaire's ColdFusion and Zend's PHP. It is also a well-supported language in terms of information on the web, and its cross-platform abilities are second to none - allowing true flexibility of development and deployment facilities.

Allows the use of ASP as a server side scripting language under Red Hat Linux. Supports Java through CORBA, ADO for database connectivity to MySQL and PostgreSQL, and FrontPage extensions.

Memory - 128MB Minimum, 256MB Recommended
CPU - Pentium or greater
Hard Drive - 100 MB
minimum OS:
RedHat Linux 6.0
price:
$495 for a single-CPU copy
contact name and tel:
Chili!Soft, Inc.
13920 SE Eastgate Way
Suite 120
Bellevue, WA 98005
Phone: (425) 957-1122
FAX: (425) 562-9565
web address: http://www.chilisoft.com

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Score:- 87%