[ZDP] Zope Architecture

[Martijn Pieters]

At 14:14 19/05/99 , Tom Deprez wrote:

> >ZServer is _based_ on Medusa, and is a fast architecture for publishing
> >Zope. It can accept FTP and HTTP connections, so you can approach it using
> >your browser or FTP client. It can also be accessed using PCGI and other
> >protocols, so you could in theory place a webserver (like Medusa itself, or
> >Netscape Enterprise or Apache), and have it contact ZServer for further
> >processing.
>
>So, .... normally you only have to install Zope.... You don't need any
>Server (like Medusa, Apache, ZopeHTTPServer) to get it working? Why then is
>when installing Zope, the ZopeHTTPServer configured as Server?

Yes you do. This could be ZopeHTTPServer, or ZServer, or Apache, etc. Zope 
always needs a server, and that is why ZServer and ZopeHTTPServer are 
bundled with Zope.

You can also use a construction where you use Apache with ZServer as a 
layer in between Apache and Zope. You can then access your Zope 
installation through Apache (with the extra benefits of virtual servers and 
the like that Apache offers), and also access Zope through FTP and WebDAV 
(via ZServer's HTTP and FTP support).



> >
> >>It seems that a browser is also capable for entering ZServer... Is this the
> >>WebDAV? PS. I've IE5 at home... how to use IE5 with WebDav?
> >
> >No, WebDAV is completely handled by Zope.
>
>... ? How can I make contact with my browser to ZServer? I thought that
>when I ask for an HTTP-request, my browser makes contact with the WebServer
>(e.g. Medusa, Apache) and then the WebServer makes contact with ZServer.
>Thus browser isn't directly connected with ZServer

Your browser contacts a certain port on a server, usually port 80 (Zope by 
default uses port 9673), and communicates with whatever it finds on that 
port, using the HTTP protocol.

Zope itself cannot do the listening. ZServer provides a way to listen on 
the ports, using several protocols, like HTTP and FTP. ZopeHTTPServer and 
Apache and Netscape Enterprise all can do that too.

However, ZServer can also listen to PCGI requests (which are usually coming 
from CGI-scripts installed on servers that DO listen to a specific port), 
and in the future possibly a host of other protocols as well, none of which 
need listen to a port. All they need to do is pull the right strings within 
Zope, so it'll do it's work.


--
Martijn Pieters, Web Developer
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