iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator's Guide (iTPWebSvr 6.0+)

iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator’s Guide—523346-002
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Planning the iTP Secure WebServer
PATHMON Environment
This section provides background for configuring the iTP Secure WebServer
PATHMON environment. The section covers the following topics:
•
Conventional TCP/IP: The Distributor Process on page 3-1
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Parallel Library TCP/IP: The Auto Accept Feature on page 3-2
•
Configuring the PATHMON Environment on page 3-4
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Threading Considerations for the httpd Server on page 3-4
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Security for the Server’s Pathway Environment on page 3-5
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Other Security Considerations on page 3-7
Conventional TCP/IP: The Distributor Process
If you choose not to use Parallel Library TCP/IP support you will need to configure your
iTP Secure WebServer to use the Distributor. The Distributor process is a process that
checks for incoming requests for new connections from the TCP/IP subsystem and
distributes the new requests to the iTP Secure WebServer. The Distributor process
runs as an OSS process and uses NonStop TS/MP to provide process control,
persistence, and scalability as required for online enterprises.
The Accept and AcceptSecureTransport directives in the iTP Secure WebServer
configuration file (httpd.config, described in Section 7, Configuring the iTP Secure
WebServer), determine the Distributor process configuration.
The Distributor process can monitor multiple ports on multiple TCP/IP transport
processes for new connection requests, then distribute those requests to various iTP
Secure WebServer processes within the httpd server class.
The Distributor process runs persistently. PATHMON starts the Distributor process and
keeps it alive persistently, but not as a NonStop process pair. If the Distributor process
fails, PATHMON automatically creates a new process.
Once started, the Distributor process establishes OPENs with the TCP/IP processes
specified in the configuration file and monitors the configured ports for incoming
connection requests.
When a request for connection arrives on one of the ports, the Distributor process
performs a SERVERCLASS_SEND_() to send the connection information to one of the
iTP Secure WebServer processes in the PATHMON environment. The iTP Secure
WebServer processes the request to completion.
The Distributor process supports only the TCP/IP protocol stack.