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January 14, 2006

The network is the server, stupid

Barring some actual election results from Iraq, I will not be posting much the next few weeks. I could not resist a chance to make fun of Dave Winer though, so here goes. In a post Thursday he asks himself:

The mystique of desktop web servers

Q: What is a desktop web server?

I guess it should be no mystery, it’s a web server that runs on your desktop.

Q: What makes a desktop web server different from one that runs on a server?

Not much. You could run Apache on your desktop. In fact, if you’re using a Mac, you are. When the time came for Apple engineers to decide to turn off the server, they thought, what the heck, let’s leave it on and see what happens. Unless I’m missing something, so far not much has, but it could....

To prove the point, I put a copy of the NewsRiver aggregator on a server of mine in Massachusetts that I’ve never actually seen. It’s definitely not running on my desktop. Here’s a link to the aggregator running on that computer. Go ahead and try it out.

http://test27.newsriver.org:5337/newsRiver/

Note, this link may not work tomorrow or the day after. ;->

PS: Another example of desktop web servers, Google’s desktop search. You access it through a web browser, but the software is running on your computer. Ever stop and think how that happened? It’s so simple people don’t even notice.

PPS: I wrote a piece that attempted to define desktop web servers at the beginning of 2001. I thought that would be the year of DTWS’s. It wasn’t. We still haven’t had an explosion of creativity in this area, but I think there’s still reason to believe we’ll see it, eventually.

For one thing, most DSL and cable modem contracts prevent users from using those services to run a web server, but assuming you have a business class connection, would you really want your desktop to have to choose between responding to a burst of traffic and processing the next screen of your document or computer game? Virtualization is an important and growing aspect of desktop computing, but virtualization can not create computing power from thin air. It can only limit and compartmentalize what is already there. Let's assume that in the next ten years, Linux provides a secure enough means of running both a web server and a desktop computer at the same time, and can compete with Microsoft Windows in terms of desktop applications. You will still need to upgrade to server class hardware in order to have a professional hosting environment, with RAID disks and RAM to spare. Then you will have to determine how much of these resources to devote to web serving and how much for your personal use? Then do you really want to be calling up your cable or phone company's customer service when your server can't connect to the network? Even worse, if someone hacks your server will they see your tax returns now, too?

Dave mentions the problem of not being able to access your webserver from a plane, but for most people the point of having a web site is so other people can access it, too. If your laptop is the web server as he implies, does that mean your web site is unavailable whenever you get out of WiFi range, your battery runs low, or you reboot? To most people that would not seem like any way to run a web server. As more people move to laptops or smart phones, PDAs, and so forth, the idea of a "desktop" web server becomes less and less likely every day.

If you need to have both a desktop and a laptop, why have a desktop at all? Why not let the web server run somewhere else, where someone else can manage and secure it for you? Then replicate the files you need, when you need them, to you personal device. Ideally, you could edit and manage files on your own computer then have your PC upload them seamlessly to the server and vice versa on it's own. Not only does that keep your desktop or laptop secure, but it allows you to benefit from the economies of scale and virtualization that make a lot more sense with a web hosting environment than a personal PC. In fact, as wireless connections improve and advanced mobile devices get smaller, they could eliminate the need for your own high powered CPU.

Your mobile device would still need to handle keyboard or mouse I/O and would probably need a graphics card, but if the applications can all be run remotely, you don't need to manage any data on your remote device at all. If you always need a copy on hand, they you add a hard drive and remote replication. If not, you can cut half the cost.

In other words, Dave's dream of the desktop web server overlooks the fact that desktops are becoming less and less important to most users.

Posted by Mike at January 14, 2006 09:02 PM

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