There are several reasons for this approach.
First is the need for security. Student information system applications that deliver information via the web need to execute and store information on a secure system. Since the cavern system is host to more than 400 accounts it makes sense to segregate these users and there content from in house applications that run in support of student services.
Second, all efforts should be taken to maximize the cavern system to provide more space and computational power to those users developing web applications.
Lastly, there will continue to be great growth in the web arena. For this reason it is desirable to provide means by which other an more diverse systems and hosts can be seemlessly incorporated into the primary (www.uark.edu) publishing point.
Future implementations of numerous servers from Netscape Corp. will require dedicated servers for specific forms of functionality such as LDAP (Lightwieght Directory Access Protocol), messaging, secure threaded discussion groups, calendar maintenance, credit card processing and others. Depending upon the load incurred for a given server model and function, there could easily be a need for a dedicated 'box' per dedicated 'function' where some of these servers are concerned.
In some cases one 'box' can support more than one server. Some applications may best be supported on
another platform such as Windows NT or the MacIntosh. There should be no reason why the platform best suited to the task cannot be used.