Microsoft Merchant Server
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Merchant Server, released in October 1996, was Microsoft
's solution for the growing Business-to-Consumer sales business taking place on the Internet. Only one version was shipped, then its technology was folded into Microsoft Site Server 2.0, Commerce Edition
.
, which Microsoft acquired in June 1996. It was primarily built using Python
, with additional C++ code to plug into IIS
and to run the primary server code as an NT Service.
Microsoft's Active Server Pages
was shipped in December 1996, two months after Merchant Server's release, so Merchant Server was unable to use that for page generation. Instead, it incorporated its own custom templating system, similar to the EZT templating system.
The custom templating system was thrown out, and the core technology of Merchant Server was converted into COM Objects to be used by Active Server Pages. This revamp of the system appeared in Site Server 2.0 in early 1997.
In later years, after Netscape's product was no longer in the market, Microsoft was able to return to their original desire and call it Microsoft Commerce Server
.
operating systems. It was also dependent on SQL database, such as Microsoft SQL Server
or Oracle
.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's solution for the growing Business-to-Consumer sales business taking place on the Internet. Only one version was shipped, then its technology was folded into Microsoft Site Server 2.0, Commerce Edition
Microsoft Site Server
Microsoft Site Server, first released in 1996, was Microsoft's solution to the growing difficulty of managing complex websites which included multiple technologies, such as user management and authentication/authorization, content management, analysis, and indexing and search...
.
Technology
The technology at the heart of Merchant Server originated at a company named eShopEShop
eShop was a company founded in May, 1991. It was started as a software company to develop products for Go Corporation's PenPoint operation system. In later years, it developed software for the Windows for Pen Computing and Magic Cap platforms...
, which Microsoft acquired in June 1996. It was primarily built using Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
, with additional C++ code to plug into IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
and to run the primary server code as an NT Service.
Microsoft's Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
was shipped in December 1996, two months after Merchant Server's release, so Merchant Server was unable to use that for page generation. Instead, it incorporated its own custom templating system, similar to the EZT templating system.
The custom templating system was thrown out, and the core technology of Merchant Server was converted into COM Objects to be used by Active Server Pages. This revamp of the system appeared in Site Server 2.0 in early 1997.
Naming
Microsoft chose the name "Merchant Server" because, at that time, Netscape was shipping a product named Commerce Server. To avoid trademark issues, Microsoft needed a different name. When Merchant Server was folded into Site Server, they were able to use the term "Commerce" as a subtitle to the trademarkable "Site Server" name.In later years, after Netscape's product was no longer in the market, Microsoft was able to return to their original desire and call it Microsoft Commerce Server
Microsoft Commerce Server
Microsoft Commerce Server is a Microsoft product for building e-commerce systems. It uses Microsoft .NET technology.The latest release of the product is Commerce Server 2009...
.
Related Technologies
Merchant Server required the Windows NT 4.0Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
operating systems. It was also dependent on SQL database, such as Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
or Oracle
Oracle Database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
.