The only web server that should be used for ASP.NET in a production environment is Internet Information Services (It's usually just called IIS). It is bundled with Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003.
Windows 2000 has version 5.0, XP has 5.1, and 2003 has 6.0. There are many advantages to using IIS6 over the other versions, but if you have the older ones, it will work fine.
For Java, I think you could get IIS to work with JSPs, but I'm not sure. Lastly, Visual Basic is a language, not a web technology. Are you planning on using ASP with that? IIS supports ASP out of the box.
I'll reply with some good book suggetions later ;-).
Tekmaven
Software Architect
1,274 posts since Feb 2002
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For what you're looking for, there is no all-in-one book. Each thing (ASP/ASP.NET/JSP, etc) has its own specific way of being installed. IIS comes with built in support for ASP, installing the Microsoft .NET Framework will give you ASP.NET support, etc...
I did a little Amazon.com searching, and the book that looked the best was, IIS 6: The Complete Reference . If ya grab the book, tell us how it is :-|.
Tekmaven
Software Architect
1,274 posts since Feb 2002
Reputation Points: 322
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*note*
if you go the route of IIS make sure you patch your server and keep up with the patches!
I'm almost positive that IIS6 has0 securty patches. Secure by default; who would have guessed?
Tekmaven™
Tekmaven
Software Architect
1,274 posts since Feb 2002
Reputation Points: 322
Solved Threads: 28