Server administration web console design thoughts

[James Dinkel]

So I've been thinking about trying my hand at my own web management
thingy and maybe some of this could apply to UCSA, also.  To start
with, I only know how to program in Ruby, so anything I write will be
in Ruby (and probably utilizing Rails).  Now, having an embedded
webserver is a must, and COULD be a piece of cake with Ruby by just
using WEBrick, Mongrel, or Thin with a Rails application.  However,
I'm thinking it would be a great idea to have the web server run from
xinetd.  That way it's only running when you need it.  I go for months
without logging in via ssh or webmin once my servers are put into
production, so this could free up some memory when it's not in use
(and every bit helps when you run 10+ virtual machines per server, all
hungry for more RAM).

So anyway, I have no idea where to even start writing a web service to
run from xinetd.  Is it enough to just have a script that outputs html
text to stdout?  I'm guessing it's more complicated then that though.
Also, what do people think about running a web management console from
xinetd in the first place?

James Dinkel