We discuss the interplay of low-x physics and QCD scaling violations by
extending the unified approach describing inclusive structure functions and
diffractive production in γ∗p interactions proposed in previous papers,
to large values of Q2. We describe the procedure of extracting, from the
non-perturbative model, initial conditions for the QCD evolution that respect
unitarity. Assuming Regge factorization of the diffractive structure function,
a similar procedure is proposed for the calculation of hard diffraction. The
results are in good agreement with experimental data on the proton structure
function F2 and the most recent data on the reduced diffractive cross
section, x_P \sigma_r^{\D(3)}. Predictions for both F2 and FL are
presented in a wide kinematical range and compared to calculations within
high-energy QCD.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure