Apache web server - Definition and Overview

Apache HTTP Server is an open source HTTP web server for Unix platforms (BSD, Linux, and UNIX systems), Microsoft Windows, and other platforms. The author claims the name was initially chosen as a catchy name in order to be original, but the most widespread interpretation (which almost immediately surfaced) is that the name comes from the fact that when it was developed in early 1995, it consisted of changes in the code to the most popular HTTP server of the time, NCSA HTTPd 1.3 and was therefore "a patchy" server. It would later be rewritten from scratch and Apache 2.x no longer contains any NCSA code.

Apache features highly configurable error messages, DBMS-based authentication databases, and content negotiation, it is also supported by several GUIs which permit easier, more intuitive configuration of the server [1] (http://gui.apache.org/).

Initially, Apache was the only viable open source alternative to the Netscape web server (currently known as iPlanet). It has since evolved to rival (and probably surpass) any other Unix based HTTP server in terms of functionality and speed. Since April 1996 Apache has been the most popular HTTP server on the Internet: in May 1999 it was running on 57% of all web servers; by August 2004 this percentage had increased to 67%.

Apache is redistributed as part of various proprietary packages, e.g., the Oracle database or the IBM WebSphere application server. It is also supported in some way by Borland in the Kylix and Delphi development tools.

The Apache HTTP Server is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation.

Apache has other powerful features included in a large set of modules, including mod_perl, many authentication modules (mod_access, mod_auth, mod_digest to name a few) as well as a web proxy module and an extremely useful URL rewriter (also known as a rewrite engine) called mod_rewrite. Apache logs can be analysed through a web browser using free scripts such as AWStats.

Apache is the web server component of the popular web server set of programs called LAMP: Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.

The Apache 2.x core has several major enhancements over Apache 1.x. They include UNIX threading, better support for non-Unix platforms, new Apache API, and IPv6 support.

External links

• Apache official website (http://httpd.apache.org/)
• New Features in Apache 2.0 (http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/new_features_2_0.html)
• New Features in Apache 2.2 (http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.1/new_features_2_2.html)
• SVN trunk of Apache 2.x (http://svn.apache.org/viewcvs.cgi/httpd/httpd/trunk/)
• Apache GUIs (http://gui.apache.org/)
• Netcraft Uptime Survey (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/), a service tracking uptime of web servers
• Apache DevCenter (http://www.onlamp.com/apache/)
• Apache Week (http://www.apacheweek.com/)
• Links at Open Directory Project (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Internet/Servers/WWW/Apache/)
• Accelerating Apache Project (http://aap.sourceforge.net/)