Apache HTTP Server

Apache HTTP Server is an open source HTTP server for Unix platforms (BSD, GNU/Linux, and UNIX systems), Microsoft Windows, and other platforms. 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 features highly configurable error messages, DBM-based authentication databases, and content negotiation but has been criticized for its lack of GUI tools to aid in its configuration. It has since evolved to rival (and probably surpass) almost 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. In May 2003 this percentage increased to 62%.

Apache is redistributed as part of various proprietary packages, e.g., the Oracle database. It is also supported in some way by Borland in the Kylix and Delphi 6 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 including mod_perl, an authentication module (.htaccess ) and a web proxy module. Apache logs can be analysed through a web browser using free scripts such as awstats.

Notes and external links

1. Apache official web site -- http://httpd.apache.org/
2. According to Netcraft, as of November 20, 2001, "The site www.wikipedia.com is running Apache/1.3.19 (Unix) PHP/4.0.4pl1 mod_fastcgi/2.2.10 on Linux."
3. Click here for the latest Wikipedia information from the NETCRAFT web site (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?mode_u=off&mode_w=on&site=www.wikipedia.com&submit=Examine)
4. Apache HTTP Server is the software that serves up the webpages for the Wikipedia.org website

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This article (or an earlier version of it) contains material from FOLDOC, used with permission.