Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server, colloquially called Apache

sive and kick some ass.
(/pti/ -PA-chee), is the worlds most used web
server software. Originally based on the NCSA HTTPd
When Apache is running, its process name is sometimes
server, development of Apache began in early 1995 afhttpd, which is short for HTTP daemon.
ter work on the NCSA code stalled. Apache played a
[4]
key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web,
quickly overtaking NCSA HTTPd as the dominant HTTP
server, and has remained most popular since April 1996. 2 Feature overview
In 2009, it became the rst web server software to serve
more than 100 million websites.[5]
Apache supports a variety of features, many implemented
Apache is developed and maintained by an open com- as compiled modules which extend the core functionalmunity of developers under the auspices of the Apache ity. These can range from server-side programming lanSoftware Foundation. Most commonly used on a Unix- guage support to authentication schemes. Some common
like system (usually Linux),[6] the software is available language interfaces support Perl, Python, Tcl, and PHP.
for a wide variety of operating systems besides Unix, Popular authentication modules include mod_access,
including eComStation, Microsoft Windows, NetWare, mod_auth, mod_digest, and mod_auth_digest, the sucOpenVMS, OS/2, and TPF. Released under the Apache cessor to mod_digest. A sample of other features inLicense, Apache is free and open-source software.
clude Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer SecuAs of November 2015, Apache was estimated to serve rity support (mod_ssl), a proxy module (mod_proxy), a
50% of all active websites and 37% of the top servers URL rewriting module (mod_rewrite), custom log les
(mod_log_cong), and ltering support (mod_include
across all domains.[7]
and mod_ext_lter).

Popular compression methods on Apache include the external extension module, mod_gzip, implemented to help
with reduction of the size (weight) of Web pages served
over HTTP. ModSecurity is an open source intrusion
detection and prevention engine for Web applications.
Apache logs can be analyzed through a Web browser using free scripts, such as AWStats/W3Perl or Visitors.

Name

According to the FAQ in the Apache project website, the

name Apache was chosen out of respect to the Native
American tribe Apache and their superior skills in warfare and strategy. The name was widely believed to be a
pun on 'A Patchy Server' (since it was a set of software
patches).[8] Ocial documentation used to give this explanation of the name,[9] but in a 2000 interview, Brian
Behlendorf, one of the creators of Apache, set the record
straight:[10]

Virtual hosting allows one Apache installation to serve

many dierent Web sites. For example, one machine with one Apache installation could simultaneously serve www.example.com, www.example.org,
test47.test-server.example.edu, etc.
Apache features congurable error messages, DBMSbased authentication databases, and content negotiation.
It is also supported by several graphical user interfaces
(GUIs).

The name literally came out of the blue.

I wish I could say that it was something fantastic, but it was out of the blue. I put it on
a page and then a few months later when this
project started, I pointed people to this page
and said: Hey, what do you think of that
idea?" ... Someone said they liked the name
and that it was a really good pun. And I was
like, A pun? What do you mean?" He said,
Well, we're building a server out of a bunch
of software patches, right? So its a patchy
Web server. I went, Oh, all right. ... When I
thought of the name, no. It just sort of connotated: Take no prisoners. Be kind of aggres-

It supports password authentication and digital certicate

authentication. Because the source code is freely available, anyone can adapt the server for specic needs, and
there is a large public library of Apache add-ons.[11]

3 HTTP server and proxy features

Loadable Dynamic Modules
1

6
Multiple Request Processing modes (MPMs) including Event-based/Async, Threaded and Prefork.

DEVELOPMENT

4 Performance

Highly scalable (easily handle more than 10,000 si- Instead of implementing a single architecture, Apache
provides a variety of MultiProcessing Modules (MPMs),
multaneous connections
which allow Apache to run in a process-based, hybrid
Handling of static les, index les, auto-indexing (process and thread) or event-hybrid mode, to better
and content negotiation
match the demands of each particular infrastructure.
This implies that the choice of correct MPM and the cor .htaccess support [12]
rect conguration is important. Where compromises in
[13]
performance need to be made, the design of Apache is to
Reverse proxy with caching
reduce latency and increase throughput, relative to sim Load balancing[14] with in-band and out-of- ply handling more requests, thus ensuring consistent and
band health checks
reliable processing of requests within reasonable timeframes.
Multiple load balancing mechanisms

Fault tolerance and Failover with automatic re- For delivery of static pages, Apache 2.2 series was considered signicantly slower than nginx.[28] To address
covery
WebSocket, FastCGI, SCGI, AJP and uWSGI this issue, the Apache version considered by the Apache
Foundation as providing high-performance is the Event
support with caching
MPM, which mixes the use of several processes and sev Dynamic conguration [15]
eral threads per process in an asynchronous event-based
[29]
This architecture, and the way it was impleTLS/SSL with SNI and OCSP stapling support, via loop.
mented
in
the Apache 2.4 series, provides for perforOpenSSL.
mance equivalent or slightly better than event-based web
Name- and IP address-based virtual servers
servers, as is claimed by the president of the Apache
Foundation, Jim Jagielski and others.[30][31][32] However,
IPv6-compatible
some independent benchmarks show that it still is half as
fast as nginx.[33][34]
HTTP/2 protocol support

Fine-grained authentication and authorization access control [16]

5 Licensing

gzip compression and decompression

URL rewriting[17]
Headers[18] and content[19][20] rewriting
Custom logging with rotation
Concurrent connection limiting
Request processing rate limiting
Bandwidth throttling
Server Side Includes [21]
IP address-based geolocation
User and Session tracking [22]
WebDAV
Embedded Perl, PHP and Lua scripting
CGI support [23]
public_html per-user web-pages [24]
Generic expression parser [25]
Real-time status views [26]
XML support [27]

The Apache HTTP Server codebase was relicensed to the

Apache 2.0 License (from the previous 1.1 license) in
January 2004,[35] and Apache HTTP Server 1.3.31 and
2.0.49 were the rst releases using the new license.[36]
The OpenBSD project did not like the change and continued the use of pre-2.0 Apache versions, eectively
forking Apache 1.3.x for its purposes.[37][38][39] They initially replaced it with Nginx, and soon after made their
own replacement, OpenBSD Httpd, based on the relayed
project.[40][41][42]

6 Development
The Apache HTTP Server Project is a collaborative
software development eort aimed at creating a robust, commercial-grade, feature-rich and freely available
source code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server.
The project is jointly managed by a group of volunteers
located around the world, using the Internet and the Web
to communicate, plan, and develop the server and its related documentation. This project is part of the Apache
Software Foundation. In addition, hundreds of users
have contributed ideas, code, and documentation to the
project.[51][52][53]

See also
.htaccess

[19] mod_sed.
[20] mod_substitute.

.htpasswd

[21] Apache httpd Tutorial: Introduction to Server Side Includes.

ApacheBench

[22] mod_usertrack.

Comparison of web server software

[23] Apache Tutorial: Dynamic Content with CGI.

IBM HTTP Server

[24] Per-user web directorie.

LAMP (software bundle)

[25] Expressions in Apache HTTP Server.

List of Apache modules

[26] mod_status.

POSSE project

[27] mod_xml2enc.

suEXEC

[28] Serving static les: a comparison between Apache, Nginx, Varnish and G-WAN. Spoot!.
[29] worker - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2. apache.org.

References

[1] About the Apache HTTP Server Project. Apache Software Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 June
2008. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
[2] Lextrait, Vincent (January 2010). The Programming
Languages Beacon, v10.0. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
[3] Languages. Apache HTTP Server. Black Duck Software. Ohloh. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
[4] Netcraft Market Share for Top Servers Across All Domains August 1995 - today (monthly updated)
[5] February 2009 Web Server Survey. Netcraft. Archived
from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 200903-29.
[6] OS/GNU+Linux Distributions using Apache
[7] November 2015 Web Server Survey. Netcraft. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
[8] Why the name 'Apache'?". HTTPd Frequently Asked
Questions.
[9] Information on the Apache HTTP Server Project. 199704-15.
[10] Apache Power. Linux Magazine.
[11] What is Apache Web Server? Webopedia. webopedia.com.
[12] Apache HTTP Server Tutorial: .htaccess les.
[13] mod_proxy.
[14] mod_proxy_balancer.
[15] Balancer Manager.
[16] Authentication and Authorization.
[17] mod_rewrite.
[18] mod_headers.

[30] Apache httpd 2.4

[31] Picking a Proxy Server.
[32] Throughput evaluation of Apache 2.4.1.
[33] Joshua Zhus Blog. zhuzhaoyuan.com.
[34] Performance of Apache 2.4 with the event MPM compared to Nginx. eschrade.com.
[35] Apache License, Version 2.0. The Apache Software
Foundation. January 2004. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
[36] Burton, Richard Antony. FYI: Apache HTTP Server
2.0.49 Released. Newsgroup: alt.apache.conguration.
[37] de Raadt, Theo (18 February 2004). The new apache
license. openbsd-misc (Mailing list). Retrieved 2013-0521.
[38] Copyright Policy. OpenBSD. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
[39] apache-httpd-openbsd-1.3.20140502p2 OpenBSD improved and secured version of Apache 1.3. OpenBSD
ports. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
[40] OpenBSD Upgrade Guide: 5.1 to 5.2. openbsd.org.
[41] jj, ed. (2014-03-14). Heads Up: Apache Removed from
Base. OpenBSD Journal.
[42] OpenBSD Upgrade Guide: 5.5 to 5.6. openbsd.org.
[43] Announcement: Apache 1.3.0 Released !". 1998-06-06.
Retrieved 2015-01-06.
[44] Apache HTTP Server 1.3.42 released (nal release of
1.3.x)". apache.org.
[45] Ocial Release: Apache 2.0.35 is now GA. 2002-0406. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
[46] "[Announcement] Apache HTTP Server 2.0.65 Released. apache.org.
[47] Apache HTTP Server 2.2.0 Released. 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2015-01-06.

[48] "[Announce] Apache HTTP Server 2.2.29 Released.

apache.org.
[49] "[ANNOUNCEMENT] Apache HTTP Server 2.4.1 Released. 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
[50] Apache HTTP Server Project. apache.org.
[51] Documentation Group. About the Apache HTTP Server
Project - The Apache HTTP Server Project. apache.org.
[52] The Apache HTTP Server Open Source Project on Ohloh.
(n.d.). Ohloh, the open source network. Retrieved
November 12, 2012
[53] Chapter 4. The Apache HTTP Server. fedoraproject.org.

External links
Ocial website

[1] http://xb2.net/xb2net/index.htm
[2] https://caddyserver.com

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
10.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Apache HTTP Server Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server?oldid=705800279 Contributors: Damian Yerrick,

Magnus Manske, Chenyu, WojPob, Wesley, SimonP, Ellmist, Mjb, Frecklefoot, Edward, Infrogmation, Sanketh, Stewacide, Jizzbug,
TakuyaMurata, Alo, Ellywa, Ahoerstemeier, Haakon, Bronger, Den fjttrade ankan~enwiki, Ericross, Julesd, Cgs, Glenn, Poor Yorick,
Cimon Avaro, Harvester, Scanos, Emperorbma, Marknen, Dcoetzee, Aecastaneda, Jay, Kaare, Furrykef, Nv8200pa, K1Bond007, Wernher, Bevo, Toreau, Joy, Khym Chanur, Jeq, Wilinckx~enwiki, Robbot, Chealer, 1984, Fredrik, Chocolateboy, Nurg, Jondel, Wikibot,
Alerante, DavidCary, Fudoreaper, Jonabbey, Fleminra, Guanaco, Ceejayoz, AlistairMcMillan, Taak, Just Another Dan, Pne, Uzume,
Bobblewik, Pgan002, Beland, Vina, Rdsmith4, Thincat, Icairns, Cataphract, Karl Dickman, Zondor, EagleOne, Jimbotronic, R, Imroy,
Vector4F, Hendric Stattmann, Blanchette, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Pak21, Ereza, Smyth, Polymorp, Gronky, Bender235, ESkog, ZeroOne, Jaaari~enwiki, Kjoonlee, Evice, Greenmoss, Kwamikagami, Autrijus, Marx Gomes, Aude, Shanes, RoyBoy, Etz Haim, Causa sui,
John Vandenberg, Timsheridan, Minghong, Pharos, Ltguide, Merope, Beinsane, Somebody in the WWW, Jeltz, Jehos, Yamla, Equinoxe,
Water Bottle, XMaster, Ronark, Oghmoir, Cfrjlr, MrVibrating, Mattbrundage, HenryLi, Karderio, Jeundberg, NicM, Ericl234, Kbolino,
Feezo, Woohookitty, Mindmatrix, Blackeagle, Dandv, Deeahbz, Goodgerster, Dmol, Dr. Zed, Jhartmann, Damicatz, GregorB, Osric, Elvarg, Turnstep, Rufous, Paustin, Kesla, RichardWeiss, Wbeek, DePiep, Reisio, Canderson7, Jsecure, X1011, The wub, Bitbucket, FlaBot,
Michaelvandorpe, Who, RexNL, Mancini, Intgr, Malhonen, Mikeb2204, Chobot, Antilived, Tas50, Peterl, YurikBot, Borgx, Klingoncowboy4, Netvor, Charles Gaudette, Bryant.cutler, Amckern, Captaindan, Ansell, Hellbus, Hydrargyrum, Cuimalo, Gaius Cornelius, Bovineone, Wimt, Aeusoes1, Gosub, Retired username, Pencil ethics, CecilWard, Zwobot, Xompanthy, Wknight94, Nfm, Minfrin, Zzuuzz,
Closedmouth, Zr2d2, Dveeden, LeonardoRob0t, Janizary, JLaTondre, Azrael81, NeilN, Boggie~enwiki, Jmchu, Dybdahl, SmackBot,
Travuun, Rjwilson01, Elving, Alexios Chouchoulas, Reedy, MaxPowers, TestPilot, McGeddon, Dkusnetzky, Ikip, KocjoBot~enwiki, Brick
Thrower, Muks, Ariovistus, HalfShadow, Yamaguchi , Gilliam, Brianski, Ohnoitsjamie, Chris the speller, Carpetsmoker, BarkerJr,
DStoykov, Thumperward, Bluedot~enwiki, MalafayaBot, Gutworth, DHN-bot~enwiki, JGXenite, Huji, WikipediaAdventures, Frap, Oscar Bravo, Mihxil, GeorgeMoney, Stevenjgarner, SundarBot, Khoikhoi, MureninC, Localzuk, PeteNelson, Marc-Andr Abrock, Warren,
DMacks, ALK, SashatoBot, Wikiolap, Doug Bell, KrazyCaley, Guyjohnston, Shdwsclan, Strainu, Joelo, Ocatecir, Camilo Sanchez,
16@r, Stwalkerster, Beetstra, 2T, Waggers, P199, Ryanalindsay, Phuzion, Emx~enwiki, JHP, GDallimore, Htmlland, Koshmar, Danlev,
JForget, Peter1c, Jimjag, CmdrObot, N4l, Raysonho, Zarex, Clindberg, Mika1h, MaxEnt, Mikebrand, SymlynX, Jack Phoenix, Colorprobe, Chrislk02, Optimist on the run, Neustradamus, Dustinhess, Thijs!bot, NeutralPoint, TyRion, CynicalMe, Second Quantization,
Muaddeeb, WizardFusion, Guy Macon, Jj137, Isilanes, JAnDbot, Deective, Leuko, NapoliRoma, Chaos Llama, MarkPilgrim, Steveprutz,
Magioladitis, VoABot II, Steven Walling, Jwisa, Sappy, Psym, Nevit, Rovastar, Inclusivedisjunction, Gwern, S Carpenter, Sigmundg, CommonsDelinker, Captain panda, Trusilver, Darkride, Problematique, Ajmint, Zhangyunfan~enwiki, Produke, AntiSpamBot, RoboMaxCyberSem, Doria, STBotD, DorganBot, Bonadea, Olofolleola4, Funandtrvl, VolkovBot, Kalinga, Ysth, AlnoktaBOT, Chm0dvii, TXiKiBoT,
Oshwah, Java7837, A4bot, CoJaBo, H3xx, DocteurCosmos, Martin451, Broadbot, FironDraak, Wykypydya, Zoef1234, Thomas1001,
WJetChao, Synthebot, Prius 2, Ibanezix, EmxBot, S.rvarr.S, SieBot, Ivan tambuk, TJRC, Laoris, BotMultichill, Caltas, Acps110,
Purbo T, Pgarimella, Kantadev, Flyer22 Reborn, Free Software Knight, Ilhanli, Anarchyst03, OKBot, Cwpurdom, Hpdl, ClueBot, HujiBot,
Kai-Hendrik, Apacheguru, Abhinav, Rev24, Kl4m-AWB, Jimh123456, Jjalocha, Jotterbot, WalterGR, Ajith.adapa, SF007, Bh2mc, JayCMMX, Rror, Ost316, Wolkykim, RobbertS, Addbot, Hot200245, Grandscribe, Mootros, WikedKentaur, Ferdinand Vimes, Craigm71,
Nessunome, MrOllie, RP9, Bob., Wentuq, HerculeBot, Legobot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Gtz, Wickorama, Kingpin13, Materialscientist,
ArthurBot, , Shcha, Axan.bulut, Silversam, Xorxos, Someslowly, RibotBOT, Kyng, StCz, Keeper of the
Keys, FrescoBot, Irishbitte, HJ Mitchell, SwineFlew?, Skyerise, Hoo man, Valenajarro, RedBot, SpaceFlight89, , Aoidh, Beerc,
Reach Out to the Truth, The Utahraptor, Kolobukhova, Rollins83, DASHBot, EmausBot, Immunize, Ren Schwarz, Nevillespade, Winner
42, K6ka, Kkm010, QuentinUK, Josve05a, Bryce Carmony, Yang, Euloiix, H3llBot, OnePt618, Kranix, Reb42, TYelliot, Empire stateofmind, ClueBot NG, Vacation9, Jain.dhrj, Helpful Pixie Bot, DBigXray, BG19bot, Pine, Cyberpower678, Mark Arsten, Joydeep, Mhitza,
ConradMayhew, Tonyhayes, Tianjiao, Tkbx, 8r0k3n, Panthers8952, Dexbot, Codename Lisa, Chronoglider, Pokajanje, Rob.bosch, Kotz,
Ronburgandee, Ugog Nizdast, Pyro24, Menelaosc, ScotXW, CarnivorousBunny, OQZYwD0R, OMPIRE, Matthew2chan, Mattdex, Esquivalience, Shubhamtakode, KasparBot, So-retro-it-hurts, LE666, DatGuy, Nondirectional and Anonymous: 458

10.2

Images

File:ASF-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/ASF-logo.svg License: Apache License 2.0 Contributors: http://www.apache.org/ Original artist: Apache Software Foundation (ASF)
File:Apache_Feather_Logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Apache_Feather_Logo.svg License:
Apache License 2.0 Contributors: http://apache.org/foundation/press/kit/ Original artist: The Apache Software Foundation
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Free_and_open-source_software_logo_(2009).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Free_and_
open-source_software_logo_%282009%29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: FOSS Logo.svg Original artist: Free Software Portal
Logo.svg (FOSS Logo.svg): ViperSnake151

10.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0