What is Apache 2

When the World Wide Web first started out, there weren't many servers to go around. There was only the Netscape Communication Corporation server, which is now known as Sun Java Systems, and that was it. So, as you must imagine, when the Apache HTTP server came onto the scene, there was a lot of hype.

Being the first viable alternative to the Netscape servers served Apache really well. Users who were fed up with the usual took on this server that runs on multiple platforms. In fact, the Apache web server has become so popular that it only took a mere four years for it to rival any other Unix-based web servers. Now it has grown into a fully-fledged organization (the Apache Software Foundation) which advocates free and open software.

History

The Apache web server is a patchwork of ideas and software, collectively developed by a group of programmers in mid-1994. It started off when Robert McCool, who was involved in the NCSA web server circulated a variety of patches via email to Brian Behlendorf, Roy Fielding, Rob Hartill, David Robinson, Cliff Skolnick, Randy Terbush, Robert S. Thau, Andrew Wilson, Eric Hagberg, Frank Peters and Nicolas Pioch. Altogether, they became the first Apache Team.

The amusing moniker that this corporation has gained is a direct reference to the Native American tribe. The primary developer, Brian Behlendorf, said that the name is obtained from a group of people that the organization wishes to emulate. However, some people say that the name 'Apache web server' is actually clever wordplay, derived from 'a patchy web server'. Whatever the reason the name is chosen, it doesn't change the fact that this server has come a long way.

Features

The Apache web server boasts a bevy of features, some of them being SSL and TSL support, a proxy module, common languages interfaces support, authentication modules, server-side programming language and a rewrite engine.

Being a web server, it is used for virtual hosting. And one Apache installation can be used to serve many different websites. And for remote viewing of Apache logs, you can view them through an Internet browser using free scripts, such as AWStats/W3Perl or Visitors.

And all of these features are upgraded with the release of Apache 2.0 on April 6 2002. Several upgrades include more flexible authorization API and improved cache and proxy modules.

Aside from being able to serve the static and dynamic web content on the Internet, the Apache web server is also used to serve other applications. Some of them include the LAMP web server application stack and IBM's Oracle Database. Another use of Apache is for the transmission of data over the Internet safely and securely.

License

Being an open source program, the Apache web server is made available to the general public for free. This allows modifications and upgrades to be done by anyone in the open source community. This has been a distinctive facet of the Apache HTTP server all throughout its history.