Apache is the most popular web server software. It was originally designed for Unix systems but has been ported to other operating systems like Windows. Apache uses configuration files to manage settings. The main configuration file is httpd.conf which contains general settings while other files like access.conf and srm.conf are now empty. Administrators can modify httpd.conf to configure Apache's server name, port, and other directives.

2. The name "Apache" derives from the word "patchy" that the Apache developers used to describe early versions of their software.

3. Apache also supports plug-in modules for extensibility.

4. Apache is reliable, free, and relatively easy to configure.

5. Apache is free software distributed by the Apache Software Foundation.

6. The Apache Software Foundation promotes various free and open source advanced Web technologies.

8. IIS

9. SSL Apache Web Server

11. The definition of HTTP is a technical specification of a network protocol that software must implement.

12. HTTP is an application layer network protocol built on top of TCP .

13. HTTP clients (such as Web browsers) and servers communicate via HTTP request and response messages.

16. Although Apache boasts more total worldwide installations than IIS, many corporations choose IIS as their Web server because it is supported by a commercial organization.

17. Some have criticized IIS in the past, though, for its alleged security weaknesses.

18. IIS has improved over the years, supports many Web standards including SSL, and integrates well with other Microsoft Web technologies such as FrontPage.

19. An admininstrator can manage IIS through a graphical console, the Internet Services Manager.

21. A network protocol, SSL runs on top of TCP/IP. SSL utilizes several standard network security techniques including public keys, symmetric keys, and certificates.

22. Web sites commonly use SSL to guard private information such as credit card numbers.

24. Instead of using a point-and-click graphic user interface (GUI) or Windows Registry keys as most other modern software packages, Apache generally relies on simple text files for its configuration settings.

27. Originally, the initial installation of Apache included default entries within each of the three files.

29. ServerName compnetworking.about.com

30. Port 80

32. The name doesn't make much sense on a Windows platform, but the concept of a UNIX daemon can be compared to the concept of Windows services.

33. The Windows port of Apache allows for installation as a Windows service but does not require it.

34. This file contains a number of other entries (technically called directives ), but for most of these, modifications are optional. Probably the most useful of these entries is ServerAdmin it allows the administrator to set the email address that will be displayed on error pages (such a "404 pages") in the client's browser, giving users a way to contact someone if a site problem occurs:

35. ServerAdmin compnetworking.guide@about.com

37. Administrators of older versions of Apache can simply cut their entries from srm.conf and access.conf and paste them into the master file.

38. If an administrator wants to go one step further and delete the two empty files, they should also place the following entries in httpd.conf to prevent Apache from attempting to access them: AccessConfig /dev/null ResourceConfig /dev/null

40. Other important mechanisms for managing an Apache Web server include the .htaccess file, the mime.types file, and the family of log files.

41. Look for discussion of these in a future article.