The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache is a web server software which yypically run on a Unix-like operating system, and was developed for use on Linux.(Source WikiPedia)
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(September 2010) |
Original author(s) | Robert McCool |
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Developer(s) | Apache Software Foundation |
Initial release | 1995 |
Stable release | 2.4.48 (June 1, 2021[±] | )
Repository | |
Written in | C,XML |
Operating system | Unix-like, Microsoft Windows,OpenVMS |
Type | Web server |
License | Apache License 2.0 |
Website | httpd |
The Apache HTTP Server, colloquially called Apache (/əˈpætʃi/ ə-PATCH-ee), is a free and open-source cross-platform web server software, released under the terms of Apache License 2.0. Apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation.
The vast majority of Apache HTTP Server instances run on a Linux distribution, but current versions also run on Microsoft Windows,OpenVMS, and a wide variety of Unix-like systems. Past versions also ran on NetWare, OS/2 and other operating systems, including ports to mainframes.
Originally based on the NCSA HTTPd server, development of Apache began in early 1995 after work on the NCSA code stalled. Apache played a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web, quickly overtaking NCSA HTTPd as the dominant HTTP server. In 2009, it became the first web server software to serve more than 100 million websites. As of January 2021[update], Netcraft estimated that Apache served 24.63% of the million busiest websites, while Nginx served 23.21% and Microsoft is in third place at 6.85% (for some of Netcraft's other stats Nginx is ahead of Apache), while according to W3Techs, Apache is ranked first at 35.0% and Nginx second at 33.0% and Cloudflare Server third at 17.3%.