Apache web server is the most popular technology of its type in the world with an estimated 60 percent of web servers on the Internet running the software (62 percent with servers derived from Apache included). While it was originally developed for the Unix platform back in the 1990s, it has long since been ported to other operating systems but still is very much associated with and commonly run on Unix and Linux.
The Apache software supports a large number of features because of its open source nature, longevity, size of install base, and the fact that it is easy to develop for:
- Out of the box, Apache supports new and additional features added into the core product through the integration of compiled modules. When these modules are added to the product, they extend the core functionality of the product in new ways. These modules include the following:
Authentication
SSL support
TLS support
Proxy support
URL rewriter
HTTP request filtering
Python and Perl support
PHP
Compression support
Intrusion detection
Enhanced logging
This is a short list of supported modules; many more are available or can be developed if needed. - Virtual websites or hosting, which allows multiple websites to be hosted on one server. This is a common feature among web servers.
- Friendly error message support
- Integration with external authentication systems
- Digital certificate support