How To Build the Apache of Your Dreams (Page 1 of 8 )
Apache began as a series of patches the National Center for Supercomputing Application's httpd. After httpd's lead developer left NCSA and active development of httpd began to stagnate, programmers from around the world found they needed a central repository to maintain the body of code and patches that had accumulated. A group of these webmasters banded together, and, with machines and bandwidth donated by HotWired, set up an informal coalition to direct the the development of this new server. Dubbed Apache ("a patchy server"), it quickly became the most popular server on the Net after it's birth in April 1995, at version 0.6.5.
Today, with over 60% of the webserver market share according to
Netcraft, Apache is a shining example of how a well-planned and well-implemented piece of (free) software can be, far and away, the best application of its type -- even better than high-priced commercial alternatives.
{mospagebreak title=The Modular Design of Apache} Apache was designed from scratch to be modular; that is, the original programmers assumed that it would be extended by other developers, who would write small pieces of code which could be integrated into Apache with ease. They did this by creating a modular API and a well-defined series of phases that every request went through, so that customizing a particular aspect of Apache is often as simple as stringing together API methods that would be run during a particular phase of the request. These phases included everything from server initialization itself (when Apache reads its configuration files), to translating a requested URL into a filename on the server, to logging the results of the transaction, and everything in between.
Developers were quick to respond, and to date there are hundreds of Apache modules available. Many of them are registered with the Apache project, and can be found at
modules.apache.org. Chances are pretty good that if there is something you need, someone else has also needed it in the past, and written it. The important question, of course, is how to take advantage of these great resources.
Apache's modularity can potentially make configuration complicated. By default, Apache ships with a number of useful modules, and the most generally useful of these are enabled by default. Compiling Apache as it is distributed will give you a highly functional, and very flexible, web server capable of handling most of the needs of a general purpose web site.
I know of very few general purpose web sites, however, and they are mostly ISPs. While it is a good starting point, the generic Apache configuration is probably not optimal for you. A little knowledge of the standard modules and what they do can make for a faster, more secure web server, simpler configuration files, and a host of new and exciting features.
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