Developed by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), Apache is an open source web server solution that is packed with features, is extremely fast, and works well with the Linux operating system. With the Apache web server, you can create virtual hosts that enable you to run multiple websites on a single server, and it has many more awesome features. The Apache web server is available for the Windows environment as well; however, your system will suffer from decreased performance because of Microsoft’s memory management (a.k.a. leaks) and architectural differences. Therefore it is highly recommended that you use Linux for all your web serving needs.

A quick overview of Apache’s features would include items such as enhanced logging, bandwidth throttling, directory access protection, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) support, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support, and a handful of other built-in modules that enable you to do all sorts of neat things with your website.

Apache is rapidly growing in popularity and is currently the number one web server solution according to Netcraft (www.netcraft.com) surveys. It has held the number one position, with a large margin, for eight years. Taking the number one spot in 1996, Apache has grown to dominate the market with more than a 69 percent saturation. Coming in a rough second place is Microsoft, with 20 percent, which has stayed about the same since 1997. Next is Sun ONE with 3 percent.

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