01. Introduction to web servers and their Features
What is Web Server and how it works?
Web servers are core for any web hosting. (Fig 1)
Web server is a program that uses HTTP to serve files that create web pages to users in response to their requests, which is sent by their computers HTTP connection.Any server that delivers an XML document to another device can be a web server. A better definition might be that a web server is an Internet server that responds to HTTP requests to deliver content and services.Always a web server is connected to the internet. Every web server that connects to the Internet will be having anunique address which contains a series of fournumbers between 0 and 255. A period (.) separates these numbers.Also, web server enables the hosting providers to manage multiple domains(users) on a single server.A web host is a company that leases out space on a cluster of servers to empower people to serve their own content & webpages.
Different types of web servers
In open market there are different types of web servers available. Let’s discuss about the most popular web servers. Apache, IIS, Nginx and Lite Speed are few of them.
Apache web server
One of the most popular web server in the world developed by the Apache Software Foundation. Apache is an open
source software which supports almost all operating systems including Linux, Unix, Windows, FreeBSD, Mac
OS X and more. About 60% of machines run on Apache Web Server. (Fig 2)
Customization of apache web server is easy as it contains a modular structure. It is also an open source which means that can add the own modules to the server when to require and make modifications that suit the requirements. It is more stable than any other web servers and is easier to solve administrative issues. It can be installed on multiple platforms successfully. Recent apache releases provide the feasibility of handling more requests when compare to its earlier versions.
IIS web server
IIS is a Microsoft product. This server has all the features just like apache. But it is not an open source and more over adding personal modules is not easy and modification becomes a little difficult job. (Fig 3)
Microsoft developed this product and they maintains, thus it works with all the windows operating system platforms. Also, they provides good customer support if it had any issues.
Nginx web server
Another free open source web server is Nginx, it includes IMAP/POP3 proxy server. Nginx is known for its high performance, stability, simple configuration and low resource usage. (Fig 4)
This web server doesn’t use threads to handle requests rather a much more scalable event-driven architecture which uses small and predictable amounts of memory under load. It is getting popular in the recent times and it is hosting about 7.5% of all domains worldwide. Most of the web hosting companies are using this in recent times.