The Top Web Servers in the Market
The Top Web Servers in the Market
This article gives you an idea of what a Web server is and what it does, and discusses the top Web servers in the market. What makes a “top” Web server? The key aspects include scalability, speed, security, availability and support for dynamic modules.
What is a Web Server?
Your business runs around the clock and around the world. Your employees and your clients need access to information stored your company’s computers. With Web server software you can set up a secure and dedicated server that provides access to anyone who needs that information at their finger tips.
The two simple words “Web server” express a lot of concepts. Here are some of them:
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A computer (physical) that maintains software (logical) to store Web documents and makes them available to the rest of the world.
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A software application that uses the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). A Web server is usually run on a computer that is connected to the Internet.
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Something that hosts or provides access to content and responds to requests received from Web browsers. Every Web Server has an IP address and usually a domain name (for example, www.devshed.com).
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An application that serves Web pages to Web browsers using the HTTP protocol.
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Server software that uses HTTP to serve up HTML documents and any associated files and scripts when requested by a client, such as a Web browser. Web servers are used on Web and intranet sites.
I hope the above has gone some way toward explaining what a Web server is and what it does.
In simple words, a Web server receives requests from several clients (web browsers or other applications) around the world and responds with information in the form of a Web page. If a Web server needs to do something to process the request, such as access a database, this is known as server side processing. If no processing takes place at the Web server, then it will directly render the item — as with HTML in the form of Web pages, or Web downloads such as .zip files.
Some times, Web server software will be configured in a dedicated manner on a single piece of hardware to serve requests. This specific computer, then, would be called a Web server (from the view of network design considerations). These types of Web servers may also be part of a cluster to provide high availability and speed.
The Top Web Servers in the Market – The Top Web Servers
Some of the most popular Web servers include the following:
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Apache Web Server
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Zeus Web Server
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Internet Information Server (IIS)
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iPlanet Web Server
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Roxen Web Server
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Jigsaw
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Sambar Server
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Sun Java System Web Server
Apache Web Server
Apache is a free, fully configurable Web server available for Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS and other operating systems. It is one of the world’s most popular Web servers; many people work on improving it all the time. This server can be very difficult for the novice to install, but there are now companies that offer support plans and assistance to keep your sever up, running, and secure.
Zeus Web Server
Zeus Web Server is the most scalable, high-performance Web server software available, underpinning business-critical solutions for the world’s leading Web hosting, content provider and secure e-commerce companies. Flexible Web-based management, extensive integration capabilities, and the most comprehensive range of features available from commercial server software, combine to provide fully extensible and future-proof Web-based solutions. It can be a lot more expensive than Apache, but for the price, you get a lot of service and functionality.
Internet Information Server (IIS)
IIS is one of the most popular Web servers available for Windows. It is a powerful server with lots of applications and functions. Certain applications, such as ASP, are built into the server. If you use this server, you need to be very careful to stay up-to-date on patches and security. Hackers like to target this server, which can make your site vulnerable if it is not up-to-date.
The Top Web Servers in the Market – iPlanet Web Server
iPlanet Web server is the latest offering from the people who brought you the Netscape Web server. It is secure and offers flexibility, such as Java Servlet capabilties. It is a very popular Web server for enterprises.
Roxen Web Server
Roxen Web server is a free, open-source Web server similar in features to Apache. It offers many of the features that Apache offers, but it is primarily a tool to get you to buy other Roxen products. It has good integration with the Roxen site tools, but those are not cheap, and most of the advanced functionality of the server requires that you buy them.
Jigsaw
Jigsaw is not a server meant for enterprise-level Web sites. But if you are interested in playing with cutting-edge technologies on your Web server, then this is the server to get. Jigsaw is a free, Java-based Web server with applet-based administration tools that make it easy to use. It is meant to showcase the latest technologies, and because of this it can be less stable than other commercial servers.
Sambar Server
It is very difficult to find a server that is both free and this easy to use and install. The Sambar Server supports a wide variety of applications, and if you want more functionality, you can program your own APIs in C or C++. The server is reliable, not, perhaps as reliable as the Unix/Apache Web system, but certainly reliable enough for the average small to mid-sized business.
Sun Java System Web Server
Formerly the Sun ONE Web server, the Sun Java System Web server provides a powerful and scalable business Web server solution. It even supports ASP, CGI, ColdFusion and PHP. It is more reliable and responsive than Apache (http://www.sun.com/software/products/web_srvr/whats_new.html ).
The Top Web Servers in the Market – Which OS Should You Use With Your Web Server?
If your website gets (or you anticipate that it will get) a large amount of page views on a regular basis, then you should investigate Web servers that can handle this load. Servers should be scalable and able to adjust to changing levels of requests. Good servers will also have load-balancing capabilities and offer functionality to continue to serve pages even under extreme conditions.
Unix and Linux are two of the most popular operating systems for Web servers. It is generally agreed that the Unix family of operating systems are generally more secure than any other OS. They are also scalable for serving lots of page views.
Windows 2000/2003 and NT are also popular choices for Web server operating systems. They offer a familiar interface for IT managers and can be easier to install and set up than Unix Web servers. You should be very careful when using servers on these operating systems, however. Some of the more popular servers are also prime targets for hackers. Servers on Windows are also often not as scalable for serving lots of page views.
But Microsoft claims that Windows 2003 server is much more secure than any other Windows OS. In general, if you always upgrade to the latest service packs and patches, the chances of risk are quite low.
Besides the Windows server, Microsoft also offers ISA server (Internet Security and Accelerator server), which makes the Windows server highly secure. In addition to security, it offers server side caching for the Web, which in turn, improves responsiveness.
Let us consider a small example. Say we developed an application using .NET platform with SQL Server as the database. In this situation, the development platform, deployment platform, database, and Web server are tightly integrated with native Windows architecture. It is always suggested to use the Windows platform to support these types of situations. Similarly, if the whole development platform is on Java, it is best to select the Sun Java System Web Server (or other related product).
But all platforms have their own pros and cons. To be frank, none of them are perfect in every respect. Depending on our own needs, scalability, and other future issues, we generally settle upon one environment. Even so, sometimes a mixed environment is an excellent choice to solve some of the core issues. For example, you can arrange to have a Linux server as a firewall and use a Windows-based Web server as well.
The Top Web Servers in the Market – A Survey of Web Server Technologies
It is difficult to deduce anything, especially when different surveys of Web technologies give you different answers. The best I could do is give you a few links to such surveys, which you can analyze and then use to make your own decision for what will best suit your situation.
Early on, it was no surprise that Apache was the dominant Web server in the market. But recent surveys state that Microsoft IIS has stolen Apache’s crown, at least in production usage. For detailed technical results of the survey, I suggest the link: http://www.port80software.com/surveys/top1000webservers/.
But another survey claims that Apache still dominates IIS. For more information, point your browser to this link: http://www.serverwatch.com/stats/sspace/article.php/3394751
This link features a more generic survey on almost all types of technologies related to Web: http://www.securityspace.com/s_survey/data/
Finally, another survey worth checking can be found here: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html
I hope I’ve shed some light on your choices when it comes to Web servers.
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The Top Web Servers in the Market