There is no Indian tribe or military helicopter, but something related to the world of Internet, especially the Web pages. Apache is recognized as one of the most popular web servers worldwide. Originally, it was designed for Unix environments but then it was been integrated with other operating systems such as Windows. The term “apache” is used to describe earlier versions of the software. The Apache Web server provides a wide range of functions such as HTTP server. Includes CGI, SSL, and virtual domains. It also supports the integration of external modules to be more extensible. Best of all it’s free, and is distributed by a foundation that promotes itself open source and free technology.

Even being one of the server that is more popular according to many studies that have been done, it is sometimes a little confusing especially for those who are not too close to the world of Unix and Linux. Instead of graphical interfaces and Windows registry as most software packages that are installed, the Apache server is usually based on simple text files to your settings. To be more exact, Apache uses a three text files to manage configuration data. These files are almost always found in the directory ./conf and are designed for system administrators for edit. The files are httpd.conf for general configuration settings for srm.conf resources and access.conf file for security settings.

When Apache starts up for the first time, these files are processed in the order they are described. Originally, Apache installation default entries included in each of the three files. However, in the latest versions of Apache, the default installation has changed. Now httpd.conf is treated as the master file and contains all configurations. Anyway, the other two files still exist in the system, but do not contain settings (only some comments). Like many Unix-like programs, Apache must be restarted for the new settings to take effect.

What’s in a httpd.conf?

Traditionally, this configuration file usually contained as the server name and port number. The term “httpd” means the HTTP daemon. This may not make much sense on a Windows platform, but Linux and Unix can be compared to Windows services. This file contains more entries, but many of these changes are optional. Input may be more useful. ServerAdmin – allows the machine operator to configure the e-mail that appears in error pages in the browser of the user. This allows users to contact someone if the website has problems.

The access and security settings have their setup to install Apache. It is recommended for Apache administrators to change security settings and resources from httpd.conf practice. Administrators of older versions can simply cut and paste the entries from the other files mentioned above, and put it in httpd.conf. If for some reason you want to delete srm.conf and access.conf files, put two entries in the httpd.conf file, which would be as follows:

AccessConfig / dev / null
ResourceConfig / dev / null

The group of .conf files support many of the Apache settings, but not all. Other important mechanisms for managing an Apache Web server include other files, such as log, .htaccess, etc.

Resources:

• http://www.esds.co.in/blog/how-does-the-web-servers-manage-millions-of-hits-a-day/
• http://nasscom-emerge.groupsite.com/post/php-mysql-database