Web Servers

For World Wide Web or WWW, web servers is an essential part because without web servers there is web. For developing any website you must use a web server.

Basically, web server is a piece of software that you can install on your computer. Some high powered computers are used as web servers as they have been build with web hosting. Once you install it to your computer, you can configure it to suit your needs.

What Is Web Server?

Web server is a piece of software that enables a website which is to be viewed by HTTP. HTTP or HyperText Transfer Protocol is the protocol for transferring date on the web.

When you view a website page using a web server, the URL begins with “http://”.

For example:
http://127.0.0.1
http://localhost

Advantages of Web Servers

• For a production hosting environment, a web server is essential.
• Server-side scripting languages like PHP, ColdFusion etc can be used.
• Local website becomes like the live one.
• Using web server you can use root-relative paths for your image references and hyperlinks.

Features of Web Servers

Most of the web servers have features that allows you to do the following things:

• You can create one or more websites.
• Configure where log files will be saved.
• Configure website or directory security.
• An FTP site that allows you to transfer files.
• Configure custom error pages.
• Specify default home page.

The most popular web servers on the web are: Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information Services or IIS and Sun Java Web Server.

When you are opening a page on the internet, you get a request from a web server and the web server sends the response back.

Web browser >=====[request]=====> Web server
Web server >=====[response]=====> Web browser

Using a single web server you can host multiple websites. And also you can apply SSL certificates for a website using a web server.