Apache: The Definitive Guide

Apache is far and away the most widely used Web server platform in the world. It runs on about half of the world's existing Web sites and is rapidly increasing in popularity. Apache: The Definitive Guide describes how to obtain, set up, and secure the Apache software. Written and reviewed by key members of the Apache Group, this book is the definitive documentation for the world's most popular Web server. Includes CD-ROM with Apache manuals and demo sites discussed in the book. Contents include:

• The history of the Apache Group
• Obtaining and compiling the server
• Configuring and running Apache, including such topics as directory structures, virtual hosts, and CGI programming
• The Apache Module API
• Apache security
• A complete list of configuration directives
• A complete demo of a sample Web site

With distributions for both Unix and 32-bit Windows environments, the Apache Web server boasts reliability, security, and scalability--and it's free. Apache: The Definitive Guide shows Apache administrators how to perform their jobs, detailing the server through version 1.3.

The authors--one of them a member of the Apache development team--begin with an academic discussion of what Web servers do before walking the reader through the process of installing Apache. Installation gets much attention--readers find out, step by step, how to set up a Web site (or several) under Apache, and how to set up Web site security and other preferences properly. The book also provides in-depth discussions of particular aspects of Apache operation, including MIME handling, the Common Gateway Interface (CGI), and security features such as authentication and caching.

For the programmers in the crowd, this book documents the Apache API with discussions of resource pools and their allocation, plus a full API reference. A tutorial explains how to write Apache extension modules in C. In all matters, Apache: The Definitive Guide covers both Unix and Win32 machines, but it places more emphasis on the Unix port. The complete source code of Apache 1.3 appears on the CD-ROM that ships with the book. --David Wall