Web Server

A web server is a system of hardware and software that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web. It stores, processes, and delivers web pages to users. When a user enters a website address into their browser, the browser requests the page from the web server, which responds with the requested page.

Web servers play a critical role in hosting websites, web applications, and online services. They ensure that content is consistently available and accessible to users across the globe.

Variants

There are several types of web servers, each designed for specific needs:

• Static Web Servers: Serve static content like HTML files, images, and stylesheets directly to the client without any modifications.
• Dynamic Web Servers: Generate content on-the-fly, often involving databases and server-side scripting languages like PHP, Python, or Node.js.
• Cloud-Based Web Servers: Hosted in cloud environments, offering scalable resources and redundancy to handle varying levels of web traffic.

Popular Web Server Software

• Apache HTTP Server: One of the oldest and most widely-used web servers, known for its flexibility and extensive support community.
• Nginx: Famous for its high performance and low resource consumption, often used for serving static content and acting as a reverse proxy.
• Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS): A web server developed by Microsoft, commonly used in Windows-based environments.
• LiteSpeed: A high-performance web server known for its ability to handle thousands of concurrent connections with minimal resource usage.

Server Architectures

• Single Server: All hosting and processing are handled by a single machine.
• Load-Balanced Server Cluster: Distributes traffic across multiple servers to ensure performance and redundancy.
• Serverless Architecture: Runs code without managing servers, using cloud services like AWS Lambda or Azure Functions.