CBSR 4003

WEB SERVER TECHNOLOGY

JAN-2021
 E-TUTORIAL 3 & 4

UNIT 2 : WEB SERVERS AND

HTTP
• Web servers components
• Document organization
• Web server process models
• Http- A closer look
• Other HTTP features
• Persistent connections
 UNIT 2 : WEB SERVERS AND HTTP
• LEARNING KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER :
• How Web documents can be stored and organized using a variety of document tree structures on the
server?
• How Web servers can operate using different process models? Compare and contrast the different
approaches.
• Examine the structure and meaning of the HTTP messages exchanged between the browser and the
server.
• What are the important characteristics and features of HTTP?

Internet Fact : Till today, there are more than 1.8million active web servers in the
world.
 Web Server Components

 Web server = computing platform + Web server

software + documents
 Web server (with unique IP) runs the web software to
respond to requests for resources from Web client.
 Requested requests can be dynamically or statically
generated web documents which are stored,
organized and served from the server’s file system.
 Computing Platform comprises of Operating System
Components of a Web server software, hardware and the network connection.

Criteria for choosing Web server software;

 compatibility with your current operating environment 1. Explain how web server responds to requests for
and hardware platform; resources?
 security features; 2. What is error 404?
 ease of use;
 vendor and technical support;
 availability of upgrades; and
 good performance reviews.
 Past exam Q
Web Server Components(cont..)
Establishing a connection between an HTPP client and server
Steps involved;
1. The client must locate the server.
2. The client’s system software initiates TCP
handshake by sending a packet to the server,
requesting a connection.
3. The server’s system software sends a packet back
to the client, agreeing to set up a connection.
4. The client program is connected to the new
network connection.
5. The server program is connected to the new
network connection.
6. The client sends multiple HTTP requests through a
single connection.
7. The server sends HTTP responses back in the same
order as the requests.
8. The server closes the connection.
Popular Web Servers
 DOCUMENT ORGANISATION
• Common media type – Images, Audio, Video, Slide presentations, spreadsheets
• MIME types and extensions

Header fields;
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 2294

• Cache - set of Web documents stored on the Web client’s local disk. Fetching documents from a cache is a
lot faster than fetching them from a remote Web server. Caches are useful for improving Web server
performance and response times.
• Document Organisation concept;
• tree structure (hierarchy), example : /BOOKS/AUTHORS/LU_XUN.HTML
• relative name, example ./LU_XUN.HTML (referencing the docs using hyperlinks)
• ‘mirrored’ or replicated document tree
THE END