WEB SERVERS AND HOW TO

INSTALL AND RUN WEB

SERVERS
 LESSON OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to;

1 explain what a web server is and how web servers work.

discuss what apache web server is and its role in sup-

2 porting websites.

3 install and set up Apache web server

 WEB SERVERS
WHAT IS A WEB SERVER?

A web server stores and delivers the content for a website – such as text, images, video, and
application data – to clients that request it. The most common type of client is a web browser
program, which requests data from your website when a user clicks on a link or downloads a
document on a page displayed in the browser.

A web server communicates with a web browser using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
The content of most web pages is encoded in Hypertext15 Markup
% Language (HTML).
35%
The content can be static (for example, text and images) or dynamic (for example, a computed
price or the list of items a customer has marked for purchase). To deliver dynamic content,
most web servers support server‑side scripting languages to encode business logic into the
communication. Commonly supported languages include Active Server Pages (ASP),
Javascript, PHP, Python, and Ruby.
 WEB SERVERS
WHAT IS A WEB SERVER?

A web server might also cache content to speed delivery of commonly requested content. This
process is also known as web acceleration.
A web server can host a single website or multiple websites using the same software and
hardware resources, which is known as virtual hosting. Web servers can also limit the speed
of
response to different clients so as to prevent a single client from dominating resources that are
better used to satisfy requests from a large number of clients.
15% 35%
While web servers typically host websites that are accessible on the Internet, they can also be
used to communicate between web clients and servers in local area networks such as a
company’s intranet. A web server can even be embedded in a device such a digital camera so
that the users can communicate with the device via any commonly available Web browser.
 WEB SERVERS
WHAT IS A WEB SERVER?

One web server can handle multiple users at any given time which is a necessity otherwise there had
to be a web server for each user and considering the current world population, is nearly close to
impossible. A web server is never disconnected from the internet because if it was, then it won’t be
able to receive any requests, and therefore cannot process them.
 WEB SERVERS
SOME EXAMPLES OF WEB SERVERS
01
APACHE HTTP SERVER: It is the most popular web server and about 60 percent of the
world’s web server machines run this web server. The Apache HTTP web server was devel-
oped by the Apache Software Foundation. It is an open-source software which means that we
can
access and make changes to its code and mold it according to our preference. The Apache
Web Server can be installed and operated easily on almost all operating systems like Linux,
MacOS, Windows, etc.

02
MICROSOFT INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES (IIS): IIS (Internet Information Services)
is a high performing web server developed by Microsoft. It is strongly united with the operating
system and is therefore relatively easier to administer. It is developed by Microsoft, it has a
good customer support system which is easier to access if we encounter any issue with the
server. It has all the features of the Apache HTTP Server except that it is not an open-source
software.
 WEB SERVERS
SOME EXAMPLES OF WEB SERVERS
03
JIGSAW SERVER: Jigsaw has been written in the Java language and it can run CGI (common
gateway interference) scripts as well as PHP programs. It is not a full-fledged server and was
developed as an experimental server to demonstrate the new web protocols.
It is an open-source software which means that we can access its code and add changes to it
according to our needs and then upload our own module (the changed code). It can be in-
stalled on any device provided that the device supports Java language and modifications in
Java.

04
SUN JAVA SYSTEM: The Sun Java System supports various languages, scripts, and
technologies required for Web 2.0 such as Python, PHP, etc. It is not an open-source software
and therefore its code is inaccessible which means that we cannot make changes in the code
to suit our needs.
WEB SERVERS
HOW A SERVER WORKS

15% 35%
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
INTRODUCTION

Apache Web Server is open source software, which means it is available for anyone to
download at no cost. Its source code can be modified to suit your individual needs. This gives
Apache a significant advantage over almost all of its competitors without sacrificing any
features. The open source status also eliminates the recurring license and support fees
required to continue running other Web server programs.15% 35%
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
FEATURES

Apache is a powerful Web server program with features that compare to its high-priced
competitors. The software includes an administration control panel, customizable error mes-
sages and authentication schemes. The virtual hosting module allows you to run multiple web-
sites from the same server. In addition to the these and other standard features that are in-
cluded in
the installation package, such as Domain Name Service, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), there are numerous third-party add-ons you can
15%developer community
install to customize your Web server. The vibrant Apache 35%also produces
frequent updates so you always have access to the latest features and security patches.
APACHE HTTP SERVER
SOME POPULAR COMPANIES USING APACHE

• IBM
• eBay
• Adobe
• PayPal
• Linkedin
• Facebook
15% 35%
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
PROS

• Apache is open-source, and anyone can get it for free

• Customizable code can be adjusted to the needs
• Ability to add more features and modules to improve functions
• Highly reliable and excellent performance
• Apache is straightforward to install
• Immediate recording of changes
• Can be run on every operating system 15% 35%
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
CONS

• Ability to modify the configuration offered an invitation to various threats when you meddled
with code, insecure gates open.
• Again, the customization means new bugs and errors. Debugging means time and
resources consumption
• Strict updating policy is necessary that needs to be done at regular intervals
• Recognizing and disabling unwanted services and modules.
• 15%
Performance issues on extremely traffic-heavy websites. 35%
 In this part of the lesson, we will learn the step-by-
APACHE step process in installing and setting up Apache
HTTP Server on a Windows computer.
HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB
SERVER ON A WINDOWS COM-
PUTER
STEPS IN BRIEF

1. DOWNLOAD APACHE HTTP SERVER

2. INSTALL ON YOUR COMPUTER’S LOCAL DISK
LOCATION
3. SET UP WITH COMMAND PROMPT
4. START APACHE SERVER IN SERVICES
5. TEST THE CONNECTION
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB SERVER ON A WINDOWS COMPUTER

1. Head to Google Search or

any search engine and
search for Apache web
server

2. Select the first link to go to

the download page.
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB SERVER ON A WINDOWS COMPUTER

4. Click Download.

5. Select FILES FOR MICROSOFT.

6. Select one of the binaries. (we will use

Apache Lounge in this lesson)

7. Click on httpd… .zip to download.

NB: you should have C++ redistributable
visual studio
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB SERVER ON A WINDOWS COMPUTER

8. Extract the downloaded file and

copy Apache24 folder to the Local
Disk drive (here its drive (C:).

9. Open the Apache24 folder and then

the bin folder.

10. Click in the address and copy the

bin folder directory
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB SERVER ON A WINDOWS COMPUTER

11. Open Command Prompts and run

as administrator.

12.Type the command cd and paste

the copied bin folder directory (C:\
Apache24\bin)

13. Type the command httpd.exe –k

install to install httpd.exe.

14. Go to windows services and start

the apache server.
 APACHE HTTP SERVER
HOW TO INSTALL APACHE WEB SERVER ON A WINDOWS COMPUTER

15. Enter 127.0.0.1 (localhost) in

your browser’s address bar to test
the connection.

16. When connection is successful,

the text “it works” is shown in the
browser’s window.

17. You may test your own html files

by placing your folder in the htdocs
folder (C:\Apache24\htdocs). Lets
test our own website.
Lesson Recap
Thank you
End of Lesson