WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

What is Apache and how does it work?

Apache is an open source, multiplatform and free web server.

This web server is one of the most widely used in the world, currently 43% of websites run on it.

This web server developed by Apache Software Foundation has been in operation since 1995.

The name Apache refers to the Native American tribe, known for their great resistance in combat and for their war strategies.

It has become very popular among programmers due to its modularity and constant updating by the community.

Apache servers can be found in most hosting worldwide, running smoothly with panels such as WePanel, Plesk, VestaCP, etc.

One of the main features of Apache is the use of the .htaccess file, widely used among all web users.

DISCOVER ALL

How an Apache server works

The essential function of the Apache server is to serve the websites hosted on the server to the different browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari,…

Apache ensures that the communication between the web server and the web client (user requesting information) is fluid and constant.

When a user makes an HTTP request through the browser to enter a website or specific URL, Apache returns the requested information through the HTTP protocol.

In Apache we can apply a high customization through its modular system, so that we can enable or disable various functionalities through Apache modules.

These Apache modules should be used with caution as they can affect the security and functionality of the web server.

Advantages of Apache

Some of the advantages that we can find in an Apache server are the following:

It has a large community of developers around the world, who contribute to improve the software, since the original source code is freely available for viewing and collaboration.
Compatible with websites using WordPress and most of the most popular CMS on the market.
Structure made up of modules.
It is multiplatform. It can be used on Windows and Linux servers which expands its possibilities of use.
It is open source and free.
High level of security due to its constant updates.
You can use .htaccess which allows you to work more easily with the main CMS.

Disadvantages of Apache

Performance can be affected in pages with high traffic, especially after 10k connections.
Failure to make good use of modules can lead to security breaches.

Apache vs NGINX

Although NGINX is relatively young (born in 2004) it has been gaining ground in the world of web servers.
Thanks to its efficiency in handling requests we can see a better performance when managing websites with a high level of traffic, solving the problem of the 10k that Apache presents when managing many simultaneous requests.

Therefore, websites such as El País, Netflix or Wikipedia use this system instead of Apache.

In Webempresa we use Apache as web server and NGINX as reverse proxy + Varnish (Magic Caché if your plan has it included) which, added to the rest of the custom configurations of our servers, allow you to get an excellent loading speed for your website.

FIND OUT IF YOU USE IT

How to know if I use Apache

There are several ways to know the software that uses our server, one of them is through tools like GTMetrix, Pingdom or the Google Element Inspector.
The simplest method would be analyzing a web through Pingdom, from the File requests section.

In this case we can see if a server-wide caching system such as Varnish is being used: