WebserverSoftware

Webserver software, or a web server, is a program that accepts requests made by clients over HTTP or HTTPS. It serves content, which may be static files such as HTML, images, and scripts, or dynamic content generated by back-end processes. In addition to serving content, web servers often perform functions such as TLS termination, request routing, caching, and logging. Many deployments place a web server at the edge of a network to handle incoming traffic and forward requests to application servers behind it.

Core capabilities include handling multiple simultaneous connections with efficient resource use, supporting virtual hosts, and providing a modular architecture that allows extensions through modules or plugins. Configuration is typically done via text files with directive-based syntax, and common features include URL rewriting, access control, MIME type mapping, compression, and support for modern HTTP protocols like HTTP/2 and HTTP/3.

Notable examples include Apache HTTP Server, Nginx, Microsoft IIS, LiteSpeed Web Server, and Caddy. OpenResty bundles Nginx with a Lua framework for dynamic content. Some environments use lightweight servers like Lighttpd. It is also common to deploy an application server behind a front-end web server, for example a Java servlet container such as Tomcat or Jetty, which handles dynamic application logic while the front-end server handles static content and request routing.

Deployment and security: Web servers run on various operating systems, including Unix-like systems and Windows. Licensing ranges from permissive open source licenses to commercial products. Performance depends on configuration, hardware, and workload; administrators tune worker processes, load balancing, caching, and TLS settings. Keeping software up to date and hardening against exposure is essential.