Original author(s) | Robert McCool |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Apache Software Foundation |
Initial release | 1995 |
Stable release | 2.4.25 (December 20, 2016 | )
Repository | svn |
Development status | Active |
Written in | C,XML |
Operating system | Unix-like, Windows |
Type | Web server |
License | Apache License 2.0 |
Website | httpd |
The Apache HTTP Server, colloquially called Apache (/əˈpætʃiː/ ə-PA-chee), is the world's most used web server software. Originally based on the NCSA HTTPd server, development of Apache began in early 1995 after work on the NCSA code stalled. Apache played a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web, quickly overtaking NCSA HTTPd as the dominant HTTP server, and has remained most popular since April 1996. In 2009, it became the first web server software to serve more than 100 million websites.
Apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. Most commonly used on a Unix-like system (usually Linux), the software is available for a variety of operating systems besides Unix, including Microsoft Windows. Version 2.0 improved support for non-Unix, e.g. Windows and OS/2 (and eComStation). Old versions of Apache were ported to run on e.g. OpenVMS, and NetWare. Released under the Apache License, Apache is free and open-source software.