Alternative servers and Apache techniques
Edge on the Web

This month we look at some alternative web servers and show you some smart Apache techniques.
Apache is the most popular web server in the world, with millions of installations around the planet serving up a huge portion of that information space we know as the World Wide Web. But Apache isn't the only HTTP server – or even the only open source HTTP server. Many admins prefer leaner, sleeker tools to the powerful, but full-figured, Apache.
This month we study a pair of open source alternative web servers. We start with a look at the fast and simple Hiawatha, which offers easy configuration and some interesting security features. Then we visit Nginx, a web server and reverse proxy system used on high-volume Internet sites such as Hula.com. You'll learn about the benefits of Hiawatha and Nginx, and we'll show you how to set up these alternative servers on your own network.
Then we turn our attentions back to Apache for the third article, which highlights some tips for speeding up web servers. We'll show you some important Apache directives that will help you get better performance, and we'll look at why these directives work and when additional speed might just cause additional problems.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.