Apache Releases its First Major HTTP Server Software Update in Six Years

The Apache Software Foundation has released Version 2.4 of its widely used open source HTTP server software. The newer version will run more efficiently than its predecessor, offering better performance while consuming fewer resources.

“This release delivers a host of evolutionary enhancements throughout the server that our users, administrators, and developers will welcome,” stated Eric Covener, Apache server vice president. “We've added many new modules in this release, as well as broadened the capability and flexibility of existing features.”

Apache is facing increasing competition from open source web servers Nginx, Lighttpd as well as from Microsoft’s (News - Alert) Internet Information Services (IIS). Adopters of nginx have cited better performance as their major reason for switching away from Apache. With 2.4, the software foundation hopes to address performance concerns and retain its hold on market share. Apache currently powers approximately 60 percent of all active domains and is used by over 400 million websites worldwide.

One major update in Version 2.4 is the use of loadable multi-processing modules, or MPMs. MPMs regulate how Apache accepts and handles requests. Instead of having to recompile Apache to change MPMs, new MPMs can be chose at startup. This will give administrators more flexibility regarding how Apache is used. In addition, the Event MPM is now fully supported so that Apache can trade performance for higher concurrency when needed.

The foundation points out that 2.4, in spite of its extensive new features, tends to use less memory and to have better concurrency than Version 2.2. Other new capabilities, such as the ability of configuration files to have conditional statements, should improve the software’s functionality in high-performance environments. Also, Version 2.4 should be more suitable for cloud environments because Apache can now automatically call up additional servers to take on additional load.

Version 2.4 does have an issue with Windows that developers have yet to resolve related to the way that Windows filter stacks work with SSL. For this reason, the Windows version is not as advanced as the UNIX/LINUX version.

The announcement comes as Apache, an offshoot of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, celebrates its 17th anniversary, and this update is its first in six years. Developers say that users should expect monthly mini-updates to Version 2.4 as users provide more feedback about the software.