Web Servers

Updated on August 25, 2007

Web servers are devices that respond to HTTP requests over a network.

The client (typically a browser) interacts with a web server by sending requests to the server and receiving responses. For example, if a browser sends a "GET" request to a server, the server will respond with a web page (or an error).

Browsers can also interact with a server via AJAX. In this case, the browser sends an XMLHttpRequest (rather than a GET request). Instead of sending an entire web page, the server responds with some arbitrary text. XMLHttpRequests are usually handled on the client by JavaScript code running within the browser. This gives web designers more latitude on how the browser should handle the data returned by the server.

Most web servers run either Apache or Microsoft's Internet Information Server. Apache is normally used on servers running Linux or Unix while IIS is popular on servers running Windows.

Further resources on web servers

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