Timeline of Web Servers

The following is a list of highlights in Web server development.

1. 1990
   • Tim Berners-Lee develops the first Web browser and server. He calls the browser WorldWideWeb and the server portion is referred to as the CERN httpd.
2. 1993
   • Rob McCool develops the NCSA server in conjunction with the Mosaic project. It is the first server to implement CGI.
3. 1994
   • Netscape releases the first commercial Web server software. Netsite Commerce Server incorporates SSL encryption in the https protocol.
4. 1995
   • OpenMarket releases a commercial web server with S-HTTP encryption.
   • The Apache web server project forks off of the NCSA codebase.
5. 1996
   • Microsoft releases Internet Information Server (IIS) and Active Server Pages (ASP).
   • NCSA and CERN cease development of their servers.
   • Apache overtakes the NCSA httpd as the most popular Web server software.
   • OpenMarket releases a specification for the FastCGI application interface.
6. 1998
   • The IETF releases the first WebDAV specification.
7. 2002
   • The Apache Software Foundation releases Apache 2.0 with support for threading.

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