Abstract

A web server responds to request made to it using Hypertext transfer Protocol (HTTP). This Protocol is simple and allows the client to request documents from the server. The HTTP protocol also allows client to provide information back to the server for interactive operation. Because he web server uses this protocol, the actual server daemon program is called httpd.

The basic sequence of operation performed by the browser and server are as follows:
The browser opens a connection to the server that is listed in the URL. This involves looking up the address of the machine, based on its name, and using TCP/IP port 80 if node is specified.
The browser sends a GET request to the server with the path to the document that it wants to retrive.
The server translates the requested path into a path in its local file system.
The server evaluates the path to see whether any security or othe restriction apply to the path.
If the path includes a regular file, the server returns the file to the client, indicating the file type as part of the response. The file type is returned in MIME format as part of response header.
After the server finishes sending data to the client and after the client receives it, the client and server terminates their conection.
At this point the server actually makes an entry in a log file about the request.

The following steps describe how the Web Server begins operation when it's started.

The Web Server initially reads the configuration file and configures many of its internal settings including names and address, the location of documents etc.
The Web Server binds to an address on your machine. Binding is when a program registers with the operating system, requesting that any connection to that port be directed to the application.
The Web Server starts several child processes to handle actual requests from client and begins receiving and responding to requests.

Web Server are the unsung heroes of the internet. Web traffic dominates the internet today and each and every web page or graphics comes from a Web server. Web server are really very simple in their operation. Web Browers communicate with web servers using Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP), a simple request/response protocol for information transfer using TCP/IP. A web service receives the request, retrieves the file, sends it to the browser, and tears down the connection. Browsers then display the downloaded HTML document/page.

Although Web Server typically stores HTML pages and graphics, a web server can store and serve up any kind of file including text file, word processing documents, video and audio. Today, with the exception of user filled out forms, most web traffic is one way browsers read files from the web servers-but that has changed with the wider adoption of HTTP 1.1 draft method called PUT, a way to write files to a web server. Today mostly web authors use PUT but it can be used in future by end users for collaboration

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