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Apache HTTP Server vs Apache Tomcat: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Apache HTTP Server and Apache Tomcat. Both Apache HTTP Server and Apache Tomcat are popular web server applications, but they serve different purposes and have distinct features.
Deployment: Apache Tomcat is a web application server that is specifically designed to execute Java servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP). It is mainly used for hosting Java web applications. On the other hand, Apache HTTP Server is a general-purpose web server that can serve static files and support various scripting languages like PHP, Perl, and Python. It can be used to host any type of website.
Protocol Support: Apache Tomcat primarily supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols for serving web applications. It provides a servlet container and JSP engine to handle requests, process servlets, and render dynamic content. In contrast, Apache HTTP Server supports a wide range of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and SMTP. It offers more versatility in terms of protocol support.
Modules and Extensions: Apache HTTP Server has a modular architecture that allows users to add or remove modules based on their requirements. It provides a vast library of modules for enhancing its functionality, such as modrewrite for URL rewriting, modssl for SSL/TLS encryption, and mod_proxy for reverse proxying. Apache Tomcat, on the other hand, focuses on providing essential features for Java web applications and has a more limited set of extensions.
Performance: Apache HTTP Server is known for its high performance and scalability. It is optimized for serving static content efficiently and can handle a large number of concurrent connections. Apache Tomcat, being a Java-based server, requires additional resources and overhead for running Java servlets and JSPs. It may not be as efficient in serving static files as Apache HTTP Server.
Configuration: Apache HTTP Server has a highly flexible and customizable configuration system. It uses a configuration file called httpd.conf, which allows users to define various server settings, virtual hosts, and URL rewriting rules. Apache Tomcat has a similar configuration mechanism but with a focus on configuring Java web applications, such as defining contexts, servlet mappings, and resource settings.
Use Cases: Apache HTTP Server is commonly used for hosting static websites, dynamic websites with scripting languages, and as a reverse proxy server. It can also be used as a load balancer in conjunction with other servers. Apache Tomcat, on the other hand, is specifically designed for hosting Java-based web applications. It provides a runtime environment for executing Java servlets and JSPs and is widely used in enterprise-level applications.
In summary, Apache HTTP Server and Apache Tomcat serve different purposes and have different strengths. Apache HTTP Server is a general-purpose web server, while Apache Tomcat is a specialized web application server for hosting Java web applications.
I am diving into web development, both front and back end. I feel comfortable with administration, scripting and moderate coding in bash, Python and C++, but I am also a Windows fan (i love inner conflict). What are the votes on web servers? IIS is expensive and restrictive (has Windows adoption of open source changed this?) Apache has the history but seems to be at the root of most of my Infosec issues, and I know nothing about nginx (is it too new to rely on?). And no, I don't know what I want to do on the web explicitly, but hosting and data storage (both cloud and tape) are possibilities. Ready, aim fire!
I would pick nginx over both IIS and Apace HTTP Server any day. Combine it with docker, and as you grow maybe even traefik, and you'll have a really flexible solution for serving http content where you can take sites and projects up and down without effort, easily move it between systems and dont have to handle any dependencies on your actual local machine.
From a StackShare Community member: "We are a LAMP shop currently focused on improving web performance for our customers. We have made many front-end optimizations and now we are considering replacing Apache with nginx. I was wondering if others saw a noticeable performance gain or any other benefits by switching."
I use nginx because it is very light weight. Where Apache tries to include everything in the web server, nginx opts to have external programs/facilities take care of that so the web server can focus on efficiently serving web pages. While this can seem inefficient, it limits the number of new bugs found in the web server, which is the element that faces the client most directly.
I use nginx because its more flexible and easy to configure
I use Apache HTTP Server because it's intuitive, comprehensive, well-documented, and just works
For us, NGINX is a lite HTTP server easy to configure. On our research, we found a well-documented software we a lot of support from the community.
We have been using it alongside tools like certbot and it has been a total success.
We can easily configure our sites and have a folder for available vs enabled sites, and with the nginx -t command we can easily check everything is running fine.
- Server rendered HTML output from PHP is being migrated to the client as Vue.js components, future plans to provide additional content, and other new miscellaneous features all result in a substantial increase of static files needing to be served from the server. NGINX has better performance than Apache for serving static content.
- The change to NGINX will require switching from PHP to PHP-FPM resulting in a distributed architecture with a higher complexity configuration, but this is outweighed by PHP-FPM being faster than PHP for processing requests.
- The NGINX + PHP-FPM setup now allows for horizontally scaling of resources rather vertically scaling the previously combined Apache + PHP resources.
- PHP shell tasks can now efficiently be decoupled from the application reducing main application footprint and allow for scaling of tasks on an individual basis.
I was in a situation where I have to configure 40 RHEL servers 20 each for Apache HTTP Server and Tomcat server. My task was to 1. configure LVM with required logical volumes, format and mount for HTTP and Tomcat servers accordingly. 2. Install apache and tomcat. 3. Generate and apply selfsigned certs to http server. 4. Modify default ports on Tomcat to different ports. 5. Create users on RHEL for application support team. 6. other administrative tasks like, start, stop and restart HTTP and Tomcat services.
I have utilized the power of ansible for all these tasks, which made it easy and manageable.
Pros of Apache HTTP Server
- Web server479
- Most widely-used web server305
- Virtual hosting217
- Fast148
- Ssl support138
- Since 199644
- Asynchronous28
- Robust5
- Proven over many years4
- Mature2
- Perfomance2
- Perfect Support1
- Many available modules0
- Many available modules0
Pros of Apache Tomcat
- Easy79
- Java72
- Popular49
- Spring web1
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Cons of Apache HTTP Server
- Hard to set up4
Cons of Apache Tomcat
- Blocking - each http request block a thread3
- Easy to set up2
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