Product Description

Install, configure, administer, and secure the world's leading Web server using this comprehensive resource. Written by a lead Apache developer, this book provides you with all the hands-on guidance you need to administer Apache on multiple platforms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1261740 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 976 pages

From the Back Cover
The Most Comprehensive Apache Server 2.0 Resource Available

Install, configure, administer, and secure Apache Server 2.0 using this practical guide. You'll find all the information you need to successfully run Apache in various environments--including Windows, UNIX, and Mac OS X. Expert Ryan Bloom offers you insightful advice for avoiding common errors and reveals valuable debugging techniques. From basic topics such as downloading and installing Apache to more advanced topics that include daily administration, virtual hosting, and proxy configuration, this all-inclusive resource is ideal--even if you're a newcomer to this powerful, reliable, and scalable Web server.
*Configure, compile, and install Apache on Windows, UNIX, and Mac OS X
*Learn the standard module structure and write simple modules
*Set up a basic HTTP server and customize error pages
*Discover where to store password information and learn how passwords are stored and checked
*Build a Web site with DAV clients
*Run CGI scripts and write a content generator
*Understand how input/output filters work
*Know how to load balance one site across multiple machines
*Deal with logs as well as name-based and IP-based virtual hosts
*Write protocol modules and learn how protocols get mapped to a request
*Debug your Apache setup and avoid common mistakes and errors
*Optimize site performance and learn advanced administration techniques

About the Author
Ryan B. Bloom (Oakland, CA) is an engineering manager for Covalent Technologies. Ryan is a lead developer of Apache 2.0, has been active in Apache 2.0 development since 1998, is a member of the Apache Server Core Team, and is currently the Vice President of the Apache Portable Run-Time project for the Apache Software Foundation. He has been a keynote speaker and a prominent Apache speaker at several conferences and an author and columnist for c/net, Apache Today.com, and O'Reilly's OnLamp.com

Customer Reviews

"Complete Reference" Is a Mis-Nomer
The trouble with this book can be summed up in the Introduction:

This book is aimed at two groups of people: Apache administrators of all levels and Apache module authors. This range of readers means that the book must cover concepts both having to do with programming and with basic configuration. I hope I have accomplished that task in a way the book is useful to both sets of people.

That's a monumental task to take on! Writing a book for each group separately would each take a tome the size of this book. Instead, we cram two subjects into one book without increasing size and get this -- a book that covers everything but in missing detail.

The first the sections start off on the right foot -- an introduction to Apache and how the web works; a comparison of Apache 1.3 and 2.0 with other web servers; configuring, compiling, and installing Apache; and a module overviews, including the MPM modules that handle pre-forking and threading.

After that, the details begin to slip. Sure, you can get Apache up and running with this book. Heck, you can even get it to pull off some nice tricks with this book. It's not until you start dabbling in these "nice tricks," though, that the incompleteness of this book shows through.

For example, while explaining virtual hosting, the author goes over two ways to go about it -- the one-by-one method and mass virtual hosting using mod_vhost_alias. However, he only briefly mentions using a third method, mod_rewite, which is admittedly more complex. The author also spends some time going over security and logging issues with virtual hosting, but at 21 pages, the chapter covering virtual hosting leaves a lot to be desired.

The same goes if you're interested in programming for Apache. Actually, I'm taken aback as to the amount of coverage the author devotes to the programming of Apache. Not because the author goes into greater detail on how the Apache code works than I care to indulge in (which is to say, any). It's because of it's interspersal throughout the book. In the end, this upsets both sets of people -- the administrators that don't want to program and the programmers that don't want to administer.

I guess one could say that this is a "complete reference" in that it covers every aspect of Apache. However, I'd rather have a "complete reference" that covers its subjects in full detail.

If your new to web servers this book isn't for you.
If you are familiar with Apache 1.3 and want to learn about all the great new features of 2.0 this book may be for you. Bloom does not hold your hand with step by step instructions. The Complete Reference is exactly what this is but all this information can be found in the free documentation that comes with Apache.

Not a book to learn from
This is an odd book. It does not really teach you how to do anything with the Apache software you just downloaded. It just tells you all about the modules, protocols, and so on in a reference type manner. So if you think you're going to learn how to setup a webserver and begin practicing with PHP, XML, HTML and other facets of Web development from this book you would be disappointed. There is nothing practical in here either for an beginner or an expert.