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Short note: Web server

Short answer

A web server stores web content and delivers it to browsers using HTTP/HTTPS on TCP port 80 or 443. It serves static files directly or runs dynamic applications, and examples include Apache, Nginx, and IIS.

Write a short note on Web Server.

A web server is a computer system with software that stores web content (HTML pages, images, scripts, videos) and delivers it to clients (browsers) on request using HTTP/HTTPS. It listens on TCP port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS).

Working

  1. The browser opens a TCP connection to the server and sends an HTTP request (e.g. GET /index.html).
  2. The server finds the resource. If it is static it reads the file; if dynamic it runs a program (PHP, Python, Node.js, CGI) that builds the page, often using a database.
  3. It sends an HTTP response with a status code (200 OK, 404 Not Found, 500 Internal Server Error) and the content.
Browser --HTTP request--> [Web server] --> files / app / database
Browser <--HTTP response--

Features

  • Virtual hosting (many websites on one server), logging, authentication, caching, SSL/TLS, URL redirection and load balancing.
  • Handles many clients at once using processes or threads.

Examples

Apache HTTP Server, Nginx, Microsoft IIS, LiteSpeed.

Types

  • Static web server: serves files as stored.
  • Dynamic web server: web server plus application server and database.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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