iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator's Guide (Version 7.0)

Glossary

iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator’s Guide—523346-012

Glossary-7

Web server

Web server. Web servers are programs that execute on a variety of server platforms. These

include IBM-compatible servers, Apple Macintosh servers, Unix servers, and a large

number of proprietary hosts. Web server functions can be divided into two parts. A file

server part performs normal file server functions such as file transfer and buffering. A

message switching facility allows messages from Web clients to be forwarded to

application programs.

World Wide Web (WWW) protocols. The WWW protocols were first defined by the CERN

project in Switzerland and were later extended by a number of groups, most notably by

the National Center for SuperComputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of

Illinois. These WWW protocols were originally developed to improve communications

over the Internet by providing the ability to access and display Web-client

hardware-independent documents that not only contained ASCII text but that also

contained pictures, graphics, and voice and video elements. In addition to accessing

documents, the WWW protocols can also be used to provide document searching

facilities and also interaction with user-written or vendor-provided servers.