Apache HTTP Server is an open-source web server software that delivers web pages and other content to users’ browsers over the internet using HTTP/HTTPS.
In simple terms:
👉 Apache listens for web requests and serves websites to visitors.
Key points
- Developed and maintained by the Apache Software Foundation
- Runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and more
- Often used with PHP, MySQL, and Linux (the classic LAMP stack)
- Highly configurable via modules and
.htaccess - Powers millions of websites worldwide
What Apache does
- Accepts requests like
https://example.com - Finds the requested file or executes server-side code
- Sends the result back to the user’s browser
Example use
If you host a website on a server:
- Apache = the “waiter”
- Your website files = the “kitchen”
- Browser request = the “order”