Apache HTTP Server for Windows

The Apache HTTP Server, more colloquially known as Apache / -Patching-gee, is a freely available and open-source web server software, designed under the Apache License 2.0. Apache is developed and maintained by a free open source community of active developers under the auspice of the Apache Software Foundation under their Apache Project. Apache is one of the most popular and widely used web servers serving hundreds of thousands of websites. Apache is primarily written in C++ with an emphasis on high performance and reliability; it is intended to be highly functional, fast, and portable with minimal configuration requirements. Apache features include an embedded implementation of the Open Database Language (ODL) that provides support for object's database management and language interactivity, a user-friendly, high-level programming language, easy configuration, security, and a rich collection of built-in functions and utilities.

Apache is also widely used as a content management system or CMS, serving a variety of websites. Some Apache users are hobbyists and have ported some of Apache's code to other platforms, while many Apache servers are used commercially. Commercial Apache sites are usually based on the well-known Sun Java Collections Software or Sun Java Platform, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 3. Apache can be used to run stand alone applications or as a part of larger frameworks, such as Joomla. Apache can be used as a server as well as a web server.

Apache was initially developed as a web server and a database management system for delivering interactive online sites. Today, Apache is used as a content management system and a hosting platform. Apache can be installed with the Apache service pack 1.3 and the Apache module can be installed with the Apache module. Apache is one of the three major World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) approved Content Management Systems.