 the apache http server, colloquially called apache ( ), is the world's most widely-used web server software. originally based on the ncsa httpd server, development of apache began in early 1995 after work on the ncsa code stalled. apache played a key role in the initial growth of the world wide web,netcraft market share for top servers across all domains august 1995 - today (monthly updated) quickly overtaking ncsa httpd as the dominant http server, and has remained the most popular http server since april 1996. in 2009, it became the first web server software to serve more than 100 million web sites. apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the apache software foundation. most commonly used on a unix-like system,os/linux distributions using apache the software is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including unix, freebsd, linux, solaris, novell netware, os x, microsoft windows, os/2, tpf, openvms and ecomstation. released under the apache license, apache is open-source software. , apache was estimated to serve 54.2% of all active web sites and 53.3% of the top 
1995_software Apache_Software_Foundation Cross-platform_free_software Free_software_programmed_in_C Free_web_server_software Reverse_proxy Software_using_the_Apache_license Unix_network-related_software Web_server_software_for_Linux