Apache Essentials: Install, Configure, Maintain (Pioneering Series)

Rating:
Summary: Concise coverage
Review: Harkness does a nice job of two things. First, in arguing persuasively that you should use Apache as your web server. They cite the massive installed base; the largest of any web server. The only major competitor is Microsoft's Internet Information Server. But IIS has been continuously riddled with bugs. Whereas for Apache, these are rare. Plus, the Apache open source community can respond within a few days to a discovered bug. With IIS, you are dependent on Microsoft's schedule for a patch.

The second reason offered by him takes up the bulk of the book. Namely, how to install and maintain it. But this is not a bulky book. As he shows, the Apache community has expended serious effort in making this as painless as possible. Even for the tyro sysadmin, if that happens to be you.

Harkness gives details on how to use Secure Sockets Layer, and making log files, for example. In the latter case, he doesn't seem to say explicitly, but the log files still are not the easiest thing to analyse, even with what Apache offers you. There are independent programs that do a neat job of analysing and summarising those files. But these are not part of Apache, and so outside the book's purview. The good news is that if you get to this point in your usage, you will be very familiar with Apache.

Rating:
Summary: Best basic guide - not a technical guide for power users
Review: While this book will not make you an Apache guru it does give you all the basics you need to get an Apache server up and running on Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X. The author literally starts at the very beginning by discussing what a web server is and the basics of how one works. From there he examines the history of the Apache web server and how it compares to Microsoft IIS as well as which operating system might be the best one for you. Each server operating system has its pros and cons when used as an Apache server and each benefit and shortcoming is listed.

Installation of the Apache server is also covered from the very beginning with how to get the source code. After installing the program the author turns to configuring the server, setting up your domain, and setting up users. He even covers setting up virtual hosting so you can host multiple web sites on one IP address.

On the positive side the book covers all the essentials for basic setup and configuration of an Apache server including information on setting up Perl, PHP, and Server Side Includes. On the negative side it leaves out a lot of detail on the configuration files and other items. If you need to do anything different or unusual you will need another book. "Apache Essentials" is a recommended book if you need a good overview that has all the basic information to get Apache up and running quickly with a standard configuration.