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jksugu

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App Serv Vs Web Serv

What is Application Server and Webserver and differences?
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jeffkearns

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Avatar of Zlatin Zlatev
@jeffkearns, I am not the asker, but does this mean that Apache + PHP/Perl and IIS + ASP/ASP.NET/Perl are not Web servers but Application Servers...

I am getting confused about this. If it is so, as I have said above, give me an example of a Web Server...
According to me it is better explained here:
http://www.artima.com/legacy/answers/Oct2000/messages/321.html
http://www.artima.com/legacy/answers/Oct2000/messages/338.html
http://www.artima.com/legacy/answers/Oct2000/messages/290.html

All starting from
http://www.artima.com/legacy/answers/Oct2000/messages/241.html

So, If I have to come to a conclusion:
Web Server can have programming logic in it (ASP/PHP/JSP etc.). Thus it is simmilar to an Application Server, that is accessed through Web Server.
The key difference can be seen in a Client/Brocker/Server distributed (sometimes called erroneously multi-tier) application, where the client is users browser (HTML, Javascript), broker1 is the web server (ASP/PHP/JSP), server1/brocker2 is the application server (services, beans, other worker processes), server2 is the database server (final validators, triggers, stored procedures) As you will see from this - you can have program logic on each stage of the Client/Brocker/Server model, but it is not a requirement of the model.

You can have application server without having web-server attached to it - for example you can access the application server using DCOM, SOAP (SOAP can use not only HTTP as a communication protocol) or some other technology (including your own server application with sockets-communication implementation)
Also you can use your application server in your intranet, and to not expose any interface from it, to the web.

Hope it is much clearer now.
Kind Regards,
Zlatin
Avatar of jeffkearns
jeffkearns

I'm not going to split hairs. This is a 25 point question, and I explained it in VERY simplified terms.

Good day,

Jeff
Hey! Sorry, I have not wanted to offend you.
I was also wandering about this difference, when I came upon this topic area.
sorry again, typo - wondering, not wandering :))
Web Server software runs HTTP services and is able to host one or more Web Sites. Each sites is a collection of various documents and applications: html, graphics, links, etc that would form the Web. This contents is delivered to Web Clients over networks using http.

Application server software goes one step further. It is possible to develop and deploy applications implementing features of J2EE 1.3 (standard for developing multi-tier applications). Servlets, applets, JSP, EJB, JMX, JNDI, JDBC are among the technologies used to make this work. Finally, Application server is responsible for connecting client with database server and for serving information contained in them (often Application Server are called middleware).

Hope this help

JF
@jeffkearns it is long time since you have posted this question. Have you solved your problem?
zlatev,

I didn't ask this question, jksugu did.

Jeff
Sorry :) my mistake
I would recommend acception of the first comment (jeffkearns) because:

1. While his answer is not very precise, it is correct answer
2. He is the first one to comment the issue
3. Question is 25 pts worth and point split is N/A