Apache Cookbook Book Review

Solutions and Examples for Apache Administrators

This version of Apache Cookbook covers Apache versions 1.3 and 2.0. The Apache Cookbook is a collection of problems, solutions and practical examples for all programmers and administrators.

All O’Reilly Cookbook books are really good at providing practical examples of how to use a certain technology and complete everyday problems.

Apache Cookbook has 12 main chapters, the first of which covers the installation of Apache whilst the second chapter covers installing common apache modules including mod_perl, mod_php and mod_dav etc.

There is information on gathering and logging information via Apache, there is also information on setting up and maintaining virtual hosts and how to use redirects, aliases and how to complete Apache rewriting.

There is a long chapter on Apache security which covers topics such as managing .htpasswd files, lifting selective restrictions, storing user credentials on a MySQL database, setting correct file permissions and many more.

A chapter on dynamic content includes setting up and using CGI a well as enabling PHP scripting. There are also chapters on error handling and dealing with proxies.

A very important chapter which is included is about performance. Such topics discussed are determining how much memory you need in your server, avoiding DNS lookups, tuning thread creation, sharing load between apache servers, caching directory listings and caching frequently used files and many more.

Apache cookbook is a well laid out book, and easy to read, it also holds a lot of answers to questions you may be asking about the Apache web server.

This is a really good book for people who want to learn the basics of using and administering the Apache web server as well as being able to solve real world issues.