APACHE-TOMCAT can anybody elaborate which one is web-server and web-container?

Question

HI Most of the time I read Tomcat is Web-server.. Sometimes I read Tomcat is web-container.. Sometimes I read Apache is web-server.. I am bit puzzled.. Can anybody explain it properly?

Thanks..

Answer 1

It's been several years since I've worked with Tomcat, but I believe I can answer your question. Tomcat is a JSP Servlet Container. It also has a built-in web server. So I think the answer to your question is that Tomcat is both server and container. It may (and I have never done this, but I think I recall reading about it) be possible for Tomcat to run under Apache, and allow Apache to handle all the static HTML pages and such. Apache is a web server, and thus much better at high-volume static page loads and such than Tomcat, which is intended for dynamic pages.

Answer 2

Apache HTTP Server - or HTTPD (D for deamon) - is the number one HTTP server and it is commonly referred to as "Apache". Actually, almost nobody uses the full name even if this is a kind of abuse . So, "Apache" means the web server ("a patchy server" originally).

Apache Tomcat is a Servlet/JSP container, it is used to serve dynamically generated content using the Servlet API. Apache Tomcat can also act as a web server and serve static files (like images, css) but this is not its primary function (and Apache, the web Server, does a better job at this¹). It is often referred to as "Tomcat".

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¹ Apache (the web server) can be used as a frontend to Apache Tomcat. When used together, Apache forwards the requests for dynamic content (Servlets/JSPs) to Tomcat but serves the static content.