- Webserver serves pages for viewing in web browser, application server provides exposes business logic for client applications through various protocols.
- Webserver exclusively handles http requests. application server serves business logic to application programs through any number of protocols.
- Webserver delegation model is fairly simple, when the request comes into the webserver, it simply passes the request to the program best able to handle it (Server side program). It may not support transactions and database connection pooling.
- Application server is more capable of dynamic behavior than webserver. We can also configure application server to work as a webserver.Simply application server is a superset of webserver.
- Web Server serves static HTML pages or gifs, jpegs, etc., and can also run code written in CGI, JSP etc. A Web server handles the HTTP protocol. Eg of some web server are IIS or apache.
- An Application Server is used to run business logic or dynamically generated presentation code. It can either be .NET based or J2EE based (BEA WebLogic Server, IBM WebSphere, JBoss).
- A J2EE application server runs servlets and JSPs (infact a part of the app server called web container is responsible for running servlets and JSPs) that are used to create HTML pages dynamically. In addition, J2EE application server can run EJBs – which are used to execute business logic.
- An Application server has a ‘built-in’ web server, in addition to that it supports other modules or features like e-business integration, independent management and security module etc.
Web Server: 1. Protocol dependent (Handle HTTP only) 2. Responsible to execute Servlets and JSP Application Server: 1. Protocol independent 2. Responsible for handle components such as web component & EJB components 3. Application Server = Webserver + EJB container
A Web Server understands and supports only HTTP protocol whereas an Application Server supports HTTP,TCP/IP and many more protocols. Also many more features such as Caches,Clusters,Load Balancing are there in Application Servers which are not available in Web Servers. We can also Configure Application Servers to work as Web Server. In short, Applicaion Server is a super set of which Web Server is a sub set.
Stack Over Flow :
Post1 :
Most of the times these terms Web Server and Application server are used interchangeably.
Following are some of the key differences in features of Web Server and Application Server:
In some cases the servers are tightly integrated such as IIS and .NET Runtime. IIS is web server. when equipped with .NET runtime environment IIS is capable of providing application services.
Post2 :
Following are some of the key differences in features of Web Server and Application Server:
- Web Server is designed to serve HTTP Content. App Server can also serve HTTP Content but is not limited to just HTTP. It can be provided other protocol support such as RMI/RPC
- Web Server is mostly designed to serve static content. Though most of the Web Servers are having plugins to support scripting languages like Perl, PHP, ASP, JSP etc. through which these servers can generate dynamic HTTP content.
- Most of the application servers have Web Server as integral part of them, that means App Server can do whatever Web Server is capable of. Additionally App Server have components and features to support Application level services such as Connection Pooling, Object Pooling, Transaction Support, Messaging services etc.
- As web servers are well suited for static content and app servers for dynamic content, most of the production environments have web server acting as reverse proxy to app server. That means while service a page request, static contents such as images/Static html is served by web server that interprets the request. Using some kind of filtering technique (mostly extension of requested resource) web server identifies dynamic content request and transparently forwards to app server
In some cases the servers are tightly integrated such as IIS and .NET Runtime. IIS is web server. when equipped with .NET runtime environment IIS is capable of providing application services.
Post2 :
As many have said before, web servers handle
HTTP petitions, while application servers handle petitions for
distributed components.
So, maybe the easiest way to understand the difference is to compare the
two products in regards to programming environment they offer.
Tomcat : Servlet
Jetty : Servlet
Apache : Php, CGI
WAS : EJB
JBoss : EJB
WebLogic Application Server : EJB
The crucial difference is that application servers support some distributed component technology, providing features like remote invocation and distributed transactions, like EJB in Java world or COM+ on Microsoft platform. Http server often support some more simple programming environments, often scripting, like ASP (.NET) in case of Microsoft or Servlet--based, including JSP and many other in case of Java or PHP and CGI in case of Apache.
Other capabilities like load-balancing, clustering, session-failover, connection pooling etc. that used to be in the realm of application servers, are becoming available on web servers as well directly or through some third party products.
Finally, it is worth noting that the picture is further distorted with "lightweight containers" like Spring Framework, that often supplement the purpose of application servers in more simple manner and without the application server infrastructure. And since distribution aspect in applications is moving from distributed component towards service paradigm and SOA architecture, there is less and less space left for traditional application servers.
Web Server -> Programming Environment
IIS : ASP (.NET)Tomcat : Servlet
Jetty : Servlet
Apache : Php, CGI
Application Servers -> Programming Environment
MTS : COM+WAS : EJB
JBoss : EJB
WebLogic Application Server : EJB
The crucial difference is that application servers support some distributed component technology, providing features like remote invocation and distributed transactions, like EJB in Java world or COM+ on Microsoft platform. Http server often support some more simple programming environments, often scripting, like ASP (.NET) in case of Microsoft or Servlet--based, including JSP and many other in case of Java or PHP and CGI in case of Apache.
Other capabilities like load-balancing, clustering, session-failover, connection pooling etc. that used to be in the realm of application servers, are becoming available on web servers as well directly or through some third party products.
Finally, it is worth noting that the picture is further distorted with "lightweight containers" like Spring Framework, that often supplement the purpose of application servers in more simple manner and without the application server infrastructure. And since distribution aspect in applications is moving from distributed component towards service paradigm and SOA architecture, there is less and less space left for traditional application servers.
Rose India :
A Web server handles the HTTP protocol. When the Web server receives an HTTP request, it responds with an HTTP response, such as sending back an HTML page.
A Web server handles the HTTP protocol. When
the Web server receives an HTTP request, it responds with an HTTP
response, such as sending back an HTML page. To process a request, a Web
server may respond with a static HTML page or image, send or redirect,
or delegate the dynamic response generation to some other program such
as CGI scripts, JSPs (JavaServer Pages), servlets, ASPs (Active Server
Pages), server-side JavaScripts, or some other server-side technology.
Whatever their purpose, such server-side programs generate a response,
most often in HTML, for viewing in a Web browser.
The web server simply passes the request to the program to handle it. The web server does not provides any functionality beyond providing an environment in which the server - side program can execute and pass back the generated responses. The server-side program usually provides such functions as transaction processing, database connectivity and messing .
The web server simply passes the request to the program to handle it. The web server does not provides any functionality beyond providing an environment in which the server - side program can execute and pass back the generated responses. The server-side program usually provides such functions as transaction processing, database connectivity and messing .
Application Server
While an application server exposes business logic to client applications through various protocols like HTTP, TCP-IP etc. All the web servers mainly deals with sending HTML for displaying to a Web browser. An application server providers allows the client to access the business logic for use. The application server is used to run business logic or dynamically generating presentation code. A J2EE application server runs servlets and JSPs that are used to create HTML pages dynamically. In this case, J2EE application server can run EJBs ? which are used to execute business logic. An application server is more capable of dynamic behaviour than webserver.
While an application server exposes business logic to client applications through various protocols like HTTP, TCP-IP etc. All the web servers mainly deals with sending HTML for displaying to a Web browser. An application server providers allows the client to access the business logic for use. The application server is used to run business logic or dynamically generating presentation code. A J2EE application server runs servlets and JSPs that are used to create HTML pages dynamically. In this case, J2EE application server can run EJBs ? which are used to execute business logic. An application server is more capable of dynamic behaviour than webserver.
Java World :
Taking a big step back, a Web server serves pages for viewing in a Web browser, while an application server provides methods that client applications can call. A little more precisely, you can say that:
A Web server exclusively handles HTTP requests, whereas an application server serves business logic to application programs through any number of protocols.Let's examine each in more detail.
The Web server
A Web server handles the HTTP protocol. When the Web server receives an HTTP request, it responds with an HTTP response, such as sending back an HTML page. To process a request, a Web server may respond with a static HTML page or image, send a redirect, or delegate the dynamic response generation to some other program such as CGI scripts, JSPs (JavaServer Pages), servlets, ASPs (Active Server Pages), server-side JavaScripts, or some other server-side technology. Whatever their purpose, such server-side programs generate a response, most often in HTML, for viewing in a Web browser.Understand that a Web server's delegation model is fairly simple. When a request comes into the Web server, the Web server simply passes the request to the program best able to handle it. The Web server doesn't provide any functionality beyond simply providing an environment in which the server-side program can execute and pass back the generated responses. The server-side program usually provides for itself such functions as transaction processing, database connectivity, and messaging.
While a Web server may not itself support transactions or database connection pooling, it may employ various strategies for fault tolerance and scalability such as load balancing, caching, and clustering—features oftentimes erroneously assigned as features reserved only for application servers.
The application server
As for the application server, according to our definition, an application server exposes business logic to client applications through various protocols, possibly including HTTP. While a Web server mainly deals with sending HTML for display in a Web browser, an application server provides access to business logic for use by client application programs. The application program can use this logic just as it would call a method on an object (or a function in the procedural world).Such application server clients can include GUIs (graphical user interface) running on a PC, a Web server, or even other application servers. The information traveling back and forth between an application server and its client is not restricted to simple display markup. Instead, the information is program logic. Since the logic takes the form of data and method calls and not static HTML, the client can employ the exposed business logic however it wants.
In most cases, the server exposes this business logic through a component API, such as the EJB (Enterprise JavaBean) component model found on J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) application servers. Moreover, the application server manages its own resources. Such gate-keeping duties include security, transaction processing, resource pooling, and messaging. Like a Web server, an application server may also employ various scalability and fault-tolerance techniques.
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