mod_proxy is an optional module for the Apache HTTP Server

Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...

 .

This module implements a proxy/gateway/cache for Apache. It implements proxying

Proxy server

In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...

 capability for or AJP13 (Apache JServ Protocol version 1.3), FTP, CONNECT (for SSL

Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer , are cryptographic protocols that provide communication security over the Internet...

), HTTP/0.9, HTTP/1.0, and (since Apache 1.3.23) HTTP/1.1. The module can be configured to connect to other proxy modules for these and other protocols.

One powerful feature of Apache is flexible virtual hosting

Virtual hosting

Virtual hosting is a method for hosting multiple domain names on a server using a single IP address. This allows one server to share its resources, such as memory and processor cycles, in order to use its resources more efficiently....

 — multiple virtual hosts on a single machine. This is a convenient way to partition separate websites and applications. With mod_proxy it is possible to set various web framework based applications up as virtual hosts as well .

mod_proxy can help to improve LAMP

LAMP (software bundle)

LAMP is an acronym for a solution stack of free, open source software, referring to the first letters of Linux , Apache HTTP Server, MySQL and PHP , principal components to build a viable general purpose web server.The GNU project is advocating people to use the term "GLAMP" since what is known as...

 security or to strip SSL from HTTP requests .

History

This module was experimental in Apache 1.1.x .

As of Apache 1.2, mod_proxy stability was greatly improved .

Since Apache 2.0 proxy features are divided into several modules in addition to mod_proxy: mod proxy http, mod proxy ftp and mod proxy connect — moreover caching is provided by mod cache and related modules .

Since Apache 2.2 mod proxy ajp and mod proxy balancer added too .

See also

• Some general purpose Apache modules
• Some programming language interfaces for Apache

External links

• Apache module mod_proxy — for Apache 1.3.
• Apache module mod_proxy — for Apache 2.0.
• Apache module mod_proxy — for Apache 2.2.