Apache Web Server (Apache HTTP Server) is an open source HTTP web server for modern operating systems including UNIX and Windows.
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InterSystems Ensemble (legacy product)
Score 9.5 out of 10
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Ensemble from global company InterSystems was a middleware and application infrastructure offering. It is a legacy product, now replaced by InterSystems IRIS.
Well Suited: Perfect for hosting your own website. And, I don't mean just an individual with a port of MySpace. I mean an industrial strength, commercial grade replacement for Microsoft IIS. If you need a web server that provides a feature-rich environment with support for multiple sites (hosted in the same server), with such features as virtual hosting, and modular feature design, than Apache Web Server is right on the money. Less Well-Suited: Single page, small feature-set websites. Apache is a lot of trouble for developers to set up, just to send/receive JSON strings of a few bytes. You're really better off using something smaller and faster/simpler (lighttpd for example).
If you want to connect different environments, laboratories, companies, etc. Each one uses its own system and services to transmit information. Instead of having to make costly developments for each of the companies to connect, with a single common process many companies could be integrated in very short times. It offers a wide range of common architectures and methods that reduce development time by almost 75%. You do not need to add databases, complex automation connection systems, etc., ... everything is in the same application.
Apache is Open Source, governed well (the foundation) and probably the most stable computing platform ever.
Apache is probably one of the most customizable and configurable pieces of software that I have ever run across in more than 30 years of development.
If there is something that Apache can not do, then you need to ask yourself; should I be doing that? The point here is that it is a solid solution and seems to only integrate other technologies that are of the highest caliber.
Apache will live forever and you can not go wrong with it.
Easy to use: The simplicity of its programming language allows fast learning. Visual environment to generate complex code.
Robust: A fall of the system will not be a problem. Never again will information of the transactions in progress be lost. Never more messages lost.
Connect to the world: The most popular connection is possible to implement quickly. FTP, File folder, TCP, SMPT, REST.... all method are ready to use. Only define "where" and "how"
Given that Ensemble and Cache are one of if not the only true fully object orientated database/development technologies for massive transactional data systems its customizability is extensive and it just comes down to the creativity of the developer to get the products to pretty much do whatever they want to do with it. However, this is not necessarily obvious to newcomers to the technology.
The developer community could do with greater participation from the software developers/application specialists and engineers within InterSystems.
More extensive documentation and greater access to proven working solutions particularly in the realm of some of the lesser known or new and upcoming technologies.
I give this rating because there is so much Apache documentation and information on the web that you can literally do anything. This has to do with the fact that there is a huge Open Source community that is beyond mature and perhaps one of the most helpful to be found. The only thing that should hold anyone back from anything is that they can not read. RTFM, my friend. And I must say that the manual is excellent.
I have yet to raise an issue with InterSystems WRC that they have been unable to resolve to my satisfaction in the 20+ years that I have worked with their products.
The comparison with other products from IBM or Oracle is difficult. These are mostly software that has to be paid for. The only fair comparison at eye level is probably the NGINX web server: It is also free and offers even higher performance. In the meantime, there is also a paid Plus version of NGINX. This has extended support and special functions.
There is just no comparison. Try it and see for yourself. Furthermore based on information from software houses I have interacted with over the years it far out paces products like WebSphere.
Apache web server helped us in building client applications without much investment in the underlying server configuration which gives us the ability to start on a new project quickly and upgrade its resources as and when needed.
Using software which is well-supported by a community of open source contributors makes tasks easy and affordable when need help since a couple of minutes on Google saves a couple of dollars every time and you don't need a specialized support person unless there is something significant needing to be changed.
I was able to develop a fully functional integration engine linking pharmacy systems with pharmacy robotics in less than three months in comparison with the year that the previous software development company had taken to develop a solution that was incomplete and did not work using Microsoft technology.
The engine I developed was so stable and adaptable that it quickly replaced the equivalent engine supplied by the robot manufacturers own software development team.
It has proven to be so effective that it is now the product of choice for future developments within the organization replacing Microsoft technologies which were the previous company standard.
