It's hard to believe it has been 15 years since the Apache Web Server was first created. I'm sure we could all sit here and ruminate, quoting stories and telling tales of great excitement in the data center from years past. But instead, I'd just like to mention a simple truth that shows just why Apache is the Web server of choice for most of the Internet. Every time I have recently been privy to a troubleshooting session in an enterprise, there is one commonality when they're using Apache: they always rule it out as a point of failure immediately. If you're using a stable Apache, you can be almost positive that your problems have nothing to do with the actual server itself.

It's that stable. And has been for at least 10 years. That's not to say some of the mods that can be added to the server aren't glitchy from time to time. But when you get right down to it, the Apache Web Server is, generally, the most stable and reliable part of any Web stack. And that's why, after 15 years, it's still the only reasonable open source choice. New HTTPd servers come and go, and every time I see someone talk about LightHTTPd, or some other replacement for Apache, invariably, there is an email to Bugtraq a week later that renders the advantages moot due to some newfound security risk.

It says a lot that any security problem in Apache Web Server is immediate front page news. Mainly because they occur about as often as the Olympics. Anyone care to share an Apache story?