Zeus Web Server
Encyclopedia
Zeus Web Server is a proprietary
web server
for Unix
and Unix-like
platforms (currently Solaris, FreeBSD
, HP-UX
and Linux
). Support for AIX, Tru64, and Mac OS X
was dropped on 10 June 2008.
It is developed by Zeus Technology
, a software company located in Cambridge
, England
. The original authors and company founders were University of Cambridge
graduates Damian Reeves and Adam Twiss.
Zeus is designed to be a high-performance web server and was commonly used by hardware vendors submitting SPECweb99
benchmarks for their hardware. The SPECweb99 benchmark was retired in 2005 and replaced by SPECweb2005. While some SPECweb2005 submissions were made using Zeus, as of 2008 it is no longer among the top performers.
In addition to static content serving, Zeus supports dynamic content via CGI
, FastCGI
, Apache JServ, ISAPI
, NSAPI
, mod perl
, SSI
and Zeus Distributed Authentication and Content (ZDAC), a proprietary FastCGI-like protocol. While Zeus mainly competes with other commercial web servers such as Sun Java System Web Server, it also claims a high degree of compatibility with Apache HTTP Server
(e.g. .htaccess
and mod rewrite), with the expectation that Apache users will migrate to Zeus as their server load increases. NSAPI and ISAPI are supported to ease migrations from Microsoft IIS
and Sun Java System Web Server.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
web server
Web server
Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....
for Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
platforms (currently Solaris, FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
, HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
). Support for AIX, Tru64, and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
was dropped on 10 June 2008.
It is developed by Zeus Technology
Zeus Technology
Zeus Technology, Ltd. is a software company based in Cambridge, England. Zeus Technology, Inc. is a wholly owned US subsidiary.- Timeline :...
, a software company located in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The original authors and company founders were University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
graduates Damian Reeves and Adam Twiss.
Zeus is designed to be a high-performance web server and was commonly used by hardware vendors submitting SPECweb99
Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation
The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation is a non-profit organization that aims to "produce, establish, maintain and endorse a standardized set" of performance benchmarks for computers....
benchmarks for their hardware. The SPECweb99 benchmark was retired in 2005 and replaced by SPECweb2005. While some SPECweb2005 submissions were made using Zeus, as of 2008 it is no longer among the top performers.
In addition to static content serving, Zeus supports dynamic content via CGI
Common Gateway Interface
The Common Gateway Interface is a standard method for web servers software to delegate the generation of web pages to executable files...
, FastCGI
FastCGI
FastCGI is a protocol for interfacing interactive programs with a web server. FastCGI is a variation on the earlier Common Gateway Interface ; FastCGI's main aim is to reduce the overhead associated with interfacing the web server and CGI programs, allowing a server to handle more web page...
, Apache JServ, ISAPI
ISAPI
The Internet Server Application Programming Interface is an N-tier API of Internet Information Services , Microsoft's collection of Windows-based web server services...
, NSAPI
Netscape Server Application Programming Interface
The Netscape Server Application Programming Interface is an application programming interface for extending server software, typically web server software.-History:...
, mod perl
Mod perl
mod_perl is an optional module for the Apache HTTP server. It embeds a Perl interpreter into the Apache server, so that dynamic content produced by Perl scripts can be served in response to incoming requests, without the significant overhead of re-launching the Perl interpreter for each request...
, SSI
Server Side Includes
Server Side Includes is a simple interpreted server-side scripting language used almost exclusively for the Web.The most frequent use of SSI is to include the contents of one or more files into a web page on a web server...
and Zeus Distributed Authentication and Content (ZDAC), a proprietary FastCGI-like protocol. While Zeus mainly competes with other commercial web servers such as Sun Java System Web Server, it also claims a high degree of compatibility with 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...
(e.g. .htaccess
.htaccess
A .htaccess file is a directory-level configuration file supported by several web servers, that allows for decentralized management of web server configuration....
and mod rewrite), with the expectation that Apache users will migrate to Zeus as their server load increases. NSAPI and ISAPI are supported to ease migrations from Microsoft IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
and Sun Java System Web Server.