Configuring and Managing MPE/iX Internet Services (July 2001)

158 Chapter9
Apache for MPE/iX
Feature Set
Cookies
Cookies are pieces of information generated by the web
server and sent back to the browser for storage. For
each subsequent request from the same client, the
cookie is returned to the server. Cookies are useful for
tracking which clients are accessing a server.
Server-side Imagemaps
Server-side imagemaps are zones defined in an image
that, when clicked, will send the client to a different
URL. This functionality has largely been replaced by
the newer client-side imagemaps. Client-side
imagemaps are implemented by a browser and are
more efficient since there is no need to return to the
server for a redirect to the intended target page.
URL Alias and Redirection
One part of the server’s file system is mapped to
another part when URL aliasing or redirection is used.
This is useful for accessing documents outside of the
document tree.
Directory Indexing
For URLs ending in a “/” (a directory request), Apache
will return either an index file or a directory listing.
The behavior is determined by what is configured in the
httpd.conf file.
Fix Typos in URLS
Apache will correct single character misspellings in a
URL and will return the file it thinks you want.
As-is Files
Apache has the ability to send documents to a client
without HTTP headers. This is useful for document
writers who what to write their own headers.
Proxy Server
Apache can act as a proxy server, or intermediary, when
clients make web server requests. Instead of a client
making a direct request to the web server, the client
makes a request to the proxy server. The proxy server
then makes the actual request to the web server or can
simply return a cached document without actually
contacting the web server.