The Apache Software Foundation has announced the availability of Apache 2.4, a major update of the popular open source HTTP server. The arrival of the new version, which is the first major release of Apache in six years, coincides with the software's 17th anniversary.

The Apache project emerged in 1995 around a fork of a Web server that was originally developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Apache became the Web's number one HTTP server is currently used by 400 million websites around the world, powering roughly 60 percent of all active domains.

The new version of Apache introduces a number of new features and technical improvements that will help it retain its standing. The developers say that version 2.4 is significantly more efficient than its predecessor, offering better performance and lower resource consumption.

"This release delivers a host of evolutionary enhancements throughout the server that our users, administrators, and developers will welcome," Apache server vice president Eric Covener wrote in a statement. "We've added many new modules in this release, as well as broadened the capability and flexibility of existing features".

One improvement that is particularly worth noting is that the multiprocessing module system (MPM) has been improved so that the desired module can be selected at runtime. Various MPMs implement different behaviors for how the HTTP server spreads its workload across threads and processes.

Previously, the desired module had to be selected during the configuration step of the build process. In version 2.4, it's now possible to select multiple MPMs during configuration and specify the one that should be used at runtime. This will offer more flexibility in Apache deployments.

Although Apache is highly popular and deeply entrenched, it is facing some fresh competition from nginx, an open source Web server that has seen dramatic growth in adoption over the past year. The latest statistics show that nginx has become the second most popular server, surpassing Microsoft's IIS.

Adopters generally cite superior performance as the reason why they replace Apache with nginx. According to some benchmarks (PDF) demonstrated by Apache Software Foundation president Jim Jagielski, Apache 2.4 offers competitive performance.

For more details about the release, you can refer to the official launch announcement. An overview of the new features can be found in the Apache 2.4 documentation.

Listing image by Photograph by Shane Curcuru