VMware vFabric Web Server
Fast and Secure Apache HTTP Server
vFabric Web Server can be purchased as part of vFabric Standard or vFabric Advanced.
Overview
VMware vFabric™ Web Server is the HTTP server and loadbalancing component of the VMware vFabric Cloud Application Platform. VMware vFabric Web Server provides excellent performance and security and improves service quality, reliability and scalability by uniquely enhancing Apache HTTP Server for enterprise use while reducing the costs and complexity of sophisticated Web tier infrastructures.
Higher Performance
Precompiled Apache builds deliver up to 100
percent performance improvement, save costs
in extra hardware capacity, and increase uptime.
Faster Deployment and Lower Costs
Precompiled builds yield simple installation and
setup without testing, dramatically reducing time
from three days to as little as 30 minutes.
Rapid Security Vulnerability Resolution
RADARnet (rapid detection and response network)
delivers alerts, patches and work-arounds for bug
and security vulnerabilities—often before public
alerts are issued.
Guaranteed Bug Fixes
Leading Apache developers on staff provide
support and bug fixes, which they can then
commit to the next version of the project.
Managed Updates
Notifications and scheduled updates eliminate
mistakes. Binary updates can be dropped into
running systems.
Certified Enterprise Ready
Certified and QA-tested with best security practices
and correct versioning for enterprise use.
VMware vFabric Web Server Highlights
- Increased scalability – Ensure scalable manageability for multiple Web sites and servers, even under burst workload conditions; run and manage hundreds of Apache instances.
- Reduced deployment times – Reduce deployment time with preconfigured instances of Apache. Update and patch vFabric Web Server across all servers at once.
- Increased security – Keep your web tier secure with faster patch availability, often before public alerts are issued.
Key Features and Functionality
VMware vFabric Web Server is built on Apache 2.2, the latest stable version of the popular HTTP server, and runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 instances on VMware vSphere®. In addition to including Apache httpd and its core modules, vFabric Web Server includes:
- mod_ftp, to serve content using the FTP protocol
- mod_fcgid, a FastCGI implementation that enables you to run Perl and PHP scripts
- openssl, for securely sending Web pages to browsers using the SSL encryption standard
- openldap, an open-source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
- mod_proxy_balancer, for load balancing support for HTTP and FTP protocols
- mod_jk, which handles communication between Tomcat and Apache
- mod_bmx, for performance monitoring using VMware vFabric Hyperic
- libexpat, an XML parser
- libapr and libaprutil, for API standardization
- zlib, for content compression
VMware vFabric Web Server supports almost all certificate authorities including VeriSign, Thawte, Entrust and Equifax. Additionally, it supports the Rainbow CryptoSwift and nCipher nFast acceleration cards.
Deep Apache Expertise
More than 400 of the world's largest organizations count on VMware to deliver mission-critical support for their Apache Web server systems. Our technical staff is deeply involved with the Apache Software Foundation, and we employ experts who work on Apache HTTPD projects full-time as code committers. Through our experience and technical expertise, we provide superior support to our customers to reduce costs and free resources with no license fees and no vendor lock-in. Because of our technical leadership on Apache projects, we guarantee rapid bug fixes and provide patches to our customers' Apache code. We then commit the fixes to the next release of the opensource project
Product Updates and Security Patches
RADARnet provides alerts, patches and work-arounds—often before others are aware of the existence of a problem.
Support customers receive a standard, certified, easy-to-install software build, constant product updates, security alerts and patches, guaranteed bug fixes, indemnification on all the software in the vFabric Web Server bundle, and technical support, all for a single annual fee.
Support Service Levels
VMware vFabric Web Server subscription plans are available with three different support offerings, from business-hour coverage to complete 24-7 support. All plans include access to our online knowledge base and FAQs, as well as downloadable documentation.
| Benefits Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Benefits | Self-supported Apache | WMware vFabric Web Server |
| Forums and mailing lists |  |
|
| Guaranteed bug fixes | |
|
| Customer support portal and knowledge base | |
|
| Regularly scheduled product updates and upgrades | |
|
| Timely security vulnerability alerts and fixes | |
|
| Reduced internal support and deployment costs | |
|
| Reduced downtime (expert support and binary patches/updates) | |
|
| Simple installation and server deployment | |
|
| Higher performance (up to 100 percent faster than other builds) | |
|
| Built-in and configured development languages (PHP and Perl) | |
|
| Built-in and configured security (FTP, Proxy, SSL, LDAP) | |
|
| Indemnification for all open-source components | |
|
Documentation:
Download the VMware vFabric Web Server Datasheet (PDF).