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Apache Books Media Software Book Reviews

Professional Apache 2.0 88

Posted by timothy from the will-be-your-server-tonight dept.
Robert Nagle writes: "Apache's HTTP server has been by many measures the most popular web server on the web, and perhaps the primary application that drives people to Linux and open source. Three years ago, Wrox published the definitive book on running the Apache server by Peter Wainwright. Excellent though the book was, it badly needed updating. In May 2002, Wrox published another book, Professional Apache 2.0, which covers the new generation of Apache server, as well as older 1.3x versions that are still running production servers around the world." Robert's review continues, below.
Professional Apache 2.0
author Peter Wainwright
pages 873
publisher Wrox
rating 5 Stars
reviewer Robert Nagle, Idiotprogrammer
ISBN 1861007221
summary Excellent, comprehensive Guide to the latest version of Apache.

Although Apache changed a great deal in its version 2.0, it is a credit to the Apache folk that the config files and command line options have basically remained the same for sys admins. For this reason, the book seems to include a lot of material (CGI security, building, core modules) from the original book. However, a closer look reveals many changes. Almost every chapter includes a discussion about how features differ in both versions of Apache. The book does a good job of giving an overview of Apache's architectural changes and how the use of multi-processing modules (MPM) allow the admin to choose an optimal implementation of apache. This edition, noticeably bigger than the previous one, contains many more examples of how one can extend apache functionality (configuring for binary distribution, setting up virtual interfaces, load sharing). Many sections have been expanded. The discussion of security and SSL is more detailed, yet more succinct; so is the section on content negotiation, (which is twice as long as the previous book), doing proxy server configurations, rsync and benchmarking performance. The discussion on hardening the server was great and up-to-date, although I wish the book spent more time discussing on patching and upgrading.

What is new to the book? We find a longer discussion of graphic administration tools for Windows and Unix, including webmin (which actually I wanted more of). We also have discussions of newer modules such as mod_ruby, mod_python, mod_dav as well as a brief description on how to install tomcat alongside apache. The discussion of mod_dav was especially helpful and interesting to me (and I was especially glad that the author acknowledged the Subversion DAV module, something which is bound to become more important). The php stuff hasn't changed much (although at the time the book was published, 2.0 compatibility with PHP was still an iffy proposition). The book's discussion of mod_perl isn't significantly different, although it does point out migration issues and some additional features.

Generally, the book is clearly written and contains enough examples to find any configuration you want. A few parts required rereading (especially the part about proxies and proxypasses), and occasionally I needed a better explanation of what the example code was supposed to do.

No book can be everything for everybody, and nobody can accuse the book of not having enough content (it is after all more than 700 pages!). I found myself wishing for other things. The book briefly discussed 2.0's support for ipv6, but I longed for a fuller explanation and a more detailed example (Fortunately, I had seen a good ipv6 tutorial on Linux Journal ). Also, I would have liked more information about other web application servers (like zope that Apache sometimes coexists with, content frameworks (such as cocoon) and other goodies produced by the Apache Foundation. The author might legitimately feel that such subjects lie outside the book's scope, but such topics are becoming more important.

In summary: for newbies who are looking for a guide to start with: this is the definitive book to read. It's definitive and a little imposing, but it is well written and logically arranged.

For people already familiar with Apache 1.3 but looking for more depth about ipv6, php, content frameworks or Tomcat, it might be better to read books on those specific subjects instead of this one. Indeed, Wrox will soon be coming out with a book specifically on Apache and Tomcat.

For experienced system administrators, the material in this book may not be terribly new, but they will still appreciate the variety of configuration examples for managing large numbers of virtual hosts and the convenience of having documentation of the 1.3/2.0 differences at their fingertips.

You can purchase Professional Apache 2.0 from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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Professional Apache 2.0

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  • The font of the main text was difficult to read after a long day's VDU-gazing. More importantly, some explanations are not expressed clearly enough to allow the meaning to sink in without the occasional paragraph re-read, and some sections could benefit from diagrams to illustrate the points.
  • Whats the situation with regard to mod_perl with Apache 2.0? Is it ready yet?

  • Review from ApacheWeek (Score:4, Informative)

    by Styros ( 144779 ) on Thursday September 05, 2002 @11:41AM (#4200338)
    ApacheWeek also has a review of this book found here, link [apacheweek.com]

  • Amazon link (Score:1, Informative)

    by bujoojoo ( 161227 )
    Here [amazon.com] is the Amazon link.
  • Adoption rates for Apache 2.0 will continue to be slow until things like PHP [php.net] are supported.

    No way until then.

    Yeah, you can "get it" to work, but when it's good and production stable then I'll consider it...

    • Man, what slack-jawed moderator scored this as flamebait?

      The comments made in the post are dead-on as far as I'm concerned. I run production web-servers, regardless of actual stability, I cannot justify running unsupported software combinations on production machines. I have an obligation to my clients to provide as stable an environment as possible. This means that I cannot upgrade to Apache 2.0 until PHP officially supports it, since I depend heavily on PHP.

      It doesn't mean that I'm saying anything bad about either one of them. In fact, it only means exactly what I said, I cannot upgrade until PHP is officially supported on Apache 2. Where in the @#$% does anyone get the idea this is flamebait?
  • a book / reference that is more tuned to writing apache 2 modules? (rather than installation / administration which the ones mentioned so far have been)

    thanks
    andy

  • A couple of years ago I get an interesting e-mail from an "author agent" from Wrox. They were looking to publish a book about Perl and asked if I was interested.

    No, not in writing the book -- in writing a chapter. Apparently they go out and find programmers off the Internet to each write a chapter of the book. Well, I thought that was a strange way to run a railroad, but what the hell. I asked her about the compensation package.

    $1000. Plus $1000 as an "on-time" bonus. No royalties.

    Well, that totally sucked. And on top of that, the deadline was like two weeks away! So I was supposed to write a quality chapter (presumably with lots of tested examples) in two weeks. For $2,000. Yeah right. That's going to produce a quality product.

    Ever since then, I've never gone near Wrox books. This one might be different, but screw them. I don't trust them at all.

    • You may as well stay away from Sams, Que, and all the rest too. This is how most if not all tech publishers work. I've been approached a few times. I have a friend who has participated in the process. It's not so bad, though the deadline you suggest is unusual. Either way, they all use collaborative writing and low compensation as the norm. Wrox still puts out the most consistently good tech books of them all, imo.
    • Oh well.

      As a consumer I care about the quality of the end product, not the process that creates it. I am sure that statement gets those Six Sigma and ISO900X gurus' panties in a bunch but it remains true. If someone writes quality work, I could care less how long it took to write.
    • Uhh, I know many people who have written computer books, and $2000 for a chapter is not too shabby at all. If the book becomes a huge massive hit then yes, not getting royalties would be too bad, but if you really expect a huge amount more than $2000 for one chapter of a computer book, I think you're aiming way too high.
    • You may not like the process, but I have several Wrox books, including the first edition of the Apache book reviewed here, and all of them are excellent. When they use the marketing phrase "programmer-to-programmer", they really mean it. Wrox Rocks.
      ---scott

    • I Am a Wrox Author (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I can comment on this having written material for two of WROX's books (never you mind which ones)...

      You are correct in that they prefer "multi-author" books. This achieves a couple of things. First, the book is turned out in a much shorter amount of time. This is a legitimate business model, one that adheres to time-to-market and competitiveness. Of course, it takes a very good editor to manage multiple authors and to coordinate their activities. I wish that I could say that my editor was one of them. Sadly, s/he was not. There was *zero* communication between the authors and, in fact, we didn't even know who the other authors were until we got close to publication time. As a result, we also did not know what was being included in the book. This was unfortunate since it would have resulted in a better product overall. In spite of that, however, the book was very well received and sold quite a bit.

      The advantage of the multi-author approach is that it provides us as authors with more time to focus on a particular topic. Furthermore, each author can be picked for their relative area of expertise and right on that. So, for example, with a book on J2EE, the person writing on JMS should be more knowledgeable than the person writing on EJB. Similarly, a person writing about Servlets may not know as much about LDAP. Having each author focus on one or a few topics will (hopefully) provide a better treatment of each topic.

      From the perspective of royalties, Wrox isn't all that bad. If you write a single chapter, you get paid $1,000. That might not sound like much but no one writes technical books with the hope of getting rich. Not on royalties, at least. You make it up on the "bragging rights" when you go on a job interview. Although, be warned that in the current economy, this can backfire on you. Many authors, myself included, have had a difficult time finding work because many recruiters assume that our rates will be to high since we are published. So, they don't even bother to ask. Once I removed the book credits (and articles and lectures and....) I started getting a lot of offers.

      If you write more than one chapter, you get a cut of the royalties. Wrox pays 10% of the sale price (less returns) as a royaly. This 10% gets split among all of the authors who are participating in royalties (this list does not include those who got paid a set fee). Thus, if a book has 10 authors splitting the royalties, you will get 1% of the sale price. If a book sales at $35, that means that you're getting a whopping 35 cents per book. Less taxes. Like I said, no one writes these things to get rich.

      The sad reality of all of this is that you don't end up seeing much money as a result of your efforts. I have received pretty much zilch for my contributions. The only saving grace is that royalty-based authors get a (small) advance.

      One major complaint that I have against Wrox is that they treat your work as a "Right-to-hire." Work that I did for one book has since been used in others, with nothing paid to me save a small credit inside. This is akin to musicians not being paid for when their music appears on one of those compilation CD's.

      I love the idea of writing a book. I very much would like to do it again. However, I would not do it again with Wrox. If you are an aspiring author, I would strongly suggest O'Reilly or A!Press, both of whom have very solid track records with their author-relationships.

      Wrox, my love....you helped me realize a life-long dream and for that I am ever thankful. But like my first real girlfriend, you may have popped my cherry, but you're not the one that I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with.

      • Wrox, my love....you helped me realize a life-long dream and for that I am ever thankful. But like my first real girlfriend, you may have popped my cherry, but you're not the one that I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with.

        Indeed. That's what they're counting on. To carry the analogy further, it's not unlike a girl who knows you are so desperate to get laid that you'll spend any amount of money to get into her pants. So you wine, dine and travel only to get a modiocre payoff (if anything).

        I get the feeling that Wrox trolls the Internet looking for poor, unrecognized saps that they can talk into doing a helluva lot of work for next-to-no money just for the privilege of "being a published author". In my case, I wouldn't mind doing a book, but I'll be damned if I'm going to accept slave wages for it.

        Unfortunately, there are probably a LOT of people they can talk into doing it. Oh well; I guess I can't fault them for finding a niche and exploiting it.

        • Oh well; I guess I can't fault them for finding a niche and exploiting it.

          Isn't that the same argument free-market capitalists use to excuse drug dealers?

          In other words, if no-one sees anything wrong with this behaviour then it will continue. But if enough people tell them that they won't be buying their books because they object to their policies, they have to keep hunting out new audiences as they disillusion all of those they come into contact with.

          • Well, I think the difference is that we're talking about normally well-paid professionals. It's hard to argue that people of that class are "exploited" when it's their own ego that causes them to be exploited.

            • Yeah, I get your point. Still, a lot of people maintain that drug 'addiction' is a matter of choice, as well. :)

              I think it ends up being a karma thing; if they treat people like that long enough eventually it will rebound on them. And I'll have to hope it works that way.

  • That's funny... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Pyrosophy ( 259529 ) on Thursday September 05, 2002 @12:59PM (#4200803)
    Apache's HTTP server has been by many measures the most popular web server on the web, and perhaps the primary application that drives people to Linux and open source.

    And here I thought Microsoft Windows was the primary application that drives people to Linux and open source...

  • more like BSD and open source (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Ahem, that should read "drive people towards BSD and open source." linux is an evil copycat OS which is nothing new and has set back the state of computing by 10 years with its still unstable vm, non-standard networking, and lossy filesystem.

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