web server & application server

 Difference between Web Server and Application Server

1. Web Server

A Web Server is defined as a server which accepts a request for data and sends the relevant document in return. 

In other words, it is a computer program that accepts a request for a specific document and sends it to the client machine.

Web servers are designed to serve HTTP content to the client computer. In most cases, the web servers are the integral parts of the application servers. Web servers accept the HTTP requests and interpret them to serve the requested content.

Although Web Servers are designed to serve static content, most Web Servers have plugins to support scripting languages like PHP, Perl, etc. through which they can generate dynamic HTTP content.

Ex - Apache Web Server.

2.Application Server

An application server is one that is designed to generate dynamic content. It is a software framework that transforms the data to provide specialized functionalities offered by a business, service, or application. Application servers enhance the interactive parts of a website depending on the context of the request.

Application servers contain web containers and EJB (Enterprise Java Bean) containers. Application servers are entirely responsible for creating an environment for enterprise applications. These servers are capable of supporting HTTP as well as RPC/PMI protocols. Application servers consume more resources like CPU, memory as compared to web servers.

Most Application Servers have a Web Server as an integral part, which means an Application Server can perform all the tasks that a Web Server does.

Ex - WebLogic, JBoss.

web server is a computer program that accepts HTTP request from clients and sends the requested documents, while an application server is one that helps us to host applications and provides an environment to develop and run an application program.