<
World-Wide Web> A configuration of a
World-Wide Web
server that appears to
clients as an independent
server
but which is actually running on a computer that is shared by
any number of other
virtual servers. Each
virtual server can
be configured as an independent
website, with its own
hostname, content, and security settings.
DNS maps the hostnames of all
virtual servers on one
physical
server to its
IP address. The web
server software
then uses the "Host" header in the
HTTP request to determine
which
virtual server the request was for, and then processes
the request using that
virtual server's configuration.
Virtual servers allow
Internet Service Providers to share
one computer between multiple
websites while allowing the
owner of each website to use and administer the
server as
though they had complete control.
(2003-06-23)