HTTP Server basic functions include EBCDIC/ASCII file access, performance and usage monitoring, tracing and logging, server side include (SSI), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Management Information Base (MIB), cookies support, Multi-Format Processing, persistent connections, and virtual hosts.

• EBCDIC/ASCII file access

  The server accesses files and converts them, if needed, from EBCDIC to ASCII encoding.

• Performance and usage monitoring

  As part of the z/OS® features, HTTP Server can produce system management facilities (SMF) records that the system programmer can retrieve later to do performance and usage analysis. (SMF is an optional feature of z/OS that provides you with the means for gathering and recording information that can be used to evaluate system usage for accounting, charge-back, and performance tuning.)

• Tracing and logging

  HTTP Server comes with a complete set of logging, tracing, and reporting capabilities that allow you to keep track of every HTTP request.

• Server Side Include (SSI)

  Server Side Include allows you to insert information into documents (static or dynamic) that the server sends to the clients. This could be a variable (like the "Last modified" date), the output of a program, or the content of another file. Enabling this function, but not using it, can have a serious performance impact.

• Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Management Information Base (MIB)

  HTTP Server provides an SNMP MIB and SNMP subagent, so you can use any SNMP-capable network management system to monitor your server's health, throughput, and activity. It can then notify you if specified threshold values are exceeded.

• Cookies support

  Because HTTP is a stateless protocol, a state can be added with the help of cookies, which store information on the client's side. This support is useful for multiple Web pages, for example to achieve customized documents or for banner rotation.

• Multi-Format Processing

  This feature is used for personalization of Web pages. The browser sends header information along with the request, including the accept header. This information includes the language of the user. HTTP Server can make use of the contents of the accept header to select the appropriate document to return to the client.

• Persistent connections

  With the help of this HTTP/1.1-specific feature, not every request has to establish a new connection. Persistent connections stay "alive" for a certain amount of time to enable the use of a given connection to another request.

• Virtual hosts

  Virtual hosts allow you to run one Web server while making it appear to clients as if you are running several. This is achieved by the use of different DNS names for the same IP and/or different IP addresses bound to the same HTTP Server.