Connectors for Apache front-end and Apache Tomcat back-end

posted by SpringSource on October 27, 2009 02:19 PM

Understanding mod_jk, mod_proxy, and mod_proxy_ajp

There are three main modules available for connecting Apache to Tomcat:

mod_jk
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This module has the load balancing capability that was not supported in mod_proxy prior to Apache 2.2. The use of mod_proxy_ajp is preferred over mod_jk for Apache 2.2 or later.

For further documentation on mod_jk, see the official documentation as provided by the Apache Software Foundation:

Working with mod_jk:   http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-3.3-doc/mod_jk-howto.html

The Apache Tomcat Connector:  http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc

mod_proxy
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This is a simple alternative to JK but without some of the features of JK. The mod_proxy module did not support AJP and load balancing prior to Apache 2.2

For further documentation on mod_proxy, see the official documentation as provided by the Apache Software Foundation:

Apache 2.0 Module mod_proxy: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_proxy.html

Apache 1.3 Module mod_proxy: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_proxy.html

mod_proxy_ajp
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Starting wth Apache 2.2, the mod_proxy_ajp is an extension of the mod_proxy that can be used with mod_proxy_balancer for load balancing over HTTP and AJP connectors.

For further documentation on mod_proxy_ajp, see the official documentation as provided by the Apache Software Foundation:

Apache 2.2 Module mod_proxy_ajp: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_proxy_ajp.html

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