download purchase

Helicon Ape overview

Apache emulator for Microsoft IIS. It literally implements Apache configuration model (like .htaccess and httpd.conf files) and all most demanded Apache modules in a single IIS add-on, not only making IIS compatible with Apache, but also extending it’s functionality by a number of highly essential features. You can check all currently available modules in the compatibility chart (the list is growing with new builds).

Helicon Ape is implemented as managed IIS7 module, but can be installed as .NET module on any ASP.NET-compatible IIS version as well. It works transparently for both server and client and can even be installed on a shared hosting account without administrative access.

And there is free version of Ape which can be installed on up to 3 web sites on any server at no cost.

Helicon Ape offers

Compatibility

  • modification-free transition of Apache web sites to IIS;
  • easy configuration of PHP and other Unix-oriented Web applications for IIS;
  • powerful, fully Apache-compatible URL rewriting syntax — no rules redesign is necessary.

Usability

  • user-friendly manager — configuration editing, syntax highlighting, help, testing utility in one place;
  • plain text configurations — no XML;
  • per-site installation without hosting administration participation;
  • on-the-fly links, headers and HTML body modification.

Security

  • customizable user authentication/authorization settings;
  • comprehensive protection from DoS attacks and hotlinking (content leeching);
  • all-round web request debugging with HTTP-level web developer toolset.

Performance

  • full-fledged reverse and forward proxy functionality;
  • drastic server speed-up due to finely adjustable compression and cache functions.

Currently implemented modules

Module empowers you to...
mod_asis send files that contain their own HTTP headers
mod_auth_basic use HTTP Basic Authentication
mod_auth_digest use MD5 Digest Authentication
mod_authn_anon configure anonymous users access to authenticated areas
mod_authn_dbd NEW! provide authentication based on user look-up in SQL database
mod_authn_default reject whatever credentials if no authentication is set
mod_authn_file provide authentication based on user look-up in plain text password file
mod_authz_default reject any authorization request if no authentication is configured
mod_authz_groupfile allow or deny access to particular areas of the site depending on user group membership
mod_authz_host allow access control to particular parts of web server based on hostname, IP address or other characteristics of the client request
mod_authz_user allow or deny access to portions of the web site for authenticated users
mod_cache cache local or proxied content
mod_core use Helicon Ape core features
mod_dbd NEW! manage SQL database connections
mod_deflate compress server output
mod_developer debug web requests
mod_disk_cache use disk-based storage engine for mod_cache
mod_env control the environment provided to CGI scripts and SSI pages
mod_evasive protect your site(s) from HTTP DoS/DDoS attacks and brute force attacks
mod_expires set Expires HTTP header and max-age directive of Cache-Control HTTP header in server responses in relation to either the time the source file was last modified, or to the time of the client access
mod_filter use context-sensitive content filters
mod_gzip compress HTTP responses
mod_headers modify HTTP request and response headers
mod_hotlink protect the content from hotlinking
mod_linkfreeze change links on pages to SEO-friendly format
mod_log_config use custom logging
mod_logio log input and output number of bytes received/sent per request
mod_mem_cache use memory-based storage engine for mod_cache
mod_mime associate requested filename's extensions with the file's behavior (handlers and filters) and content (mime-type, language, character set and encoding)
mod_proxy apply forward and reverse proxy functions for your IIS server
mod_replace edit HTML body, HTTP request and response headers
mod_rewrite rewrite requested URLs on the fly based on regular-expressions-based rules and various conditions
mod_setenvif set environment variables depending on whether different parts of the request match specified regular expressions
mod_so emulate loading modules functions
mod_speling correct misspelled URLs by performing case-insensitive checks and allowing one misspelling
mod_usertrack track and log user activity on the site using cookies