General server settings

Setting

Description

ServerName

The DNS name or IP address of your host. Set by @@SyncHost@@ variable in the defaults file.

PidFile

The file in which the server should record its process identification number when it starts. Do not change the @@ServerRoot@@ portion of the setting.

ScoreBoardFile

The file used to store internal server process information. Do not change the @@ServerRoot@@ portion of the setting.

Timeout

The number of seconds before receives and sends expire.

KeepAlive

This setting determines whether to allow more than one request per connection. The default setting is Off.

MinSpareServers 

(UNIX only) The minimum number of children that remain running even if they are idle. Apache periodically polls the servers. If there are not enough idle server processes, Apache starts new processes until this limit is reached.

MaxSpareServers 

(UNIX only) The maximum number of children that can remain idle. Apache periodically polls the servers. If there are more idle server processes than this setting allows, Apache kills them.

StartServers 

(UNIX only) The number of children initially started for the server.

ThreadsPerChild

The number of concurrent threads, or requests, the server allows. Set this value according to the responsiveness of the server and the amount of system resources you will allow the server to consume. The more active requests running simultaneously, the slower each request is handled.

MaxRequestsPerChild

The number of requests each child process is allowed to process before the child dies. The default is 20000. The child exits after prolonged use to avoid problems.

MaxClients

The maximum number of clients that can simultaneously connect to the server. If this limit is ever reached, clients are locked out, so take care not to set this value too low.

ListenBacklog

Default is 1024

Port

The port at which the standalone server listens. Set by @@SyncPort@@ variable in the defaults file.

Listen

Similar to Port, but allows the server to listen to multiple ports in the same instance. Set by @@SyncPort@@ and @@SyncSSLPort@@ variables in the defaults file.

HostnameLookups

Log the names of clients or only their IP addresses. Valid values are:

  • On – to log the names of clients (for example, www.apache.org

  • Off – (default) to log only client IP addresses (for example, 204.62.129.132)