CNN: Apache graduates to Version 2.0

..."2.0 has been in discussion for a long time and there have been a bunch of prototype versions developed, but nobody sat down and put the effort into finishing it," Bloom said.

After some stunted attempts, IBM got the project rolling in 1998 by hiring three engineers to focus on the effort. One of those engineers was Bloom, who since went to work for Covalent Technologies, a software company that offers its own products that can be used in conjunction with the Apache Web server.

The new version is expected to make Apache more reliable and better suited for use on larger servers. For example, its support for multithreading systems changes the way Apache distributes work to the operating system, according to Bloom. It relies on a hybrid method that allows the software to process multiple requests at once, with each of those requests managing multiple 'threads.'