AOLserver
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Web server software |
| Predecessor | NaviServer |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | NaviSoft (acquired by AOL) |
| Products | Web server software |
| Owner | AOL |
| Website | sourceforge |
AOLserver is a multithreaded web server developed by AOL for handling extensive, dynamic websites. It incorporates support for Tcl scripting and is available under the terms of the Mozilla Public License.
The server was initially created by NaviSoft under the name "NaviServer" before AOL acquired the company in 1995 and subsequently rebranded the product. In 1999, thanks to the efforts of Philip Greenspun, AOL made the decision to release the software as open source.
AOLserver was among the first to integrate multithreading, built-in scripting capabilities, and persistent database connection pooling, resulting in performance gains up to 100 times faster than conventional CGI methods. This design has influenced later web servers focused on achieving comparable levels of efficiency.
It continues to serve as a fundamental element of the Open Architecture Community System (OpenACS), a sophisticated open-source framework for web applications.
In 2007, AOLserver was adapted for use on the iPhone, leading to a fork known as "Joggame Server," which targets platform-specific applications. Meanwhile, development on a fork named NaviServer, hosted on SourceForge, has continued independently from AOLserver.