Microsoft closes in on Apache

Apache is losing its stronghold on the global web server market as Microsoft continues to take market share, according to a survey from Netcraft.

Over August Apache's market share dropped from 18.3 million to 17.8 million servers, leaving it with around a 58 per cent stake, the survey revealed.

The survey stated that Apache's loss was Microsoft's gain - with the Seattle giant gaining ground by around 1.2 per cent since July to claim an overall market share of 26.47 per cent.

Microsoft's new status owes a lot to failures and changes in business models at a number of mass hosting companies according to Netcraft.

However, Netcraft said a backlash against Microsoft IIS may occur next month as web server administrators deal with Code Red patch-problems, although the research company's analysis of vulnerable sites showed "deep set complacency regarding security amongst ecommerce sites", meaning the bug may purely have highlighted the need for tighter security.