Apache HTTP Server vs. OCI API Management

Well Suited: Perfect for hosting your own website. And, I don't mean just an individual with a port of MySpace. I mean an industrial strength, commercial grade replacement for Microsoft IIS. If you need a web server that provides a feature-rich environment with support for multiple sites (hosted in the same server), with such features as virtual hosting, and modular feature design, than Apache Web Server is right on the money. Less Well-Suited: Single page, small feature-set websites. Apache is a lot of trouble for developers to set up, just to send/receive JSON strings of a few bytes. You're really better off using something smaller and faster/simpler (lighttpd for example).

Incentivized

Oracle API Manager is well suited in a business or company that make use of Apis to facilitate access of backend services and data sources by the staff or customers or both. It is also imported in situations where all actions in a system need to be attributed to specific users.

Incentivized

• Apache is Open Source, governed well (the foundation) and probably the most stable computing platform ever.
• Apache is probably one of the most customizable and configurable pieces of software that I have ever run across in more than 30 years of development.
• If there is something that Apache can not do, then you need to ask yourself; should I be doing that? The point here is that it is a solid solution and seems to only integrate other technologies that are of the highest caliber.
• Apache will live forever and you can not go wrong with it.

Incentivized

• Mature and Reliable. Last year, Oracle API Manager was quite buggy, and couldn't be used at production-level. Fortunately, almost all of the problems that it had previously are now patched.
• Offloads Most of the Workload of Developing APIs. While defining APIs, Oracle API Manager does a great job in providing suggestions and error checks in our logic.
• Supports SOAP and REST. Not only can you create APIs that can query for data, but you can also create API endpoints that can manipulate the data in your back-end databases.

• Configuration files are located on different places depending on your Linux distro.
• If you have an error on one configuration file, apache refuses to start and sometimes is difficult to know why.
• Security is not great by default, but making a todo list help when you configure a new server.

Incentivized

• I would say it would be nice if it could handle non-Oracle type API's...such as in-house developed interfaces, etc.
• It would be nice if it at least could list non-Oracle type APIs so that this system became a repository for ALL of the application interfaces
• Maybe it has this and I missed it, the monitoring appears to be one API at a time, would be nice to see a page that has all of the monitored APIs with some basic monitored info perhaps. It does have alerts, audit trails, and integrates with Enterprise Manager (I did not see this integration though)

Incentivized

I give this rating because there is so much Apache documentation and information on the web that you can literally do anything. This has to do with the fact that there is a huge Open Source community that is beyond mature and perhaps one of the most helpful to be found. The only thing that should hold anyone back from anything is that they can not read. RTFM, my friend. And I must say that the manual is excellent.

Incentivized

The comparison with other products from IBM or Oracle is difficult. These are mostly software that has to be paid for. The only fair comparison at eye level is probably the NGINX web server: It is also free and offers even higher performance. In the meantime, there is also a paid Plus version of NGINX. This has extended support and special functions.

Incentivized

Oracle API Manager is much easier to learn and understand then IBM Data Power Gateway and IBM API Connect. We selected Oracle API Manager in our company because to have a good intuitive interface with drag and drop features and because beginners and easily get up to speed to use this tool.

Incentivized

• Apache web server helped us in building client applications without much investment in the underlying server configuration which gives us the ability to start on a new project quickly and upgrade its resources as and when needed.
• Using software which is well-supported by a community of open source contributors makes tasks easy and affordable when need help since a couple of minutes on Google saves a couple of dollars every time and you don't need a specialized support person unless there is something significant needing to be changed.

Incentivized

• Overall, the client is pleased with the API Manager. They are rather new to it so the ROI has not really been realized yet
• They like the ability to monitor the API's utilization (this monitoring could maybe be used for the prior question on usage billing...they do not currently do this for their supported applications)
• They like the ability that the APIs can be secured. Just because it exists, doesn't mean it can be used just anywhere...

Incentivized