Professional Apache Tomcat 6

Chapter 4. Tomcat Architecture

Tomcat is a powerful Web container that is made up of pluggable components that fit together in a nested manner. The configuration of these components dictates how the server will run, including such settings as whether specialized filters are used, which ports and address a server may listen on, whether it uses security or not, what the virtual hosts are, and much more. Tomcat can be easy to use in its standard configuration because you are using a default configuration. However, when you begin to think about using Tomcat in a production environment, you need to make changes to the configuration to fit your requirements. This is where having good knowledge of Tomcat's architecture comes in handy. Tomcat's configuration files can appear cryptic and difficult to follow or understand, but they follow how Tomcat pieces together its components. Understanding Tomcat's architecture can give you insight into the way Tomcat works and how its subcomponents make up a configuration.

This chapter explores Tomcat from an architectural perspective. The topics covered include:

• Tomcat directory structure

• Overview of the major Tomcat components

• Relationships between the components to make a full-service container

By the end of this chapter, you should have a comprehensive understanding of the Tomcat container architecture, its subcomponents, and their relationship to one another.

Tomcat Directory Overview

Before delving into the Tomcat architecture, understanding the Tomcat ...