HTTP Web Server

A multi-threaded HTTP/1.1 compliant web server implementation in C++ using Windows Sockets API (Winsock). This server supports multiple simultaneous connections, multi-language content delivery, and full CRUD operations.

Author

Ori Braverman

Features

HTTP/1.1 Compliance: Full support for HTTP/1.1 protocol
Multi-threaded: Handles up to 60 simultaneous connections
Multi-language Content: Serves content in English, French, and Hebrew
Complete CRUD Operations: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE support
Static File Serving: Serves HTML files and other static content
Connection Management: Automatic timeout and cleanup of inactive connections
Error Handling: Proper HTTP status codes and error responses
Query String Support: Language selection via URL parameters

Architecture

The server follows a modular architecture with clear separation of concerns:

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Client Requests           │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │
┌─────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│         Main Server Loop            │
│       (server3.cpp)                 │
│  - Socket Management                │
│  - Connection Handling              │
│  - Request/Response Coordination    │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │
┌─────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│      Server Utilities               │
│    (ServerUtilities.cpp/.h)        │
│  - HTTP Method Processing           │
│  - File Operations                  │
│  - Response Generation              │
│  - Language Detection               │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │
┌─────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│        Static Content               │
│      (HTML_FILES/)                  │
│  - Multi-language HTML files       │
│  - Error pages                     │
│  - Test content                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Prerequisites

Operating System: Windows (uses Windows Sockets API)
Compiler: Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 or later (v142 toolset)
SDK: Windows 10 SDK
Network: Available port 27015

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/OriBraverman/HTTP-Web-Server.git
cd HTTP-Web-Server

2. Extract HTML Content

Extract the HTML_FILES.rar archive to C:\Temp\:

C:\Temp\HTML_FILES\
├── English\
│   └── index.html
├── French\
│   └── index.html
├── Hebrew\
│   └── index.html
├── Error\
│   └── error.html
├── fileToAdd.txt
└── fileToDelete.txt

3. Build the Project

Open Server3\Server3.sln in Visual Studio
Select your preferred configuration (Debug/Release)
Build the solution (Ctrl+Shift+B)

Configuration

Server Configuration

The server configuration is defined in ServerUtilities.h:

Port: 27015 (HTTP_PORT constant)
Max Connections: 60 (MAX_SOCKETS constant)
Buffer Size: 2048 bytes (BUFFER_SIZE constant)
Connection Timeout: 120 seconds

Content Directory Structure

The server expects content to be organized as follows:

C:\Temp\HTML_FILES\
├── English\          # English content
├── French\           # French content  
├── Hebrew\           # Hebrew content
└── Error\            # Error pages

Usage

Starting the Server

Run the compiled executable from Visual Studio or command line

The server will start and display:

Waiting for client to connect to the server.

The server is now ready to accept connections on http://localhost:27015

Basic Usage Examples

Access English content: http://localhost:27015/index.html
Access French content: http://localhost:27015/index.html?lang=fr
Access Hebrew content: http://localhost:27015/index.html?lang=he

Supported HTTP Methods

GET

Retrieves static content from the server.

GET /index.html HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015

Response: Returns the requested file content
Status Codes: 200 (OK), 404 (Not Found)

POST

Sends data to the server for processing.

POST /endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015
Content-Length: 13

Hello, Server!

Response: Echoes received data to console
Status Code: 200 (OK)

PUT

Creates or updates files on the server.

PUT /newfile.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015
Content-Length: 20

This is new content!

Status Codes:
- 200 (OK) - File updated
- 201 (Created) - New file created
- 204 (No Content) - Empty content
- 412 (Precondition Failed) - Error

DELETE

Removes files from the server.

DELETE /fileToDelete.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015

Status Codes:
- 200 (OK) - File deleted successfully
- 204 (No Content) - File not found or delete failed

HEAD

Returns headers only (no body content).

HEAD /index.html HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015

Response: Headers with content information
Status Codes: 200 (OK), 404 (Not Found)

OPTIONS

Returns supported HTTP methods.

OPTIONS / HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015

Response: Allow: OPTIONS, GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, DELETE, TRACE
Status Code: 204 (No Content)

TRACE

Echoes the received request back to the client.

TRACE / HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:27015

Response: Original request message
Status Code: 200 (OK)

Multi-Language Support

The server supports content in multiple languages through query string parameters:

Supported Languages

Language	Query Parameter	Example
English (default)	`lang=en` or no parameter	`index.html`
French	`lang=fr`	`index.html?lang=fr`
Hebrew	`lang=he`	`index.html?lang=he`

Language Code Mapping

The server supports various language code variants:

English: en, en-US, en-GB, en-AU, en-CA, etc.
French: fr, fr-FR, fr-CA, fr-CH, fr-BE, etc.
Hebrew: he, he-IL

Content Examples

English: Britain's National Dishes
French: French cuisine and culture
Hebrew: Israeli content with RTL support

API Examples

Using cURL

GET Request

curl http://localhost:27015/index.html

POST Request

curl -X POST -d "Hello from client!" http://localhost:27015/

PUT Request

curl -X PUT -d "New file content" http://localhost:27015/newfile.txt

DELETE Request

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:27015/fileToDelete.txt

Language-specific Request

curl http://localhost:27015/index.html?lang=fr

Using PowerShell

# GET request
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:27015/index.html"

# POST request
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:27015/" -Method POST -Body "Hello Server"

# PUT request
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:27015/test.txt" -Method PUT -Body "Test content"

File Structure

HTTP-Web-Server/
├── README.md                 # This documentation
├── README.txt               # Original brief documentation
├── HTML_FILES.rar           # Static content archive
└── Server3/                 # Main server implementation
    ├── Server3.sln          # Visual Studio solution
    ├── Server3.vcxproj      # Project file
    ├── server3.cpp          # Main server logic
    ├── ServerUtilities.h    # Server utilities header
    └── ServerUtilities.cpp  # Server utilities implementation

Core Files Description

`server3.cpp`

Main entry point and server loop
Socket initialization and management
Connection acceptance and handling
Select-based I/O multiplexing

`ServerUtilities.h`

Data structures and enums
Function declarations
Configuration constants

`ServerUtilities.cpp`

HTTP method implementations
File operations (read, write, delete)
Response generation
Language detection logic
Connection management utilities

Technical Details

Socket Management

Uses Winsock2 API for Windows networking
Non-blocking sockets with select() for multiplexing
Maximum 60 concurrent connections
Automatic cleanup of inactive connections (2-minute timeout)

HTTP Implementation

HTTP/1.1 compliant responses
Proper status codes and headers
Content-Type detection
Content-Length calculation
Date headers with current timestamp

Memory Management

Fixed-size buffers (2048 bytes)
Proper buffer cleanup after each request
Memory reuse for connection structures

Error Handling

Comprehensive error checking for all socket operations
Graceful handling of client disconnections
Proper resource cleanup on errors
HTTP error responses for invalid requests

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Port Already in Use

Error at bind(): 10048

Solution: Ensure port 27015 is not being used by another application.

HTML Files Not Found

404 Not Found

Solution: Verify HTML_FILES is extracted to C:\Temp\HTML_FILES\

Connection Timeout

Solution: Check if the client request is complete and properly formatted.

Build Errors

Solution:

Ensure Windows 10 SDK is installed
Verify Visual Studio version compatibility
Check that Ws2_32.lib is properly linked

Debug Mode

The server provides verbose console output including:

Connection establishment/termination
Request details
Response information
Error messages

Performance Considerations

Maximum 60 simultaneous connections
2-minute connection timeout
2048-byte buffer limitation
Synchronous file I/O operations

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

Follow existing code style and patterns
Add appropriate error handling
Update documentation for new features
Test with multiple browsers and HTTP clients

License

This project is part of an educational implementation. Please respect the original author's work and provide appropriate attribution when using or modifying this code.

For questions or support, please refer to the project repository or contact the author.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 8 Commits
Server3		Server3
HTML_FILES.rar		HTML_FILES.rar
README.md		README.md
README.txt		README.txt

OriBraverman/HTTP-Web-Server

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