The Web server responds to calls from Web browsers. The call is made using the protocol HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), which transmits a URL (uniform resource locator) to the Web server. Part of the URL is name of the object being requested.

Tasks involving the Web server include:

1. mapping the object name to an accessible directory
2. determining access control
3. user authentication
4. setting up of the CGI interface
5. sending the generated Web page to user

Task One: Involves mapping the requested object name to a directory that is accessible to the server, to another object such as another Web server, or a program using the CGI interface.

Task Two: Involves determining whether access to this object requires access control. Certain files or directories may be available only to certain computers or may require some form of user authentication.

Task Three: Involves user authentication. If required, a user ID and password is obtained from the user or another form of authentication is used. The server can query the Browser or the computer for details of the user's identity or find out how the user was referred to the Web page.

Task Four: Involves setting up of the interface, preparation of the environment variables, and spawning of the program (if the object is a program using the CGI interface). If the query is a POST-type message, the other components of the message (typically field values from on-line forms) are transmitted to RES-Reach by the Web Browser.

Task Five: After communicating with the CGI program, this task involves sending the Web page generated by the program to the user, provided that the user has not canceled the request.