Apache Tomcat Components

 Apache Tomcat is an open-source implementation of the Java Servlet, Java Server Pages, Java Expression Language and Web Socket technologies. Tomcat provides a "pure Java" HTTP web server environment in which Java code can run.

Tomcat is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation, released under the Apache License 2.0 license.

Tomcat Components

Catalina

Catalina is Tomcat's servlet container. It handles the lifecycle of a servlet. Servlet life cycle involves loading, initializing, serving and destroying the servlet. In Tomcat, a Realm element represents a "database" of usernames, passwords, and roles (similar to Unix groups) assigned to those users. Different implementations of Realm allow Catalina to be integrated into environments where such authentication information is already being created and maintained, and then use that information to implement Container Managed Security as described in the Servlet Specification.

Coyote

Coyote is a Connector component for Tomcat that supports the HTTP 1.1 protocol as a web server. This allows Catalina, nominally a Java Servlet or JSP container, to also act as a plain web server that serves local files as HTTP documents. Coyote listens for incoming connections to the server on a specific TCP port and forwards the request to the Tomcat Engine to process the request and send back a response to the requesting client. Another Coyote Connector, Coyote JK, listens similarly but instead forwards its requests to another web server, such as Apache, using the JK Protocol. This usually offers better performance. It also plays a role while application is running on Secure Port. 

Jasper ( JSP Parser )

Jasper is Tomcat's JSP Engine. Jasper parses JSP files to compile them into Java code as servlets (that can be handled by Catalina). At runtime, Jasper detects changes to JSP files (if any JSP is modified) and recompiles them.

Cluster

This component has been added to manage large applications. It is used for load balancing that can be achieved through many techniques. Clustering support currently requires the JDK version 1.5 or higher.

High availability

A high-availability feature has been added to facilitate the scheduling of system upgrades (e.g. new releases, change requests) without affecting the live environment. This is done by dispatching live traffic requests to a temporary server on a different port while the main server is upgraded on the main port. It is very useful in handling user requests on high-traffic web applications.

Web application

It has also added user as well as system-based web applications enhancement to add support for deployment across the variety of environments. It also tries to manage sessions as well as applications across the network