Ok, I've butchered the original message because it was too long to read. It looks like Proxy Pass is the best way to go. Can you use Proxy Pass with SSL? ZServer alone is not a choice because SSL is a requirement.
From: Peter Sabaini <sabaini@niil.at> Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 15:18:59 +0100 (CET)
... Stuff Omitted
:> :>i agree on apache increasing your performance when serving static :> :>files (for instance images), but wouldn't url rewriting and the proxy :> :>pass module of apache be an even better solution? i just switched from :> :>PCGI to the Rewrite/Proxypass combo because of the additional overhead :> :>of PCGI.
... More stuff omitted
:> conclusion: with proxy pass i get around 30% more requests per second :> and around 25% less connection time (and im not able to use keep-alive :> as it seems).
ps.: same test to zserver directly (shows further increase in thoughput):