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LiteSpeed Web Server

There are so many open-source web servers on the market, especially Apache. As of 2017, Apache holds an impressive 45% of the market share — and it's free. But Apache has issues; it's too complicated to configure and securing it properly is difficult. Also, there are people who are not happy with Apache's performance, especially under heavy loads. Many shared-hosting companies that run their web servers under extremely heavy loads are being forced to constantly upgrade their hardware since Apache can't keep up with the rising loads. Many of these hosting companies have turned to a commercial alternative called LiteSpeed Web Server.

Here are the reasons why some people choose LiteSpeed Web Server instead of Apache:

  • LiteSpeed delivers unmatched performance, security, and convenience. In many independent studies, using LiteSpeed cut the server load in half and improved TTFB by 3x.
  • It is a drop-in replacement for Apache; can consume .htaccess files without modification. On the same hardware, you can handle twice the number of visitors than Apache. LiteSpeed consumes minimal memory and CPU and can securely handle thousands of concurrent connections. This sort of ability is ideal to deal with DDoS attacks, since you can throttle connections or bandwidth. You can also conserve capital because you don't have to buy as many servers.
  • It comes with a built-in caching layer, thus eliminating the need for a 3rd party product. This built-in caching layer, called LSCache, has performance similar to Varnish. (The free version of Varnish cannot do SSL, but LiteSpeed can.) You can reduce a lot of complexity by eliminating the need for HTTPS reverse proxy. If you use WordPress, there is a plugin that allows you to use LSCache with WordPress.
  • There is no need to throw away the configuration files that you are using for Apache, since they are compatible with LiteSpeed. This means that mod_rewrite and mod_security will continue to work as expected. The training costs associated in move away from Apache are minimal.
  • Unlike Apache, which uses 1:1 process-to-request setup, LiteSpeed uses an event-driven architecture. This means that LiteSpeed can handle hundreds of thousands of connections with just a a few processes and thus uses fewer resources than Apache.
  • There are plenty of people who can help you with LiteSpeed if you run into any issues. After all, LiteSpeed is the #1 commercial server and the 4th most popular web server on the internet.