lighttpd
lighttpd (known colloquially as “Lighty”) is an open-source Web server designed specifically for extremely high-volume applications. YouTube is among lighttpd’s best-known users.
Advantages
lighttpd has a dramatic speed and memory advantage with static files — and can serve many thousands of static files per second on a single machine. It does this by having one execution thread bounce back and forth between the various requests, giving each what’s needed, rather than switching between thousands of execution threads (one per request) which would bog down the machine.
Disadvantages
lighttpd’s advantage applies to static pages, not to dynamically generated pages. Dynamic pages need the traditional model that Apache, IIS, and other Web servers follow. You can use lighttpd for static content and another Web server for dynamic content.
lighttpd also lacks the enormous feature set of Apache and IIS.
Choosing lighttpd
Even among high-volume applications, there are some that can make better use of lighttpd’s advantages than others.
Whether or not you choose lighttpd, all sorts of optimizations become possible at very high volumes that would never be worth considering for lower-volume websites. Give us a call and we’ll help you work out what will serve your needs best.
