Introducing LiteSpeed Web Server
If you are active in site development and hosting, it is impossible that you have not heard the name of LiteSpeed web server because currently, LiteSpeed is one of the most popular web servers in the world!
Lightspeed web server is one of the best alternatives to Apache, which, in addition to providing various features, can improve the website’s security and performance. Servers play an essential role in managing all kinds of devices, especially the Litespeed web server, which is more efficient and professional for the website’s specific needs. So let’s check the web server application and main features of LiteSpeed:
LiteSpeed Web Server
A web server is a software that uses HTTP and other protocols to respond to client requests. Its main task is to display the site’s content, which it does by storing and processing requests and thus providing pages to the users of the World Wide Web.
When a website is hosted on a host, the web server interacts with it and decides how to load the website pages.
If you would like to learn more about web servers, you can read the article “What is a web server and how does it work?” read the
LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is one of the world’s most popular web server programs, providing fast performance and data protection in the best possible way without compromising server security.
As the name suggests, Lightspeed is an excellent solution for developers and website owners who suffer from slow page loading and don’t want to compromise their traffic and user satisfaction due to a poor user experience.
According to the surveys conducted in 2021, this web server is used in almost 10% of websites, and there are many reasons why this web server ranks 4th. One of the most important of them is compatibility with Apache. It is better to talk a little more about the features of the Litespeed web server:
The essential parts of LiteSpeed
When it is believed that Litespeed web server has higher performance and more reliability than Apache, there are hidden reasons behind this that are worth knowing!
Compatibility with Apache
The most prominent and essential feature of LSWS is its compatibility with the Apache web server and its basic elements, including mod_rewrite, htaccess, and mod_security. In addition to having the same configuration format as Apache, this web server can even load Apache configuration files, making it a suitable replacement for Apache.
Also, like Apache, it is compatible with essential control panels like cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin.
High performance, scalability, and stability
These features are due to Lightspeed’s event-driven design. This architectural pattern works based on state change, consisting of event creators and consumers. The ability to serve thousands of clients simultaneously with minimal use of server resources such as memory and processor is one factor that attracts most users’ attention.
The services LSWS provides are often much more, and leveraging this pattern allows it to handle traffic spikes and thwart DDOS attacks without needing additional hardware.
high security
Lightspeed Web Server is compatible with Apache’s ModSecurity feature set. This compatibility offers a significant advantage with mod_Rewrite, mod_security, and htaccess. Works. These features and compatibility with Atomicorp’s Realtime ModSecurity and Atomic Secured Linux rules make it possible to neutralize internal DDoS, increase connection speed, and make necessary security updates when new threats are discovered.
Other configurable features such as connections per IP and bandwidth limiting help increase the security level of this web server. That way, IPs that make too many connections or requests or request too much bandwidth are blocked, stopping hackers before they can disrupt the server.
Affordable cost
LSWS reduces support and hardware costs. If we want to open this sentence a little more, it is better to say that achieving the same result in Apache and Lightspeed requires considering the cost of the Lightspeed software license and the hardware upgrade fee in Apache. A LiteSpeed license costs meager compared to providing the hardware needed to optimize a server running Apache.
Also, Lightspeed helps to reduce support costs by providing an optimized, secure and stable hosting platform, and support technicians and administrators have peace of mind instead of dealing with a server with additional overhead.
Ideal for popular CMS
Lightspeed delivers PHP content much faster than Apache and is an ideal hosting platform for WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal websites, as it quickly increases PHP performance and security.
Especially WordPress; some time ago, Lightspeed implemented an LSCache cache plugin for this CMS. The features of this plugin can be implemented only on the LiteSpeed web server, and the purpose of integrating this plugin with the server architecture is to increase PHP performance.
Another plugin, LiteMage, increases the page loading speed of e-commerce sites launched with Magento by communicating between LiteSpeed and the page cache.
All kinds of Litespeed versions
LiteSpeed Web Server is available in three versions:
OpenLiteSpeed: This version is usually used for large and popular websites, but as a free and open-source version, it is not compatible with any hosting control panel.
Standard version: This version is used for small websites with low traffic and is compatible with control panels such as WHM/cPanel and DirectAdmin. This version of Litespeed is also free and is a good option for personal and commercial use.
Enterprise version: This is widely used for large and highly visited websites and is compatible with many control panels. Organizations use this version to provide their valued customers with an excellent web hosting experience. This version is at the highest level of stability and is supported by cPanel, and can be integrated with the DirectAdmin control panel.
Advantages and disadvantages of LiteSpeed web server
As we mentioned earlier, LSWS is a lightweight software that can improve site performance and security. In the following, we examine the main advantages and disadvantages of this web server:
Advantages
- Manage multiple simultaneous connections using minimal server resources
- Higher speed due to event-oriented architecture
- Compatibility with different control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and VirtualAdmin
- Optimizing the performance of optimal content and serving static websites faster
- Ability to handle sudden traffic spikes and ideal for busy websites and e-commerce sites
- The possibility of restarting and updating the server without disrupting access to the site
- Improved security due to ModSecurity features and the ability to limit connections per IP and bandwidth
- Improving the quality of pages in terms of SEO due to increasing the speed of loading pages
* If you, like the search engine and internet users, care about the speed of website pages and are looking for ways to increase speed of your website pages, we recommend including purchasing a virtual server in your work plan. The satisfaction of the search engine depends on the joy of the users who get their desired content faster through your pages, and this spark will become an ample light in your progress.
Disadvantages
- Incompatibility of the free and open-source versions of Lightspeed with Apache
- No support for Windows
So if you like to use this web server and decide to buy a virtual server, Linux virtual server is the ideal option.
How to know if a site uses a Litespeed web server or not?
There is a simple way to do this. Just open Google Chrome and visit the website you want. Next, press F12 to launch Developer Tools:
Next, go to the Network tab and refresh the page (Ctrl+R) and click on one of the items in the Name section:
Next, select the Headers tab and look for the server in the Response Headers section:
Note that you cannot always see the web server type of a website. If a site uses a proxy service, in the server section, you will know the website’s name instead of the web server type.
Conclusion
By providing a great combination of efficient features, the LiteSpeed web server has become an excellent solution for improving website efficiency, performance, and security. The LiteSpeed web server has gained popularity because of its high stability, scalability, and affordable cost. So, rest assured that this web server is an excellent solution for your hosting needs.
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