LiteSpeed Web Server

LiteSpeed Web Server is a commercial high-performance web server developed by LiteSpeed Technologies. It maintains compatibility with Apache HTTP Server while achieving significant performance improvements, particularly gaining attention for accelerating WordPress sites.

Overview

LiteSpeed Web Server was designed to solve traditional web server challenges such as concurrent connection limits and performance degradation under high load. While maintaining Apache-compatible configuration, it achieves up to 84 times faster processing and currently holds a 12.6% market share.

Technical Features

Architecture

• Asynchronous Event-Driven Model: Nginx-like solution to C10K problem
• Apache Compatibility: .htaccess and mod_rewrite functionality works
• Process/Worker Hybrid: Balances stability and performance

Performance

• High-Speed Processing: Achieves 84x faster performance compared to Apache
• Memory Efficiency: Low resource consumption through efficient memory usage
• HTTP/3 Support: Industry-leading early support for HTTP/3 protocol

Advantages

High Performance

• Exceptional Speed: Up to 84 times faster than Apache HTTP Server
• Low Memory Usage: Memory management efficiency comparable to Nginx
• High Concurrent Connections: Stable handling of tens of thousands of concurrent connections

Apache Compatibility

• Existing Configuration Utilization: .htaccess files can be used as-is
• mod_rewrite Support: Apache URL rewriting rules work
• Smooth Migration: Easy migration from Apache

Advanced Features

• HTTP/3 Support: Industry-leading protocol support
• WordPress Optimization: WordPress-specific acceleration features
• LSCache Plugin: Dedicated caching system

Disadvantages

Licensing

• Commercial License: Paid license required (OpenLiteSpeed is free version)
• Cost: Expensive licensing fees for enterprise use
• Limitations: Free OpenLiteSpeed version has feature restrictions

Learning Cost

• Unique Features: LiteSpeed-specific configuration items
• Documentation: Not as comprehensive as Apache information
• Community: Relatively small user community

Basic Code Examples

OpenLiteSpeed CMake Configuration

# OpenLiteSpeed Lua module configuration
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
INCLUDE(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeModules/common.cmake)

# LuaJIT configuration
set(LUAJITDIR "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../third-party/include/luajit-2.1/")
include_directories(${LUAJITDIR})

# Compilation flags configuration
set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ON)
set(MY_CMAKE_WARNING_FLAGS " -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter")
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} ${MY_CMAKE_WARNING_FLAGS}")
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} ${MY_CMAKE_WARNING_FLAGS}")

# Source files definition
set(lua_STAT_SRCS
    lsluaengine.cpp
    edluastream.cpp
    lsluaapi.cpp
    lsluasession.cpp
    lsluaheader.cpp
    lsluashared.cpp
    lsluaregex.cpp
    modlua.cpp
)

# Library creation
add_library(mod_lua MODULE ${lua_STAT_SRCS} ${LUAJITHEADERS})
target_link_libraries(mod_lua libluajit.a
    -nodefaultlibs libstdc++.a
    pthread rt
    ${LIBSAN} crypt m gcc_eh c c_nonshared gcc)
set_target_properties(mod_lua PROPERTIES PREFIX "")

Virtual Host Configuration

<!-- Virtual Host Configuration -->
<virtualHost>
  <name>example.com</name>
  <vhRoot>/var/www/example.com/</vhRoot>
  <configFile>$VH_ROOT/conf/vhconf.conf</configFile>
  <allowSymbolLink>1</allowSymbolLink>
  <enableScript>1</enableScript>
  <restrained>1</restrained>
  <setUIDMode>2</setUIDMode>
  
  <!-- Document Root -->
  <docRoot>$VH_ROOT/public_html/</docRoot>
  <index>
    <autoIndex>0</autoIndex>
    <indexFiles>index.php, index.html</indexFiles>
  </index>
  
  <!-- Error Pages -->
  <errorPage>
    <errCode>404</errCode>
    <url>/error404.html</url>
  </errorPage>
  
  <!-- Access Control -->
  <accessControl>
    <allow>*</allow>
    <deny></deny>
  </accessControl>
</virtualHost>

.htaccess Compatible Configuration

# Apache .htaccess works with LiteSpeed
RewriteEngine On

# WordPress Pretty URLs
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

# LSCache configuration (LiteSpeed specific)
<IfModule LiteSpeed>
    CacheLookup public on
    CacheEnable public /
    CacheHeader on
    CacheTTL 1800
    
    # WordPress optimization
    CacheKeyModify -qs:utm*
    CacheKeyModify -qs:gclid
    CacheKeyModify -qs:fbclid
</IfModule>

# Browser caching
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
    ExpiresActive On
    ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>

Docker Compose Configuration

version: '3.8'
services:
  openlitespeed:
    image: litespeedtech/openlitespeed:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "7080:7080"  # Admin Console
    volumes:
      - ./websites:/usr/local/lsws/Example/html/
      - ./lsws-config:/usr/local/lsws/conf/
      - ./logs:/usr/local/lsws/logs/
    environment:
      - SERVER_ROOT=/usr/local/lsws
      - [email protected]
    restart: unless-stopped

  # PHP configuration
  php:
    image: litespeedtech/openlitespeed:latest-php81
    volumes:
      - ./websites:/var/www/html/
      - ./php-config:/usr/local/lsws/lsphp81/etc/php/8.1/litespeed/
    environment:
      - PHP_VERSION=81
      - OPCACHE_ENABLE=1
      - MEMCACHED_ENABLE=1
    depends_on:
      - openlitespeed

Main Server Configuration (httpd_config.conf)

<httpServerConfig>
  <!-- Server basic configuration -->
  <serverName>LiteSpeed Web Server</serverName>
  <user>lsadm</user>
  <group>lsadm</group>
  <priority>0</priority>
  <inMemBufSize>60M</inMemBufSize>
  <swappingDir>/tmp/lshttpd/swap</swappingDir>
  <autoFix503>1</autoFix503>
  
  <!-- Network configuration -->
  <mime>$SERVER_ROOT/conf/mime.properties</mime>
  <showVersionNumber>0</showVersionNumber>
  <adminEmails>[email protected]</adminEmails>
  <indexFiles>index.html, index.php</indexFiles>
  <autoIndex>0</autoIndex>
  
  <!-- Performance configuration -->
  <maxConnections>2000</maxConnections>
  <maxSSLConnections>200</maxSSLConnections>
  <connTimeout>300</connTimeout>
  <maxKeepAliveReq>1000</maxKeepAliveReq>
  <keepAliveTimeout>5</keepAliveTimeout>
  <sndBufSize>0</sndBufSize>
  <rcvBufSize>0</rcvBufSize>
  
  <!-- Log configuration -->
  <errorlog>
    <logLevel>WARN</logLevel>
    <debugLevel>0</debugLevel>
    <logPath>$SERVER_ROOT/logs/error.log</logPath>
    <enableStderrLog>1</enableStderrLog>
  </errorlog>
  
  <accesslog>
    <logPath>$SERVER_ROOT/logs/access.log</accessPath>
    <logFormat>%h %l %u %t "%r" %>s %b "%{Referer}i" "%{User-Agent}i"</logFormat>
    <logHeaders>7</logHeaders>
    <rollingSize>10M</rollingSize>
    <keepDays>30</keepDays>
  </accesslog>
</httpServerConfig>

Cache Configuration (LSCache)

<cache>
  <cacheRoot>/usr/local/lsws/cachedata</cacheRoot>
  <cachePolicy>
    <enableCache>1</enableCache>
    <qsCache>1</qsCache>
    <reqCookieCache>1</reqCookieCache>
    <respCookieCache>1</respCookieCache>
    <ignoreReqCacheCtrl>1</ignoreReqCacheCtrl>
    <ignoreRespCacheCtrl>0</ignoreRespCacheCtrl>
    <enablePrivateCache>0</enablePrivateCache>
    <privateAge>1000</privateAge>
    <maxCacheObjSize>10000000</maxCacheObjSize>
    <expireInSeconds>200</expireInSeconds>
    <enableStale>200</enableStale>
  </cachePolicy>
  
  <!-- Cache storage configuration -->
  <cacheStoragePolicy>
    <cacheStoreDir>/usr/local/lsws/cachedata/$VH_NAME</cacheStoreDir>
    <cacheStorePolicy>0</cacheStorePolicy>
  </cacheStoragePolicy>
</cache>

Reference Links

• LiteSpeed Technologies Official Site
• OpenLiteSpeed Official Site
• LiteSpeed Web Server Wiki
• LSCache WordPress Plugin
• OpenLiteSpeed GitHub