LiteSpeed features
LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a commercial web server used to process user requests to websites on the server with ispmanager.
LiteSpeed differs from other web servers in terms of:
- speed
- security
- the way it processes dynamic content
Read more about the advantages of the LiteSpeed web server at ispmanager.com.
1 LiteSpeed license supports 1 ispmanager server without restrictions on the number of users and websites.
Below is a brief description of the LiteSpeed functions available in ispmanager. A full description of the web server features is available on the developer's website.
| Title | Brief description |
| Apache configuration files | Has full support of Apache httpd.conf and .htaccess files. No re-configuration necessary when switching from Apache |
| Apache modules | Is compatible with all Apache core modules, including mod_rewrite, mod_include, and mod_cache |
| Apply changes with zero downtime, zero downtime server software upgrade | When restarting or updating, finishes ongoing processes in a secure way using the graceful restart feature. This allows updating the web server and applying new configurations without interrupting any processes |
| Asynchronous I/O | Supports a form of input/output processing that permits other processing to begin before a data transmission has finished |
| Brotli compression | Supports the Brotli generic-purpose lossless-compression algorithm which reduces file size and page load time |
| Concurrent connections | Allows for an unlimited number of concurrent connections |
| CPU affinity | Binds a process to one or more CPUs allowing for greater use of CPU cache |
| Event-Driven Architecture | Unlike Apache, which creates a new process or thread for every connection, LiteSpeed creates just one process (or very few), which serves all connections reacting to events (client requests and external handler responses) without waiting for the connection to respond |
| Full .htaccess support, .htaccess caching | Has full support of Apache .htaccess files. Unlike Apache, LiteSpeed does not check every directory for .htaccess files and uses caching, which boosts performance |
| GZIP compression | Saves bandwidth by compressing the files sent to the client using gzip compression |
| High-performance dynamic content | Handles PHP-requests up to 50% faster than Apache |
| High-performance static content | Thanks to its event-driven architecture, handles static requests up to 10x faster than Apache |
| HTTP 1.0/1.1, HTTP/2, QUIC, HTTP/3 | Supports HTTP 1.0/1.1, HTTP/2, QUIC and HTTP/3 protocols. Thanks to HTTP/3 and QUIC, accelerates websites loading |
| HTTP request checking | Checks all HTTP requests and prevents access to hidden files by blocking URLs containing "/.". Allows setting the Max Request URL Length, Max Request Header Length, and Max Request Body Length to help prevent DoS attacks |
| HTTPS / TLSv1.3 Certificate, SSL acceleration | Supports modern encryption protocols, including SSL and TLS 1.3, to ensure quick response to vulnerabilities. Delivers HTTPS pages up to 3x faster than Apache |
| Increases scalability of web applications | Thanks to the LiteSpeed's event-driven architecture, LSAPI usage, and request/response buffering, web applications can serve more requests and scale larger without the need to upgrade your current hardware |
| IPv4 and IPv6 | Supports IPv4 and IPv6 |
| Just in time configuration | Unlike Apache, parses virtual host configurations only when that virtual host is accessed, cutting memory usage and leading to a faster startup/restart |
| LiteSpeed server API (LSAPI) | Can be used with PHP external applications. Its optimized coding, extra features, and native use of LiteSpeed's configurations allow for up to 40 times better performance for these web applications than Apache and Nginx |
| Multiple versions of PHP | Simplifies running multiple versions of PHP on one server, allowing ultimate flexibility for web applications |
| OCSP stapling | OCSP Stapling (Online Certificate Status Protocol) speeds up the SSL verification process by attaching a pre-approved certificate to the SSL handshake response removing burdens from the client and SSL certification centers |
| Recovers from service failures instantly | LiteSpeed's auto-recovery feature automatically launches a new server process if LiteSpeed crashes |
| Scripting languages | Supports handling of CGI scripts |
| Sendfile() | Supports sendfile(), a "zero copy" system call that greatly reduces CPU usage when serving large static files |
| Shared hosting PHP, suEXEC, suEXEC for different needs | Offers three different PHP suEXEC setups for different needs: suEXEC Worker — for hosting providers with limited resources. Offers flexibility to customize. suEXEC Daemon — maximum speed + minimal resource consumption. Specifically designed to accelerate PHP applications in shared hosting. Creates PHP processes using a fork() system call, features full opcode caching support, and maintains user isolation. suEXEC ProcessGroup (default mode in ispmanager) — for servers with extra resources. Provides an additional performance boost through per-user opcode caching. |
| SPDY support | Supports SPDY versions 2, 3, and 3.1, and will support new versions as soon as they come out |
| Tiny memory footprint | LiteSpeed's event-driven architecture means it uses less memory than Apache, leaving more resources for other processes, like MySQL |
| Virtual hosting | Unlike Apache, allows an unlimited number of IP- and name-based virtual hosts |
| Web application buffering | Buffers all client requests and handler responses, which allows for the server to handle other requests while dynamic content is being generated and be independent of the speed of the client |