Lighttpd

Lighttpd, pronounced "lighty," is an open-source web server optimized for speed and efficiency. It is designed for production use on Unix-like systems and aims to deliver high performance with a small memory footprint.

Lighttpd uses an event-driven, asynchronous I/O model to handle large numbers of simultaneous connections with minimal resource usage. This architecture makes it suitable for high-traffic sites and environments with limited hardware resources.

The server supports FastCGI, SCGI, and CGI interfaces, TLS/SSL via OpenSSL, IPv6, URL rewriting, and virtual hosting. It has a modular architecture that allows optional features to be loaded as modules, and its configuration is expressed in a concise, human-readable file. Lighttpd also includes access logging, authentication, and basic rewrite rules to manage request handling.

Lighttpd is released under a BSD-like license and is maintained by an open-source community. The project emphasizes security, a small code base, and a focus on reliable operation in production environments.

Lighttpd is commonly used as a lightweight front-end for dynamic backends, as a static content server, or as a component in embedded systems where memory and CPU resources are constrained. It occupies a niche among lightweight web servers in environments requiring low resource usage and predictable performance.