What is LiteSpeed?

In addition to web server software such as Apache, there are other web server software options available. One of these alternatives is LiteSpeed Web Server. Unlike Apache, LiteSpeed is proprietary software and is not free. In exchange for this increased cost, LiteSpeed offers better performance and newer features than similar web server software.

Topics Include:

• LiteSpeed Web Server
  • LiteSpeed Cache
  • HTTP/3
• UltraStack vs LiteSpeed

LiteSpeed Web Server

LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS), originally developed by LiteSpeed Technologies in July 2003, is a high-performance web server software designed to serve web pages faster and more efficiently than traditional web servers like Apache. It acts as a “high-performance engine” for websites, accelerating content delivery and reducing server load.

It’s known for its exceptional performance, with faster response times and reduced server load, and can handle traffic with ease, ensuring that websites load quickly, even under heavy visitor loads. LSWS is compatible with popular web technologies and control panels, such as cPanel, making it easy for website owners to switch from other servers without needing to change their existing scripts or applications.

LiteSpeed also provides a user-friendly interface, making it simpler to manage server settings and configurations. It can replace an existing Apache server without changing other programs or operating system details.

LiteSpeed Web Server has several key features: built-in caching mechanisms to accelerate website loading times, real-time anti-DDoS protection, and mod_security compatibility. It supports popular web technologies like PHP, Ruby, Python, and modern protocols like HTTP/3 and QUIC for faster and more secure connections. It also has a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against web application attacks.

There are three main editions of LiteSpeed Web Server:

• OpenLiteSpeed: Open-source and generally used for large, high-traffic websites but is not compatible with hosting control panels.
• Standard Edition: Free and generally used for small, low-traffic websites and is compatible with hosting control panels.
• Enterprise Edition: Widely used by leading web hosting organizations to provide an excellent web hosting experience.

LiteSpeed Cache

In order to get the best performance out of your web server software, a good caching solution is essential. LiteSpeed offers a caching plugin called LiteSpeed Cache (LSCache), which integrates directly with WordPress to optimize website performance.

With LiteSpeed, you can use LSCache to manage the server cache and ensure that your sites are loading quickly and correctly. LSCache is highly customizable and can be used to increase the speed of WordPress sites, Joomla! sites and much more. As LSCache is built into LiteSpeed, you don’t need to worry about installing a 3rd-party caching plugin.

HTTP/3

Most websites in use today currently operate using a combination of HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2. These Hypertext Transfer Protocols are responsible for transferring information across computer networks and fundamentally form the basis of what we consider “the internet”. As technology advances, these protocols are updated on a regular basis.

The newest upcoming version of HTTP is HTTP/3. This technology is not widely used today, partially due to the fact that many types of web server software are not compatible with HTTP/3, nor do many web browsers support HTTP/3 traffic at this time. LiteSpeed supports HTTP/3 traffic, making it one of the few web server software solutions able to do so. As such, LiteSpeed is uniquely suited for users looking to take advantage of the latest version of HTTP.

It is clear that LiteSpeed offers unique benefits that help to offset the cost associated with proprietary software.

UltraStack vs LiteSpeed

UltraStack is InMotion Hosting’s proprietary technology stack designed for speed and ease of use, and is included in most of their Shared Hosting plans. It’s engineered to enhance the performance of any CMS or PHP/HTML based website.

Key Features of UltraStack

• UltraStack uses NGINX as a reverse caching proxy in front of Apache. NGINX helps store the entire page in memory to serve static content like images, CSS, and JavaScript without executing code each time. This results in faster page load times, reduced bounce rates, and increased user engagement.
  • NGINX caching reduces server load and bandwidth usage.
  • NGINX can mitigate DDoS attacks and brute force attempts by limiting the rate of requests.
• Includes Redis for object caching, though this feature is not included on shared hosting plans due to potential privacy concerns.
• PHP-FPM (PHP-FastCGI Process Manager) is used for better security and efficiency in improving website performance.
• Brotli compression is used by NGINX for better compression rates compared to gzip.

Key Features of LiteSpeed

• LiteSpeed is a high-performance web server that can replace Apache.
• It is compatible with Apache features like mod_rewrite, .htaccess, and mod_security.
• It features an event-driven architecture to handle many clients simultaneously using minimal resources.
• It has built-in anti-DDoS capabilities.
• It can improve PHP performance and serve static websites faster than Apache.

Is UltraStack Better Than LiteSpeed?

• Cost: InMotion Hosting chose NGINX over LiteSpeed because NGINX is open-source and allows them to modify it without requiring customers to purchase a license. This makes UltraStack a potentially more cost-effective option for InMotion Hosting, and that cost-savings may be passed on to customers.
• Performance: UltraStack is fine-tuned to provide up to 20x faster speeds with NVMe SSD storage, advanced caching, and other optimizations. This can provide significant performance benefits without requiring extra cost for additional licenses.
• Included in Hosting Plans: UltraStack is included in most of InMotion’s Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting plans, so it’s not an extra feature you have to pay for. This is ideal for budget-conscious users.
• Open Source: NGINX is open-source, meaning there is a large community contributing to the development of the software. This also allows InMotion Hosting to customize their stack to better suit the needs of their customers.

While both UltraStack (using NGINX) and LiteSpeed are designed to boost website performance, UltraStack is InMotion Hosting’s free, in-house alternative. By choosing NGINX as the foundation for UltraStack, InMotion Hosting is able to provide fast and reliable hosting at a lower cost.