Web Server Software FAQ

[zihadhasan012]

After reading about the differences between Apache, Nginx, and LiteSpeed, you may still have some questions about web servers. Here are the answers to some of the questions we get asked most frequently.

What exactly is a web server?

A web server is a piece of software that stores, processes, and delivers content from your website to a user's web browser. This includes web pages, images, videos, and other data. You can think of it as a delivery system between your website and a web browser.

Do I need a web server to have a website?

Yes, a website needs a web server to be accessible on the Internet. This is the software that makes your website content available to the world.

Is a web server the same as a server machine?

No. Although the term “server” is often used to refer to both, a web server is a piece of software, while a server machine is the physical hardware (computer) that runs the web server software. You can have multiple web servers running on a single server machine.

What does it mean for a web server to be event-driven or process-based?

These terms refer to the architectural approach of the web server:

Process-based servers like Apache create a new process or thread for each incoming connection. This can be resource-intensive in high traffic conditions.
Event-driven servers like Nginx and LiteSpeed ​​use a single process or a small number of processes to handle many connections at once. They are more efficient and make better use of system resources.
What is load balancing and why would I need it?

Load balancing works like having multiple gambling database malaysia doors to enter a busy store. When one entrance gets too crowded, people are directed to other doors.

This distributes visitor traffic across multiple servers, preventing a single server from becoming overloaded and slowing down your site. This is essential for websites with high traffic.

What is caching and how does it improve performance?

Web servers can use different types of caching . Caching stores frequently accessed data in a temporary storage location so that it can be served more quickly without having to retrieve it from the original source each time. This reduces server load and improves website load times.

Are web servers free?

Many web servers are open source and free to use, including Apache and Nginx. However, some web servers, such as LiteSpeed, offer both free and paid commercial versions with different feature sets and support.