Apache has long been the Big Kahuna in the server room. Not only is it the leading Web server in the world, powering more than 58 percent of Web servers according to the oft-quoted Netcraft Web Server Survey, it is also the most widely used free and open source software. Not that Apache is without its competitors and alternatives. From Microsoft IIS to Sun Java Web Server, a variety of secondary Web servers continue to crunch away in Apache's shadow.
Lighttpd, a fairly recent entrant to the open source Web server field, is attracting remarkable enthusiasm. Its April 2007 debut on the Netcraft Web server survey officially put lighttpd (pronounced "lighty") on the map. With 1.2 percent of the nearly 114 million Web servers out there powered by lighttpd, it's population is sizable, albeit not about to topple Apache for the crown just yet. But lighttpd is well on its way to overtaking Sun for third place, driven primarily by support from administrators looking for an Apache alternative.
