Apache and IIS are the most common web servers in use today, but they are far from alone. There is a huge amount of web server software out there, both free and commercial.
到目前，Apache和IIS是用的最爲普遍的Web服務器，但是它們太過單一，在此之外這裏還有許多Web服務器軟件，或是免費的或是商業的。
In this article we present four popular alternative web servers: Lighttpd, Nginx, LiteSpeed and Zeus. The first two are free and open source while the other two are commercial, closed-source alternatives. What they all have in common is that they focus on high performance.
本文我們介紹四種最受歡迎的Web服務器： Lighttpd, Nginx, LiteSpeed 和 Zeus。 前兩個都是免費且開源的，而另兩種都是商業的，閉源的。它們的共同點在於都着重於高性能上。
We will also take a look at how many websites are actually using these web servers.
我們看看有多少網站實際上在使用它們。
But first a brief presentation of each of one:
首先一個簡短的介紹其中之一：
Lighttpd
- Brief info: Pronounced “Lighty”, Lighttpd is as the name implies a small, lightweight web server which has a low memory footprint and light CPU load. Lighttpd is a good alternative to serve static content but it has also gained recognition in the Ruby on Rails and PHP communities.
Lighttpd 的名稱暗示小，輕量級web服務器，佔用內存小且cpu負荷低。Lighttpd 是服務於靜態內容的不錯選擇。然而它更被公認爲是用在Ruby 和 PHP 上。 - Used by: Wikimedia (Wikipedia), Sourceforge, YouTube, The Pirate Bay, Meebo, Imageshack, Sendspace, Mininova.
- Cost: Free
- Open Source: Yes
- OS platforms: Linux, freeBSD, Solaris, MacOS X, Windows (under Cygwin)
- Homepage: http://www.oschina.net/p/lighttpd
Nginx
- Brief info: Pronounced “engine X”, Nginx is a lightweight web server and reverse proxy. originally written by Igor Sysoev for Rambler.ru (Russia’s second most visited website). Nginx is known for stability and simple configuration in addition to its low resource consumption. It can also act as an IMAP/POP3 proxy.
Nginx 是一款輕量級web服務器和反向代理。最初由Igor Sysoev 編寫。它的出名在於其穩定性和簡單的配置，除此之外低資源消耗。 還有它可以作爲IMAP/POP3協議。 - Used by: Yellow Pages, Hulu, Zimbra, the Friends for Sale Facebook app, Rambler, and it also seems that Wordpress.com just started using it instead of LiteSpeed.
- Cost: Free
- Open Source: Yes
- OS platforms: Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MacOS X
- Homepage: http://www.oschina.net/p/nginx
LiteSpeed
- Brief info: LiteSpeed is a commercial web server designed specifically for large websites. One of LiteSpeed’s advantages is that it can read Apache configurations directly which makes it easy to integrate with existing products to replace Apache. The server is lightweight and as the name implies very fast.
LiteSpeed 一種被特別設計用作大型網站的商業web服務器。 其中一個優勢就是它能直接讀取Apache 的配置信息。並輕易將它現有的產品結合在一起來代替Apache 。這種服務器是輕量級的就如它的名字暗示出非常快。 - Used by: Wordpress (until recently at least, but now Wordpress.com appears to be using nginx), Twitter, GigaOm, Bravenet.
- Cost: Free to $1,299 depending on the edition.
- Open Source: No
- OS platforms: Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MacOS X
- Homepage: http://www.ruanku.com/p/litespeedtech-web-server
Zeus
- Brief info: Zeus web server is a high performance web server. It has received PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award and also the eWeek/PC Magazine Innovation in Infrastructure award. Zeus is a highly flexible enterprise product.
Zeus web server 是一個高性能的web服務器。它曾被PC Magazine Editors’ Choice 授過獎並且eWeek/PC Magazine Innovation 也授予過它獎項。Zeus 是一種高度靈活的企業產品。 - Used by: Sony, Telefónica, Virgin media, phpBB.
- Cost: $1,700 up to two physical CPUs; $850 per additional CPU.
- Open Source: No
- OS platforms: Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, HP-UX
- Homepage: http://www.ruanku.com/p/zeus-web-server
How many websites are using these web servers?
According to Netcraft, Lighttpd is currently the most common of these four web servers. On April 1, the numbers of websites for each were as follows:
有多少網站在使用它們？
根據Netcraft統計，Lighttpd 是當前這四種服務器中最普遍的。在4月1日統計到的網站數字。
Lighttpd: 1,495,308
Nginx: 1,018,503
LiteSpeed: 668,030
Zeus: 420,477
These positions were not always the same, though. As you can see by the following graph, which shows the numbers from January 2006 to April 2008, the situation has changed significantly over time.
然而這個形勢並不一直是一樣的。通過下圖你可以看到從2006年1月到2008年4月，形勢隨着時間而改變着。
The graph is based on data from Netcraft (their web server survey archives).
The huge leap for Lighttpd in January-March of 2007 is most likely due to one or more web hosting or domain registration companies switching over to Lighttpd either for their regular pages, or for parked pages, or both. If anyone knows what happened there in more detail, please feel free to let us know in the comments.
2007年1月到3月，很可能歸咎於一個或多個web服務商或域名註冊公司轉變使用Lighttpd 。發生了什麼如果有人知道的更詳細些……
Interestingly, the number of servers using the Zeus web server has remained quite constant over the last two years, and even decreased a little. That said, it is mainly an enterprise solution, so this is perhaps not so surprising.
非常有趣的是，過去兩年使用Zeus 作爲服務器的數量維持在一個非常恆定的狀態。而且減少了一點點。可以說，它主要是針對企業解決方案。所以從這點上是不值得驚訝的。
The two web servers that have been growing the fastest lately are Nginx and LiteSpeed. Nginx recently passed the one-million-websites mark.
Nginx 和 LiteSpeed 這兩種服務器增長速度很快。近來Nginx 已經超過了一百萬個站點
These numbers of course still pale next to Apache’s roughly 83 million websites, but there is no doubt that these alternative web servers are gaining in popularity. Who knows, one of them may be just right for you?
當然這些數字對於Apache的大概8300萬來說不值一提。但仍無置疑的是這些可供選擇的服務器越來越受歡迎。有誰知道，其中之一很可能是非常適合你的？