Difference between Lighttpd and Nginx
Main difference
Lighttpd and Ngnix are open source HTTP servers. Both the Lighttpd and the Nginx are fast and light. These are asynchronous servers where Nginx uses only a few megabytes of RAM while Apache consumes hundreds of megabytes. Lighttpd has IPv6 support, while IPv6 support for Ngnix is in the works. The separate error logging feature is supported by Ngnix but not Lighttpd. The full “Bug Tracking System” supports Lighttpd, while Ngnix has a poor bug tracking system.
What is Lighttpd?
Lighttpd is an open source web server optimized for speed-critical environments, while being standards-compliant, secure, and flexible. Lighttpd supports X-Sendfile since version 1.5. Apache 1 does not support X-Sendfile. Lighttpd is distributed under the terms of the Revised BSD License, a copy-free variant of three clauses of the BSD License. While serving static files with a simple HTTP server, Lighttpd provides a simple configuration
What is Nginx?
Nginx was designed as both a web server and a proxy server. Nginx lacks the ability to process dynamic content natively. while Nginx does not allow additional configuration per directory by evaluating and interpreting directives. Requests are handled faster by Nginx.
Key differences
- Lighttpd runs as a single process, while Ngnix runs as a master process.
- On a more fragmented filesystem, Lighttpd performs better compared to Ngnix.
- The CPU used by Ngnix is much smaller than Lightdpd.
- Lighttpd has IPv6 support, while IPv6 support for Ngnix is in the works.
- The separate error logging feature is supported by Ngnix but not Lighttpd.
- While serving static files with a simple HTTP server, Lighttpd offers a simple configuration, but Ngnix is more difficult just in case.
- In America, Lighttpd has been more popular than Ngnix.
- The full “Bug Tracking System” supports Lighttpd, while Ngnix has a poor bug tracking system.
- IRC channels are compatible with Lighttpd and Ngnix, but Ngnix channels are very quiet and have long delays in responding to user questions.