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Eclipse Jetty VS lighttpd

Compare Eclipse Jetty VS lighttpd and see what are their differences

Eclipse Jetty logo Eclipse Jetty

Jetty is a highly scalable modular servlet engine and http server that natively supports many modern protocols like SPDY and WebSockets.

lighttpd logo lighttpd

A secure, fast, compliant, and very flexible web-server that has been optimized for high-performance environments
  • Eclipse Jetty Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-19
  • lighttpd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

Eclipse Jetty features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Jetty has a small memory footprint and is designed to be lightweight, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments.
  • Embeddable
    Jetty can be embedded directly into applications, providing greater flexibility and allowing developers to manage the server from within their applications.
  • Scalable
    Jetty is capable of handling a large number of simultaneous connections, making it ideal for applications that require high concurrency and scalability.
  • Active Development
    Jetty is actively maintained and continuously updated, ensuring that it keeps up with the latest standards and security practices.
  • Support for WebSockets and HTTP/2
    Jetty includes built-in support for modern web protocols like WebSockets and HTTP/2, which can enhance performance and provide additional functionality.
  • Modular Architecture
    Jetty’s modular architecture allows developers to include only the needed components, further optimizing resource usage and performance.
  • Good Documentation
    Jetty offers comprehensive documentation and examples, making it easier for developers to get started and troubleshoot issues.

Possible disadvantages of Eclipse Jetty

  • Learning Curve
    Because of its numerous features and configuration options, Jetty may have a steeper learning curve for newcomers compared to simpler server options.
  • Community Support
    While Jetty has a passionate user base, its community support may not be as extensive as more widely adopted solutions like Apache Tomcat.
  • Default Configuration
    Jetty’s default settings may not always be optimal for all use cases, requiring developers to spend additional time tweaking configurations for specific needs.
  • Limited Commercial Support
    Jetty has fewer commercial support options available compared to some other enterprise-level servers, which may be a concern for larger organizations.
  • Complexity for Small Projects
    For small or less complex projects, Jetty's feature set and capabilities may be overkill, leading to unnecessary complexity and overhead.

lighttpd features and specs

  • Low Memory Footprint
    Lighttpd is known for its low memory usage, making it ideal for environments where memory resources are limited.
  • High Performance
    It is designed to handle large numbers of parallel connections efficiently, making it suitable for high-traffic websites.
  • Easy to Configure
    Lighttpd offers straightforward configuration files that are easy to understand and modify.
  • Supports FastCGI, SCGI, and CGI
    It has built-in support for various interfaces like FastCGI, SCGI, and CGI, allowing it to interact with different types of applications.
  • Event-Driven Architecture
    The event-driven design allows for non-blocking and asynchronous operations, contributing to its speed and efficiency.

Possible disadvantages of lighttpd

  • Limited Module Support
    Lighttpd has fewer third-party modules and plugins compared to more popular web servers like Apache and Nginx.
  • Community Support
    The community around Lighttpd is smaller, which might result in slower updates and fewer tutorials or examples.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the initial setup and configuration challenging compared to more widely-used web servers.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some applications or tools that are designed with Apache or Nginx in mind might not work seamlessly with Lighttpd.
  • Less Frequent Updates
    The development and release cycle for Lighttpd updates may not be as frequent as for more popular web servers.

Analysis of Eclipse Jetty

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Eclipse Jetty is a robust and efficient server suitable for a wide variety of web applications. Its flexibility, performance, and support for modern web protocols make it a strong choice for developers who require a reliable and scalable web server.

Why this product is good

  • Eclipse Jetty is considered good for several reasons. It is lightweight, which makes it suitable for applications where memory and performance are critical. It supports a wide range of protocols, including HTTP/2 and WebSocket, ensuring compatibility with modern web standards. Jetty is highly scalable and is often used in large-scale deployments. Its modularity allows developers to include only the components they need, reducing overhead.

Recommended for

  • Developers needing a lightweight and performance-oriented web server.
  • Applications requiring modern protocol support such as HTTP/2 and WebSocket.
  • Scalable applications that expect to handle a large number of simultaneous connections.
  • Projects that benefit from modular architecture, enabling custom configurations.

Analysis of lighttpd

Overall verdict

  • Overall, lighttpd is a highly recommended choice for those needing a lightweight and efficient web server, especially where system resources are constrained.

Why this product is good

  • Lighttpd is often considered a good web server because it is designed to be fast, secure, and very lightweight. It effectively handles large volumes of traffic, supports important features like FastCGI, SCGI, Auth, Output Compression, URL Rewriting, and is highly configurable. Its asynchronous architecture allows it to serve multiple requests simultaneously, making it suitable for environments with high concurrency.

Recommended for

    Lighttpd is especially suited for situations where low resource usage is a priority, such as on embedded systems or servers with limited hardware capabilities. It is also useful for hosting static content, serving as a reverse proxy, or when hosting web applications with specific performance requirements.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Eclipse Jetty and lighttpd)
Web And Application Servers
Application Server
56 56%
44% 44
Web Servers
49 49%
51% 51
Web Frameworks
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Eclipse Jetty and lighttpd

Eclipse Jetty Reviews

Top 10 Open Source Java and JavaEE Application Servers
JOnAS provides a fully compliant EJB container through EasyBeans and is available with an embedded Tomcat or Jetty web container which is 1.6 JVM supported, and can run on numerous operating systems including Linux, Windows, AIX, and many Posix platforms.

lighttpd Reviews

13 Best XAMPP Alternatives
Lighttpd is a simple and lightweight web server that allows you to do very fast static file serving. It can also be used as a content cache, a reverse proxy, or an HTTP accelerator. Lighttpd is not only lightning-fast but also straightforward to set up; in many cases, you only need one configuration file to work. Lighttpd has been around for some time now, so there are...
Source: thetechtian.com
Top 5 open source web servers
Great article Robin. Most of my experience is with Apache. I first started using it on Windows about 1998 or 1999. When I got into using Linux in 2001 I switched my previous install to that OS and have since deployed it many times. I have tried NGINX and lighttpd but never in production.
Source: opensource.com
Alternative web servers compared: Lighttpd, Nginx, LiteSpeed and Zeus
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.
Source: www.pingdom.com

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Eclipse Jetty and lighttpd, you can also consider the following products

Apache Tomcat - An open source software implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies

Apache HTTP Server - Apache httpd has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April 1996

Microsoft IIS - Internet Information Services is a web server for Microsoft Windows

LiteSpeed Web Server - LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement.

Forge - Static web hosting made simple

Phusion Passenger - Phusion Passenger is a multi-language (Ruby, Python, Node) web & app server which can integrate into Apache and Nginx