Web servers have come a long way since Tim Berners-Lee developed CERN HTTPD in 1990 as the first Web browser project.

While some major web server vendors offer closed-source Web servers to enterprises, many others retain the open source values embodied by Tim Berners-Lee. The source code for CERN HTTPD was published in 1993. Look at the best open source Web servers currently available for the enterprise.

1. NGINX HTTP server

NGINX was developed in 2002 by Russian engineer Igor Syosev to cope with the growth of web traffic and broadband Internet, which required managing 10,000 simultaneous connections. His solution is an asynchronous event-driven architecture known for its high performance and efficiency.

It has become particularly popular because of its scalability and the minimal resources required to handle large user loads. It can also be used as a reverse proxy and mail proxy server.

2. Apache HTTP server

Apache was founded in 1995 and became the most commonly used HTTP server the following year, a status that continued for nearly 20 years.

The name Apache was long thought to be A pun on the word “A Patchy Server” until one of its creators revealed that it was actually paying homage to the aggressive strategy of the American Indian tribe that shared its name.

Apache uses a modular architecture to meet the different needs of each individual infrastructure. It is known for its reliability, wide range of features, and support for many server-side programming languages.

3. Lighttpd

“Lighttpd” is a combination of “Light” and “HTTPD”, but “Lighty” is used to describe its speed, flexibility and stability. Lightweight servers are optimized for high-performance, high-speed critical environments and are ideal for high-load servers.

The server developed by Jan Kneschke started with the same goal as NGINX founder Igor Syosev: solving the C10K problem of handling 10,000 concurrent connections on one server. Lighttpd has a relatively low memory footprint, a small CPU load, and a set of advanced features. It has highly integrated support for use with interfaces to external programs and Web applications that can be written in any programming language.

4. Hiawatha

Hiawatha was developed in 2002 by Hugo Leisink, who studied computer science in the Netherlands and wanted Internet servers in student dormitories. His goal was to develop a system that addressed security limitations and vulnerabilities in other servers that confused configuration tools.

The server he wrote adds many unique security features to all the usual measures found in other leading Web servers. It also uses a readable configuration syntax that can be used without requiring HTTP or CGI expertise.

Hiawatha’s advantages lie in its compact size, high safety and ease of installation. It is ideal for users looking for a lightweight alternative to Apache, who prioritise safe availability, speed, and performance over advanced features.

5. Cherokee

Cherokee is the third native American tribe name on our servers. It was created in 2001 by Akamai Technologies engineering Director Alvaro Lopez Ortega, who wanted to combine the speed and functionality of a modular and lightweight design.

Cherokee has become a scalable, high-performance, user-friendly Web server with low memory footprint and load balancing facilities. It includes a web-based administrative interface called Cherokee-admin that enables direct configuration of the server and all of its functions. Cherokee runs natively on Linux, Mac OS X, BSD and Solaris, but not on Windows.

Monkey HTTP server

Monkey HTTP is a lightweight server and development stack that was originally optimized for Linux, but is now also compatible with Mac OS X. It is designed for embedded devices and is therefore highly scalable with low memory and LOW CPU consumption. The project began in 2001 and moved to professional applications in 2008 when it was rewritten as an event-driven system.

The server runs through a hybrid mechanism, providing access to thousands of clients per thread. It provides high performance heavy load servers and is easy to install, making it ideal for embedded devices.

7. Apache Tomcat

Apache Tomcat is a Servlet and Java Server Page C container developed under the Apache license to act as an add-on to both standalone servers and existing Web servers, such as Apache.

While Apache HTTP Server is traditionally used to develop static Web pages, Tomcat is primarily used to deploy Java servlets and JSPS in dynamic Web sites and to run Web applications.

Tomcat can be used with the Apache HTTP server, but it can also be used as a capable Web server because it has its own internal HTTP server.