For a long time Apache has been the defacto standard for hosting PHP web applications like Magento 1 or WordPress. Then with the rise of the need for high-scaling applications hosted in the cloud webservers like nginx or full page caches like Varnish became popular in order to handle the enormous amounts of traffic pouring in. The LiteSpeed webserver for Magento 1 is the new cool kind in the block now.

As my favorite hosting provider rack::SPEED lately offered new hosting possibilities with the LiteSpeed webserver technology, I had an in-depth look into this software stack and how it works together with Magento 1.
Eventually I also use it now on my own Magento 1 website.

Some highlights of LiteSpeed are:

  • Drop-In replacement for Apache webserver, which means most of the functionality is identical to Apache and e.g. .htaccess files can be parsed
  • LiteSpeed Cache is an full page cache (FPC) integrated into the webserver, which removes the need for extra software or dealing with complex back-and-forth Varnish communication which e.g. I was previously doing with the great Turpentine Magento Extension
  • Existing extensive Magento 1 extension directly from the software vendor, as well as pre-configured Docker images

The stunning result are sub-50 ms response times of your shop! Not as good as this Hugo-based blog but outstanding performance for a Magento shop.

During the implementation I found only one issue with their Magento 1 extension and that is the need to disable all SID session parameters in frontend and backend. While in Magento frontend this can be configured in system configuration, there is no such configuration for the backend.
That’s why I ended up implementing this little piece of code into my Magento 1 utilities extension, which contains also some other useful stuff (that is too small to put it into separate extensions).

Did you already make experiences with LiteSpeed? I am really fascinated by the easy setup and the response times!