Ditching Apache: A Guide to Installing OpenLiteSpeed on Dedicated Hardware
If your dedicated server is struggling under sudden traffic spikes, it's usually not a hardware problem—it's an architecture problem.
OpenLiteSpeed (OLS) is the free, open-source edition of LiteSpeed Web Server, and it is a massive upgrade over traditional Apache setups. By utilizing an event-driven architecture, OLS prevents your RAM from being swallowed by hundreds of idle worker processes. Combine that with LiteSpeed's highly optimized PHP handler (LSPHP) and native LSCache, and you have an enterprise-grade stack for zero cost.
In my latest guide, I cover the exact workflow for migrating a dedicated server to OpenLiteSpeed on Ubuntu.
What the guide covers:
Safely adding the official LiteSpeed repository.
Securing the necessary ports (
80,443,7080,8088) via UFW.Securing and accessing the GUI Web Admin Console.
Compiling and linking PHP 8.3 (LSPHP) to the event-driven server.
Creating your first Virtual Host without manually editing
.conffiles.
If you are managing bare-metal infrastructure and want to squeeze every drop of performance out of your hardware, this is the stack you need.
