smallest webserver

Question

Can anyone recommend a tiny tiny webserver that will run on windows. Extra points if it runs as an NT service. I am looking for something purely to server html. At most it will probably server 20 pages a day, and at worst 2 or 3 simultaneously. So really really simple stuff.

We are currently using IIS which is total overkill

Nobody seems to be addressing this, but I find it hard to recommend something without knowing what are you hoping to gain from switching web servers. Easier management? Lower load on the server? Smaller security attack surface? How do you consider IIS to be overkill? — MattB, Jun 08 '10 at 16:44
I agree, hard to know whats the main purpose is except IIS is unwanted. But thats okay with me. I love IIS, but some dont. — BerggreenDK, Jun 09 '10 at 00:31
@John OP could simply up-vote multiple times with different account/emails -- shill voting? — jscott, Jun 09 '10 at 12:34

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:21

8

Try http://www.lighttpd.net/ Lighttpd, Its used by Google,Sourceforge and a other large organizations.

Its pretty small and has been know to have the edge over speed all in this one small box.

answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:21

RobertPitt

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for lighttpd you will need to use http://en.wlmp-project.net/ unless you are comfortable compiling the code yourself – Paul Jun 08 '10 at 14:17

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:13

6

nginx

answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:13

Quentin

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 14:19

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Lighttpd will most probably be your best bet for looking for a really small http server otherwise i would have just said to install a copy of apache2 to your windows machine which will do everything you need and run as an NT service.

answered Jun 08 '10 at 14:19

Paul

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 16:02

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IMHO: leave it alone. Its already up and running. Who will notice a speed difference?

Is it worth the time to replace and document?

answered Jun 08 '10 at 16:02

Jim

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Not to mention the extra burden of a third-party system to keep patched... if you're already patching Windows, that is. – Oskar Duveborn Jun 08 '10 at 16:47

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:14

2

Use Pythons BaseHTTPServer

answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:14

David Sykes

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:18

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Try http://code.google.com/p/mongoose/

answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:18

PeterMmm

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 14:23

I haven't used this is a REALLY long time (10 years or so), but Xitami has a very small footprint, assuming it will still work on more recent versions of Windows. I recall running this on Windows98 boxes in some cases many moons ago. It's not actively developed, but it's small, fast, and free.

Even though IIS is "overkill" I'd stick with it since it's well supported and isn't a resource hog when it's just hosting up some static files.

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 09 '10 at 00:28

I see a lot of different options here, so:

A) Depending on your requirements for updating/rendering the HTML files, you might consider a hosting option? there a plenty of cheap hosting sites and those running Apache can run HTML files too.

B) If you need secure access (protected), you could also consider a cloudbased hosting, such as Amazons Cloudservices. This could also be used for option A)

C) How about direct file access for the users? Just leaving them with READ ONLY access to the server folder?

D) Put the pages inside a Google Docs account. Then share the content to a certain group. This will give you Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations. You could uploade the changes from Office files or PDF too.

E) Build a small service from one of the free samples on the net.

I have a few in Microsoft.NET, I'll have a search at Google for some of them:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/CSHTTPServer.aspx

http://www.123aspx.com/PostReview.aspx?res=75

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/071012.htm

even more here:

http://www.google.dk/search?q=build+a+http+server+C%23

It ought to be easy to translate the code into a .net NT service afterwards.

Does any of my options solve your request?

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 13:16

If you don't mind a dependency on .NET, you can use Kayak to create an NT service that hosts up a few pages and you can do clever things with the URLs. Alternatively, you can use Cassini that will work too for standard ASP.NET sites.

Kayak requires development work, Cassini works out of the box.

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 14:59

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I also believe Lighttpd would fit you best. However, you may be interested in checking out WLMP which is Windows / LightTPD / MySQL / PHP. This would give you a lightweight and infinity more capable web-server.

answered Jun 08 '10 at 14:59

JohnyD

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score 1 · Answer 11 · edited Sep 20 '21 at 12:23

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_server_software - Comparison of web servers

and let`s goooogle guide you :)

edited Sep 20 '21 at 12:23

ozkanpakdil

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answered Jun 09 '10 at 04:26

evg345

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and look at "GuruPlug Server" just for fun :) its small and it is http :) – evg345 Jun 09 '10 at 04:26

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 10 '10 at 04:08

IIS 7 is the probably one of the best answers, you can uninstall every single functionality (like Windows Auth, Basic, CGI, ASP, etc) and strip it down to be a simple static file server. If the performance is what you are aiming for, you can also leverage kernel mode caching which will make it probably the one of the fastest options as well.

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 15:59

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abyss from www.aprelium.com they have a free version and a $99 paid version. it is very small and fast.

answered Jun 08 '10 at 15:59

Don Dickinson

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score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jun 08 '10 at 22:48

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Try Null httpd http://www.nulllogic.ca/httpd/ which is extremely small.

answered Jun 08 '10 at 22:48

Benny

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 06 '12 at 04:47

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Netduino board with small web server code?

Pros: - low power use - compact

Cons: - it is .net micro framework, but is not windows

answered Jul 06 '12 at 04:47

Jonesome Reinstate Monica

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smallest webserver

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