thttpd is an open source software web server

Web server

Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....

 from ACME Laboratories

ACME Laboratories

Acme Laboratories is the home page for a number of open source software products written and maintained by Jef Poskanzer. Major projects maintained at ACME include pbmplus and thttpd....

, designed for simplicity, a small execution footprint

Memory footprint

Memory footprint refers to the amount of main memory that a program uses or references while running.This includes all sorts of active memory regions like code, static data sections , heap, as well as all the stacks, plus memory required to hold any additional data structures, such as symbol...

 and speed. thttpd is single-threaded

Thread (computer science)

In computer science, a thread of execution is the smallest unit of processing that can be scheduled by an operating system. The implementation of threads and processes differs from one operating system to another, but in most cases, a thread is contained inside a process...

 and portable

Software portability

Portability in high-level computer programming is the usability of the same software in different environments. The prerequirement for portability is the generalized abstraction between the application logic and system interfaces...

: it compiles

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...

 cleanly on most Unix-like

Unix-like

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....

 operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s, including FreeBSD

FreeBSD

FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...

, SunOS

SunOS

SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...

 4, Solaris 2, BSD/OS

BSD/OS

BSD/OS was a proprietary version of the BSD operating system developed by Berkeley Software Design, Inc. ....

, Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

, and OSF/1. It has an executable memory size of about 50 kB.
While it can be used as a simplified replacement to more feature-rich servers, it is uniquely suited to service high volume requests for static data—for example as an image hosting server

Image hosting service

An image hosting service allows individuals to upload images to an Internet website. The image host will then store the image onto its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view that image....

. The first "t" in thttpd stands for variously tiny, turbo, or throttling.

thttpd has a bandwidth throttling

Bandwidth throttling

Bandwidth throttling is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion. Bandwidth throttling can occur at different locations on the network. On a local area network , a sysadmin may employ bandwidth throttling to help limit...

 feature which is not present in other open source web server software such as Apache

Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...

 (although throttling is available as an add-on module for Apache). This feature enables the server administrator to limit the maximum bit rate

Bit rate

In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time....

 at which certain types of files may be transferred. For example, the administrator may choose to restrict the transfer of JPEG

JPEG

In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....

 image files to at most 20 kilobyte

Kilobyte

The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...

s per second. This prevents the connection from becoming saturated so that the server will still be responsive under heavy load, with the tradeoff that file transfer speed is reduced. thttpd had a bug concerning the X-Forwarded-For

X-Forwarded-For

The X-Forwarded-For HTTP header field is a de facto standard for identifying the originating IP address of a client connecting to a web server through an HTTP proxy or load balancer. This is an HTTP request header which was introduced by the Squid caching proxy server's developers...

 header

Sites using thttpd include demon.net, bluelight.com, mtv.com, The Drudge Report

Drudge Report

The Drudge Report is a news aggregation website. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events as well as links to many...

, garfield.com and others.

External links

• thttpd web site
• Description of throttling in thttpd documentation
• thttpd, unofficial resources (links, patches, etc.)
• thttpd AT mail.acme.com mailing list archive at http://marc.info
• Connection throttling patch