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Web server software

The web server is the program that receives every request to your site. It delivers images, stylesheets and other files directly, and passes requests for WordPress pages on to PHP, which builds them. WordPress recommends Apache or Nginx.

Why it matters

Section titled “Why it matters”

The web server decides how requests are handled before WordPress even starts. One difference matters for WordPress in particular: Apache, and web servers compatible with it, read rules from .htaccess files, which WordPress uses for pretty permalinks and many caching and security plugins use for their own rules. Nginx ignores these files; there, the same rules have to be in the server configuration. A plugin that writes to .htaccess has no effect on such a server.

The name alone says little about speed. How the server is set up matters more: how it connects to PHP, whether it compresses files, how long it lets browsers cache them.

What influences it

Section titled “What influences it”

Server: The hosting provider chooses the web server and sets it up, including its modules, how it passes requests to PHP and how many it handles at once.

CDN: A CDN or proxy in front of your server receives requests first. The name it reports can be its own rather than that of the web server behind it.

In Permo

Section titled “In Permo”

The Web server card is in System info, tab Server & System, under Server. It shows the name the web server reports to PHP, often with its version, such as nginx 1.24.0. The notes below name the operating system and the CPU architecture. The card gives context; Permo doesn’t rate it. Under Changes, System info records when the web server changes.

Section titled “Related”

Sources