Hey all,

I'm mainly a developer, but every now and again I jump into the sys-admin position. For the most part I've gotten away with deploying php and python apps using apache.

I write today because I'm starting to research faster alternatives to apache, yet still have some of the core features I require like put and delete methods and the ability to connect to a socket via apache. ( This I have not tried, but might be a nice whistle if I ever employ comet on my apps. ) As you've probably guessed, I use javascript exclusively for all my websites utilizing deep linking for SEO support.

The main areas that I'm looking to increase performance is the connection between the django apps and the web server to the client response. Every day I work my best to keep the smallest memory foot print as possible, however I am getting to the end of my rope when it comes to working with apache.

In general, keep in mind that I'm just starting this research so I'm looking more for material to read then solutions at this moment.

My main questions:

• Am I missing something about apache that makes it faster then everything else?
• What would be a good server environment to deploy just static files one?
• What are some of the leading open-source and paid alternatives?