G-WAN: The Lightweight High-Performance Web Server Explained

Getting Started with G-WAN: Installation, Configuration, and Benchmarks

Overview

• G-WAN is a lightweight, high-performance web server focused on low latency and low memory usage. It supports C/C++ servlets and aims for minimal footprint and maximal throughput.

Installation (Linux x86_64 assumed)

1. Download the latest G-WAN binary for Linux from the official distribution (assume tar.gz).
2. Extract:
   tar -xzf gwan-.tar.gz

3. Move the gwan directory to /opt/gwan (or /usr/local/gwan) and set executable permissions:
   sudo mv gwan /opt/gwansudo chmod -R 755 /opt/gwan

4. Start the server:
   cd /opt/gwansudo ./gwan

5. Verify by visiting http://localhost:8080 (default port) or checking process with ps.

Configuration

• Main config file: conf/gwan.conf (or conf/gwan), edit to change:
  • port (default 8080)
  • document root
  • worker threads / processes
  • logging and access controls
• Virtual hosts: place site folders under the web/ directory; each folder becomes a vhost.
• Servlets: put C/C++ servlets in web//servlets/ and scripts in web//handlers/.
• TLS: place certificate and key in conf/ and enable TLS settings in config.

Basic Tuning Tips

• Set worker count to match CPU cores for best throughput.
• Use keep-alive and appropriate timeouts to balance resource usage.
• Enable sendfile and avoid unnecessary logging in benchmarks.
• Use optimized C servlets for CPU-bound work; static files are extremely fast.

Benchmarks (how to run)

1. Use a load tester (wrk, ab, or hey). Example with wrk:
   wrk -t12 -c400 -d30s http://localhost:8080/

2. Measure baseline with static file, then with a simple C servlet to compare dynamic handling.
3. Record requests/sec, latency percentiles (50/95/99), and error rates.

Interpreting Results

• High requests/sec with low p99 latency indicates good throughput.
• If latency or errors rise with concurrency, increase workers or tune OS network settings (ulimit, tcp_tw_reuse, net.core.somaxconn).
• Compare to Nginx/Apache using identical hardware and workloads for fair comparison.

Example Minimal Setup (summary)

• Install binary to /opt/gwan
• Start server on default port 8080
• Put static files in web/root/
• Run wrk against http://localhost:8080/ and tune worker threads = CPU cores

Further Resources

• Official docs and examples shipped with the G-WAN download contain servlets and configuration examples.

May 15, 2026