Pitchfork is a preforking HTTP server for Rack applications. It uses a shared-nothing architecture and seeks to minimize memory consumption by maximizing Copy-on-Write performance.
The server is designed for Linux, fast clients, and low-latency, high-bandwidth connections. It delegates load balancing to the operating system kernel and can periodically refork workers from a warmed-up template to increase shared memory.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Runs workers in isolated address spaces.
- Serves one client per worker at a time.
- Periodically promotes warmed-up workers as new process templates.
- Maximizes shared memory between worker processes.
- Reaps and restarts workers that terminate unexpectedly.
- Manages multiple worker processes and listening ports.
- Supports adaptive per-request timeouts.
- Delegates load balancing to the operating system kernel.
- Supports TCP sockets and Unix domain sockets.
- Works with Ruby 2.5 and later.
Website: github.com/Shopify/pitchfork
Support:
Developer: Shopify
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
Pitchfork is written in Ruby and C. Learn Ruby with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Ruby Application Servers | |
|---|---|
| Puma | Concurrent web server for Ruby and Rack |
| Phusion Passenger | Web server and application server for Ruby, Python and Node.js |
| Falcon | Asynchronous Rack-compatible engine for fast, scalable web traffic |
| pitchfork | Preforking HTTP engine designed for resilience and steady throughput |
| iodine | Lightweight HTTP and WebSocket service built for demanding loads |
| unicorn | HTTP server for Rack applications |
| Itsi | High-performance web serving with efficient request handling |
| Rainbows! | HTTP server for sleepy Rack applications based on Unicorn |
| Agoo | Fast HTTP platform with WebSocket support and very low overhead |
| yahns | Sleepy, multi-threaded, non-blocking application server for Ruby |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
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