Previous version of Lithium were reliant on the Apache HTTP server instance installed on the Mac OS X host where Lithium Core was installed. A custom PHP module was installed as per of the Lithium Core install process. This worked fine for installs where Lithium was the only web-based app being served from the machine. However, having other web-based applications running along side Lithium Core was problematic for Lithium and the other applications.
Lithium Core 5.0 ships with an embedded HTTP server instance that runs on a custom port (TCP 51180) to provide access to Lithium Web and the XML/HTTP protocol interface used by Lithium Console and Lithium Touch.
The use of our own HTTP server instance running on a custom port ensures that Lithium has absolutely no impact on any other web based application on the host where Lithium Core is installed. It has also given us complete control over the delivery of content from Lithium Core. This is important with the introduction of Lithium Touch for the iPhone and iPod Touch where it is essential for the exchange of data between Core and Touch to be compressed.