How to choose between Apache and Nginx

There are many WEB server products on the market, and the mainstream ones are Apache and Nginx. But how to choose between Apache and Nginx also makes many novices confused. This article compares Apache and Nginx to give everyone a clearer understanding and choice.

1. Introduction

Apache:
Apache was created in 1995 and has been developed under the Apache Software Foundation since 1999 development. Apache is flexible, efficient, has rich extension modules, and active community support, making it the most mainstream open source and free web server software in the world.

Nginx:
Nginx is a free and open source web server written by Russian software engineer Igor Sysoev. Since its launch in 2004, nginx has focused on high performance, high concurrency and low memory usage. And its features in load balancing, caching, access and bandwidth control, and efficient integration with various applications have made it gradually popular among users.

The following is the latest web server market share comparison chart updated on November 21, 2017:

## 2. Comparison

Although Apache and Nginx have different backgrounds, their functions and purposes are the same. Simply put, they receive user requests, then process the requests, and finally return the processing results to the users.

1. Link processing

The biggest difference between Apache and Nginx is how they handle connections. Apache provides a series of multi-processing modules through which operating system resources are used, processes and thread pools are managed, and user requests are controlled and processed.

Apache provides three multi-processing modules: mpm_prefork, mpm_worker, and mpm_envent. Let’s make a brief description and comparison below.

mpm_prefork: The module generates many sub-processes, each sub-process is single-threaded, and each thread links a request, such a one-to-one relationship. Therefore, if the number of requests is greater than the number of processes, the performance of the server will be unsatisfactory.

mpm_worker: Unlike prefork, the child process in the worker is multi-threaded, and each thread manages a user connection. The number of threads is greater than the number of processes, which means that new connections can get an idle thread immediately without waiting for the process to become idle.

mpm_event: This module is similar to worker. The difference is that event can handle long connections (keep-alive) to avoid resource waste caused by long-term occupation of threads by requests. It also enhances request processing in high concurrency scenarios. ability.

Unlike Apache, Nginx is implemented in an asynchronous, non-blocking, event-driven manner. The Nginx worker process is single-threaded, and each thread can handle a large number of user requests asynchronously. The following is the working principle diagram of Nginx:

##2. Processing of static and dynamic contentWhether it is static or dynamic content, Apache can handle it. Apache has built-in capabilities to parse and execute various dynamic script languages ​​(including PHP, Python, and Perl) without the need for external processors.

There is no doubt that dynamic content processing is probably the pain point of Nginx. Nginx is not efficient at processing dynamic content and requires the help of an external processor. So if your site has a lot of dynamic features, Apache's performance may be more to your liking. However, although Nginx has poor dynamic content processing capabilities compared to Apache, its static content processing is still very efficient.

3. SummaryApache has rich module component support, strong stability, few BUGs, and strong dynamic content processing.

Nginx is lightweight, takes up less resources, has load balancing, strong high concurrency processing, and efficient static content processing.

It makes sense to exist. Apache and Nginx have their own strengths as WEB services. I personally think that there is no such thing as one of them will completely replace the other in the future. The key is that users should carefully consider their application scenarios and decide which product to choose based on their own needs and circumstances. The one that suits them is the best.

Related reading:

How to configure Apache HTTP Server under Ubuntu 16.04

Detailed explanation of the installation and configuration of apache, php7 and mysql5.7 in CentOS7

Sample code for replacing Nginx server with Tengine in LNMP environment

Nginx reverse proxy and load balancing practice

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