NGINX vs. Apache: Picking Best Web Server for Your Business

NGINX (pronounced as engine-x) is a web server that uses asynchronous event-driven architecture to deliver content to clients. It was first created in 2002 and later released to the public in 2004 by Igor Sysoev, a Russian developer who wanted a solution to the C10K problem.

Much like Apache, NGINX is an open-source project which can be freely used, modified, and distributed.

NGINX’s non-blocking event-driven architecture makes it an ideal solution for processing multiple requests. NGINX works by creating one controller process and multiple worker processes. The controller keeps everything running, but each worker handles the tasks.

Because each process is asynchronous, worker processes can execute multiple requests without blocking other requests. Despite multiple processes, NGINX uses low memory, which enhances efficiency. This makes NGINX ideal for high-traffic websites, giving it an advantage over other web servers.

However, NGINX still shares some similarities with Apache. For instance, NGINX can handle HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, and WebSocket file systems, as well as SSL/TLS termination. You can also use NGINX as a reverse proxy that distributes client requests across multiple servers.

Beyond that, NGINX is ideal for load balancing and caching, WebSockets, and URL rewriting, which allows the administrator to modify incoming requests and permit or restrict access.

NGINX is dynamic, with plenty of extension modules providing extra website functionality. Moreover, it comes native to all major Linux and Unix operating systems. Although it can be installed on Microsoft Windows, it may be less efficient, especially when scaling or dealing with UDP authentication.

Pros

• Asynchronous and event-driven architecture makes NGINX ideal for multiple concurrent requests.
• Ideal for high-traffic servers.
• Can be used as a reverse proxy server.
• Low-memory footprint with efficient CPU and memory usage.
• Easy to configure and use, even for beginners.
• Active community support and documentation.

Cons

• Limited support for the Windows operating system.
• No native support for dynamic content, and uses proxy requests on all dynamic content to a backend server before serving it to the client.
• Leans heavily on the use of external third-party modules.

Feature comparisons of Apache and NGINX

Apache and NGINX are popular server software options for building high-performance websites. However, they differ in approach. Let’s explore each web server application and see which option best serves your needs.

Architecture

The architecture of server software refers to its internal mechanisms and layout that determine how it handles connections, web requests, and user traffic. Think of Apache’s and NGINX’s architecture as the inner workings of a car engine and how each component helps them deliver the best service.

Apache

As mentioned earlier, Apache, by default, uses a process-driven architecture, and a single thread handles each connection request — A thread being the shortest flow of instructions a scheduler can handle.

However, Apache comes with a couple of potential downsides. Heavy resource consumption and a lack of support for asynchronous processing can slow down your server, increasing page load times and sometimes leading to website outages.

Apache cleverly resolves these problems using multi-processing modules (MPMs) that accept and respond to server requests. As a user, you can pick any of the three main MPMs to optimize your server, but you can only load one MPM at a time.

The MPMs in Apache 2.4 are:

• mpm_worker: The worker MPM creates multiple threads with each process, and each thread can handle a connection request. Your system can now serve multiple threads at once and scale better because each thread in the MPM needs fewer resources than a single process.
• mpm_event: This MPM is much like the worker MPM but handles keep-alive connections too. It sets aside threads to keep certain connections alive while allocating running requests to other threads. This way, keep-alive requests don’t slow down the entire system. This makes the event MPM the most resource-efficient option in the Apache server.
• mpm_prefork: These are unthreaded MPMs where each child process can only handle a single request at a time. Once the requests exceed a specified amount, server performance suffers severely, and scaling with this MPM becomes problematic. The prefork MPM is ideal for stability and compatibility.

NGINX

NGINX’s architecture is asynchronous and event-driven, which means it can handle multiple simultaneous connections within a single process. It does so by running a single controller process and several child processes.

This type of architecture makes NGINX ideal for scalability because it can efficiently distribute client requests across processes, even on low-power systems.

The controller process performs high-level operations that read and interpret configuration files, bind to ports, and form child processes.

Child processes are crucial to NGINX’s operations, and they fall into three categories:

• Worker processes: Handle thousands of concurrent HTTP connections and eliminate the need for new processes or threads. Worker processes run independently, creating worker connections that handle a single request thread. They also read and write content to the server disks and communicate with upstream servers.
• Cache loader processes: These processes load the disk cache into the shared memory used by other worker processes. They only run once after NGINX starts.
• Cache manager processes: Keep cached data within configured limits and check it periodically to cut the oldest-accessed data.

NGINX may be your best bet if your website has high traffic levels, like an ecommerce store or cloud storage services.

Verdict: Although Apache has multi-processing modules to support multiple processes, NGINX’s asynchronous event-driven architecture wins. NGINX is better for high traffic and scalability. However, Apache‘s architecture means it can handle stable projects that need more compatibility.

Performance (static vs. dynamic content)

Next is a performance comparison between NGINX and Apache on content delivery (i.e., dynamic and static content delivery). Dynamic content changes depending on a user’s behavior, interests, and selections. On the other hand, static content is served directly to the webpage without any modifications.

Apache

Apache uses a file-based approach to deliver static content, a function any of its MPMs can deliver. Beyond that, it excels as a dynamic content delivery server software. It relies only on its internal components and integrates a unique programming language processor into each worker instance.

You can activate the language processor in each module using Apache’s loadable modules. That way, an Apache server can run dynamic content within the server without needing external software support.

NGINX

NGINX delivers static files faster than Apache due to its asynchronous architecture. That makes it the ideal server software for static web content. However, it falls short when delivering dynamic content.

Since NGINX doesn’t feature an inbuilt capability to process dynamic content, it will use an external process for execution. It must wait for external software to process and return decoded content before sending it back to the browser. This means more administrator configuration requirements.

Verdict: Both Apache and NGINX excel when delivering static content, but Apache is ideal for dynamic content. NGINX doesn’t natively process dynamic content and may need an external processor across a protocol it can accommodate.

Security

Security is another critical consideration to make when choosing between Apache and NGINX. Both server systems are secure, but they approach security in different ways.

Apache

Over the years, Apache has been a secure software for HTTPD server connections. However, you can still configure the server for more security.

Apache uses three configuration settings to thwart a denial-of-service (DoS) attack:

• TimeOut: Defines the amount of time — 60 seconds by default — the server waits before failing a request.
• KeepAliveTimeout: Manages how long an Apache server connection stays open for a new request.
• RequestReadTimeout: Cuts connections with users who send requests slower than expected.

NGINX

Right out of the box, NGINX offers rate-limiting capabilities, which manage the incoming request rate. NGINX breaks the connection if its rate value exceeds or falls below typical browser activity. Its unique architecture also protects upstream servers from too many requests — a symptom of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

You can also configure NGINX to deny access to specific IP addresses, bandwidth, and subrequests. Beyond that, NGINX supports Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols.

Verdict: Both Apache and NGINX offer exceptional security features for your needs. However, you may need extra security measures to protect your website from malicious attacks.

Configuration

When setting up server software, you’ll notice critical differences between Apache and NGINX module systems.

Apache