For a good user experience of your website, you need to ensure that your servers are fast. There are plenty of programs that you can use for this purpose. Nginx and Apache are the most popular ones. This article will explain you the detailed comparison of the two for helping you to select the one that fits your VPS project best!
Nginx
Nginx is a high-performing web server which is lightweight. Its open source nature makes it easy to customize. It is highly popular as Apache as both practically govern the complete market of web servers.
The development of Nginx started in 2002 when the need for increasing the number of simulated requests per server arose.
When it comes to the technical level, Nginx uses a non-existing sub-process architecture. This indicates that when a request is generated, a new process isn’t created in the server processor. This ultimately increases the performance of the server.
Additionally, in recent years, Nginx is the fastest growing web server. You will find that there are 375 million websites running on Nginx server. You will find it available on all your preferred Linux flavors like CentOS 7.
Apache
Apache is highly expert web server which was created in 1995 and today it is the most popular in the world. Being an open source, you can examine, improve and adapt the source code as per your needs. Similar to Nginx, it is available for almost all Linux distributions along with Ubuntu 18.04 and CentOS 7.
Apache basically aims at providing a secure, stable and flexible web server. For example, the multi-process modules are managed by Apache for maintaining the same connection in different ways. Due to this, administrators can apply criteria for each connection which is the biggest benefit.
But, the more the consumption of Apache server occurs, the more it requires resources.
Nginx vs Apache: Can They be Compared?
In short, the answer is yes. No doubt both perform their function properly but they are a bit different. So, it is important for you to know in which areas it is or is not suitable for your server.
1. Nginx vs Apache – Popularity
Being popular is not a technical term, but surely it has an impact on the level of community support the server may have. Both Nginx and Apache are quite popular and so, you can almost say that they are one.
However, Apache gets greater support from the open source community, making it an ideal platform for educational projects and individuals.
In addition, Apache stands as the most popular web server in the world, even though there isn’t much difference between Nginx and Apache.
2. Nginx vs Apache – Security
In term of security, both web servers offer good security policies. The development teams of both the servers, frequently, publish security patches to avoid DDos attacks.
Moreover, you get quite active developments and constant updates.
3. Nginx vs Apache – Performance
In case you have a website then the web server should be faster. If it isn’t, it might lead to server collapses and at worse, a lack of visitors.
When performance comes into the spotlight, the sub-process management of Nginx responds better to customer requests. Additionally, since it is event based, only the server responds with requests, not allowing it to spend memory unnecessarily.
Apart from this, Nginx efficiently consumes computer resources. In simple terms, it requires less RAM to keep running.
One more important thing is that Nginx follows multiple requests in a better way. Hence, when several clients access your server at the same time, Nginx proves superior to Apache.
4. Nginx vs Apache – Flexibility
There are multiple different situations which a sysadmin has to deal with. So, applications must be highly flexible to adapt to what is required.
Being a highly flexible web server, Apache supports over 60 different modules, further extending its functionality.
Also, the customization of connections is supported by Apache via the .htaccess tool, while Nginx does not.
As a result, Apache is more flexible and customizable as compared to Nginx.
5. Apache Server vs Nginx: Use Cases & Performance Benchmarks
Nginx is known for its ability to handle high traffic volumes due to its event-driven architecture, which is efficient for serving static content. This architecture also allows Nginx to manage a large number of concurrent connections effectively, making it ideal for busy websites.
On the contrary to the Nginx vs Apache benchmark, performance is also the major difference between Apache and Nginx. Apache is more power-consuming yet flexible and feature-rich. So overall, Nginx performs for static content delivery when the demand is high, while with Apache, server-side complex logic is required.
6. Apache Web Server vs Nginx: Compatibility with CMSs
Another difference between Apache and Nginx is that Nginx uses a reverse proxy configuration integration and finds extensions with popular CMSs like WordPress or Drupal easily.
It’s mainly designed for serving static assets; hence some dynamic assets must be configured deeper. Due to its long-standing presence in the web hosting industry, Apache has out-of-the-box compatibility with most CMSs. Its performance is fantastic, especially for dynamic content like PHP, making it a good choice for CMS-heavy websites.
7. Nginx versus Apache: Long-term Trends
Microservices and containerized applications have emerged to enhance the Apache web server vs Nginx debate. Since the internet is moving towards more scalable solutions, Nginx’s lightweight, event-driven nature makes it a better choice for future growth, especially as microservices and containerized apps get bigger.
Nevertheless, Apache remains essential for legacy systems and has plenty of specialized modules. Although there has been an Nginx vs Apache speed race and a rapid adoption of Nginx’s users, Apache’s multitasking capabilities ensure that it remains relevant for some applications.
8. Hybrid Setup: Combined Difference Between Apache and Nginx
A good number of high-performance sites opt for the hybrid setup where Nginx counters Apache as the reverse proxy server. This Apache server vs Nginx comparison becomes better when the hybrid setup enables Nginx to replace the location of the Apache to manage dynamic requests efficiently and handle all other requests quickly.
Thus, the Nginx vs Apache performance combination harnesses the advantages of both servers, elevating the performance and movement of data within the server, especially for websites that are rich in neither static nor dynamic content.
Lastly, whether to use Nginx or Apache completely depends on your needs. In general, Apache is perfect when it comes to customizing connections. Also, using it isn’t a bad idea if you need a lot of documentation. The reason is that Apache offers more community support.
On the other hand, if your web server receives high traffic, you might need to use Nginx because it can handle the traffic in a much better way.
Finally, you can use both on the same server. Remember, this isn’t possible frequently as you think, but is possible for different websites. Websites that require more customization use Apache, while websites that are accessed by more clients, are served in Nginx.
The closure point is that you need to decide what is more important to you and select between them accordingly.
FAQs
What is the difference between Apache and Nginx while handling high-traffic loads?
In the discussion of Nginx vs Apache performance, Nginx has a clear edge over Apache in load management simply because its architecture is event-driven, asynchronous, and scalable. It takes very few resources to support thousands of simultaneous users.
Although Apache can handle heavy loads, it is inefficient due to its use of the process-per-connection method to provide service. Therefore, Apache is resource-heavy in its use when the traffic is high.
Which is more resource-efficient: Apache web server vs Nginx?
The general conclusion is that Nginx uses fewer resources than Apache. To a certain extent, this is due to its structure; it does not make excessive use of CPUs and memory but still manages to take on a large volume of requests. Growing traffic for its user-centric applications, coupled with the process-per-connection scheme, tends to bring out technology’s effect of resource hogging.
Therefore, users usually use it when finding a more resource-efficient option between the Apache web server vs Nginx, pointing to Nginx as the ideal choice.
Which has a wider range of modules and plugins: Apache server vs Nginx?
Nginx lags due to the limited number of modules (the package has a low module count) compared to that of Apache web servers.
The extensive library allows for greater customization and flexibility in configuring Apache to suit various server needs. However, Nginx has increased the number of modules, but the effect is still not comparable to Apache’s. Hence, among Apache servers vs Nginx, Apache has a wider range of modules and plugins.
Which is better Apache or Nginx, for better documentation and community support?
Both server technologies are equally well-documented and have a good community. However, because of the wider usage and longer duration of the existence of Apache, there is more available documentation and evidence. Finding documentation, community, and other supporting resources is much easier with Apache.
