Apache Traffic Server vs NGINX

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Apache Traffic Server

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Apache Traffic Server vs nginx: What are the differences?

Introduction

Here, we will discuss the key differences between Apache Traffic Server and nginx. These two popular web server software have several distinctions that set them apart from each other.

  1. Architecture: Apache Traffic Server (ATS) is designed as a reverse proxy cache, primarily focused on caching and accelerating content delivery. It operates as a separate proxy server between clients and web servers. In contrast, nginx is a lightweight web server and reverse proxy that aims to handle concurrent connections efficiently while providing features like load balancing, SSL support, and URL rewriting.

  2. Performance: Both ATS and nginx are known for their excellent performance, but they have different areas of expertise. ATS is particularly efficient in caching and handling static content, making it a strong choice for high-traffic websites. On the other hand, nginx excels in handling a large number of concurrent connections without consuming significant system resources, which makes it popular for serving dynamic content and processing requests quickly.

  3. Configuration: The configuration syntax and structure of ATS and nginx differ significantly. ATS uses a complex configuration system based on XML syntax, which allows for fine-grained control over its extensive set of features. In contrast, nginx uses a simpler configuration language based on a lightweight key-value format, making it easier to understand and manage for most users.

  4. Modules and Extensions: Both ATS and nginx support a wide range of modules and extensions to enhance their functionality. However, the availability and variety of modules differ. ATS offers a comprehensive set of built-in modules, including caching, traffic shaping, and URL routing. Furthermore, it allows developers to write custom modules to extend its capabilities. Nginx also provides a diverse set of modules, but it places greater emphasis on third-party modules created by the community, which can be easily added to the server's functionality.

  5. Community and Support: Nginx has gained significant popularity over the years, fostering a large and active community of users and developers. This extensive community support translates into numerous resources, tutorials, and plugins available for nginx users. Apache Traffic Server, although widely adopted in its own right, has a smaller community compared to nginx, resulting in a relatively lesser number of available resources.

  6. Licensing: ATS and nginx differ in their licensing terms. ATS is released under the Apache License, making it open source and free to use. Nginx, on the other hand, has a dual licensing model, offering both open source (2-clause BSD license) and commercial licenses. The commercial variant provides additional features and support options for enterprise users.

In summary, Apache Traffic Server and nginx offer robust web server solutions with their respective strengths. ATS excels in caching and static content delivery, while nginx is highly efficient in handling concurrent connections and dynamic content. The choice between them depends on specific requirements, architecture complexity, and community support.

Advice on Apache Traffic Server and NGINX

I am diving into web development, both front and back end. I feel comfortable with administration, scripting and moderate coding in bash, Python and C++, but I am also a Windows fan (i love inner conflict). What are the votes on web servers? IIS is expensive and restrictive (has Windows adoption of open source changed this?) Apache has the history but seems to be at the root of most of my Infosec issues, and I know nothing about nginx (is it too new to rely on?). And no, I don't know what I want to do on the web explicitly, but hosting and data storage (both cloud and tape) are possibilities. Ready, aim fire!

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Replies (1)
Simon Aronsson
Developer Advocate at k6 / Load Impact · | 4 upvotes · 634.7K views
Recommends
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I would pick nginx over both IIS and Apace HTTP Server any day. Combine it with docker, and as you grow maybe even traefik, and you'll have a really flexible solution for serving http content where you can take sites and projects up and down without effort, easily move it between systems and dont have to handle any dependencies on your actual local machine.

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Needs advice
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From a StackShare Community member: "We are a LAMP shop currently focused on improving web performance for our customers. We have made many front-end optimizations and now we are considering replacing Apache with nginx. I was wondering if others saw a noticeable performance gain or any other benefits by switching."

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Replies (3)
Recommends
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I use nginx because it is very light weight. Where Apache tries to include everything in the web server, nginx opts to have external programs/facilities take care of that so the web server can focus on efficiently serving web pages. While this can seem inefficient, it limits the number of new bugs found in the web server, which is the element that faces the client most directly.

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Leandro Barral
Recommends
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I use nginx because its more flexible and easy to configure

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Christian Cwienk
Software Developer at SAP · | 1 upvotes · 603.9K views
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Apache HTTP ServerApache HTTP Server

I use Apache HTTP Server because it's intuitive, comprehensive, well-documented, and just works

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Pros of Apache Traffic Server
Pros of NGINX
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    • 1.4K
      High-performance http server
    • 893
      Performance
    • 730
      Easy to configure
    • 607
      Open source
    • 530
      Load balancer
    • 288
      Free
    • 288
      Scalability
    • 225
      Web server
    • 175
      Simplicity
    • 136
      Easy setup
    • 30
      Content caching
    • 21
      Web Accelerator
    • 15
      Capability
    • 14
      Fast
    • 12
      High-latency
    • 12
      Predictability
    • 8
      Reverse Proxy
    • 7
      The best of them
    • 7
      Supports http/2
    • 5
      Great Community
    • 5
      Lots of Modules
    • 5
      Enterprise version
    • 4
      High perfomance proxy server
    • 3
      Reversy Proxy
    • 3
      Streaming media delivery
    • 3
      Streaming media
    • 3
      Embedded Lua scripting
    • 2
      GRPC-Web
    • 2
      Blash
    • 2
      Lightweight
    • 2
      Fast and easy to set up
    • 2
      Slim
    • 2
      saltstack
    • 1
      Virtual hosting
    • 1
      Narrow focus. Easy to configure. Fast
    • 1
      Along with Redis Cache its the Most superior
    • 1
      Ingress controller

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    Cons of Apache Traffic Server
    Cons of NGINX
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      • 10
        Advanced features require subscription

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      What is Apache Traffic Server?

      It is a fast, scalable and extensible HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2.0 compliant caching proxy server.Improve your response time, while reducing server load and bandwidth needs by caching and reusing frequently-requested web pages, images, and web ser

      What is NGINX?

      nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.

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      What companies use Apache Traffic Server?
      What companies use NGINX?
      See which teams inside your own company are using Apache Traffic Server or NGINX.
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      What tools integrate with Apache Traffic Server?
      What tools integrate with NGINX?

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      Blog Posts

      What are some alternatives to Apache Traffic Server and NGINX?
      HAProxy
      HAProxy (High Availability Proxy) is a free, very fast and reliable solution offering high availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based applications.
      Varnish
      Varnish Cache is a web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy. You install it in front of any server that speaks HTTP and configure it to cache the contents. Varnish Cache is really, really fast. It typically speeds up delivery with a factor of 300 - 1000x, depending on your architecture.
      Squid
      Squid reduces bandwidth and improves response times by caching and reusing frequently-requested web pages. Squid has extensive access controls and makes a great server accelerator. It runs on most available operating systems, including Windows and is licensed under the GNU GPL.
      Apache HTTP Server
      The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful and flexible HTTP/1.1 compliant web server. Originally designed as a replacement for the NCSA HTTP Server, it has grown to be the most popular web server on the Internet.
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      Edge Compute Platform gives Dev and Ops engineers the access and control they need to run compute workloads on a distributed edge.
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