Linux – Is nginx good for dynamic content

apache-2.2lighttpdlinuxnginxvps

I want an alternative for apache, lighthttpd has memory leaks problems so i can't go for it, i keep reading that nginx is good for static content but is it good for php-mysql dynamic video sharing content?

I have read also that a good option is to run apache and nginx together for dynamic content, but i don't want to use apache at all – apache uses so much ram, that's why i want to use nginx in the first place!

and my last question, is lighthttpd still suffering from memory leaks problems or did they fix it, because I would love to use that, I read somewhere that youtube uses it, and my site is so similar to youtube (not the same though, but if it's good enough for youtube, it's good enough for me)

Best Answer

To be blunt, anyone who runs nginx proxied to Apache (or vice versa) needs their head examined. It doesn't help anything useful, and I wish all the articles recommending it would die in a fire.

That little rant done, nginx is as good for dynamic content as you'd ever want -- it proxies all dynamic content to a backend application server, which is the best model for such things, as it allows the appserver to run as the application user, rather than as the webserver user (which has been a source of much security hilarity over the years). In speed terms it's slightly slower than Apache running mod_php, but not enough that you'll notice (your scripts' runtime will dwarf that of the time added by shunting the request to an appserver).

As far as lighttpd goes, I'd treat as a dead technology. It was great in it's day, but nginx has eaten it's lunch and it's time to let the old gal retire to a quiet pasture.

Related Solutions

Nginx – How to Set Up as a Caching Reverse Proxy

I don't think that there is a way to explicitly invalidate cached items, but here is an example of how to do the rest. Update: As mentioned by Piotr in another answer, there is a cache purge module that you can use. You can also force a refresh of a cached item using nginx's proxy_cache_bypass - see Cherian's answer for more information.

In this configuration, items that aren't cached will be retrieved from example.net and stored. The cached versions will be served up to future clients until they are no longer valid (60 minutes).

Your Cache-Control and Expires HTTP headers will be honored, so if you want to explicitly set an expiration date, you can do that by setting the correct headers in whatever you are proxying to.

There are lots of parameters that you can tune - see the nginx Proxy module documentation for more information about all of this including details on the meaning of the different settings/parameters: http://nginx.org/r/proxy_cache_path

http {
  proxy_cache_path  /var/www/cache levels=1:2 keys_zone=my-cache:8m max_size=1000m inactive=600m;
  proxy_temp_path /var/www/cache/tmp; 


  server {
    location / {
      proxy_pass http://example.net;
      proxy_cache my-cache;
      proxy_cache_valid  200 302  60m;
      proxy_cache_valid  404      1m;
    }
  }
}

Nginx – Why is Nginx more popular than lighttpd

I'm a current nginx user and previous lighttpd user and I can only echo the stability issue. Furthermore nginx has active development and often sees a new version released every couple of weeks with new features or minor bug fixes. The configuration file is also quite clear and very powerful once you learn the nginx way of doing things.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Nginx – How to Set Up as a Caching Reverse Proxy

Nginx – Why is Nginx more popular than lighttpd

Related Topic