nginx vs apache as a reverse proxy

[Cliff Wells]

On Mon, 2009-03-02 at 17:43 +1100, Linden Varley wrote:
> I’m doing some simple testing on a FreeBSD 7.0 server comparing
> Apache2 vs Nginx as a reverse proxy to an Apache backend server. The
> backend serves mainly static images using mod_python.
> 
>  
> 
> I have yet to do thorough testing but it seems as though Apache2 has
> slightly higher throughput (KB/s measured using Jmeter) when compared
> to Nginx under moderate load. 

Unfortunately (and counter-intuitively) KB/s isn't completely useful
without also considering actual requests per second:

http://www.joeandmotorboat.com/2008/02/28/apache-vs-nginx-web-server-performance-deathmatch/

"The network I/O graph I find interesting mostly because I don’t know
how to take it. On one hand it seems Apache is simply using more
bandwidth to do the same number of requests as Nginx. Which would seem
bad. On the other it could just mean that Apache does a better job of
consuming and using the available pipe. Which would seem good. My hunch
is that it is the former."

Regards,
Cliff
>