Apache + Passenger vs. Nginx + Passenger which is best? Lai

Apache + Passenger vs. Nginx + Passenger which is best? Lai

Posted on September 22nd, 2009 DrMark 7 comments

Apache + Passenger vs. Nginx + Passenger which is best? Read on for the clear winner…

Ok, I admit it. I am a Mongrel cluster user. Yes, I am familiar with Passenger and Thin and most of the other deployment options. Yes, I am aware they are supposedly better or faster or stronger or whatever when compared to a Mongrel cluster. However, up until now we have taken the safe and proven deployment strategy of using Mongrel clusters for our production projects (with all the challenges that entails…).

I have been interested in Apache + Passenger since Hongli Lai announced it because of the supposedly easier configuration and its good performance. I was impressed with the performance increase of Passenger + REE relative to Mongrel just like everyone else. When Passenger was announced we started examining it. We even went as far as deploying it on our staging servers and internal servers with good success. However, for various reasons, we never deployed our main production applications using Passenger.

Well, the recent introduction of Nginx + Passenger has caused us to examine our deployment options again. Nginx has long been regarded as using less memory and having better performance with cached content than Apache. There have been countless articles purporting that one option is better than another.

I don’t like speculation when it comes to deployment options. I prefer proof. In addition, keep in mind that this article is for my own benefit. Whatever option I find to be the best (for me) will be the option we use in the future. So, I have an interest in doing a thorough evaluation.

In this article, I make a very careful analysis comparing the performance of Nginx + Passenger to Apache + Passenger.

Rails Apache, deployment, Nginx, Passenger, Performance, Rails, testing
7 responses to “Apache + Passenger vs. Nginx + Passenger which is best? Lai”
- Bill September 22nd, 2009 at 08:27
  
  Did you forget the article body?
- Millisami September 26th, 2009 at 04:25
  
  Where is the actual content?? Is this just the 1st part or missed to publish??
- John October 11th, 2009 at 14:22
  
  Don’t keep us in suspense! : )
- M October 31st, 2009 at 08:52
  
  Where’s the article dude?
- Millisami November 1st, 2009 at 08:21
  
  Its been already 1 month old since I last commented.
  Sounds like this blog is dead!!
- Vito Botta November 4th, 2009 at 08:12
  
  “Read on for the clear winner”
  
  LOL
- Josh November 6th, 2009 at 12:44
  
  Dr. Mark, did you have a heart attack while writing this article?