Nginx vs Apache or using Apache with nginx [closed]

Question

I have been running a website which servers javascript widgets for about 2 years. Now my question is whether I should use nginx purely or I should continue using apache with nginx.

I have about 200 sign ups a day and that means that sometimes the request rate for widget goes up by 2000 a day. So, now the problem is switching to nginx means that i would not be able to use the rewrite rules that i am using in apache.

Now that is one problem I know of, but are there any other issues that I can expect to see in an nginx environment that I dont in Apache?

Would you suggest me to switch purely to nginx or stay with apache and nginx as reverse proxy?

Answer 1

You could still use the rewrite rules from Apache, with slight modifications (I took this from Nginx Primer):

Apache:

RewriteCond   %{HTTP_HOST}   ^example.org$   [NC]
RewriteRule   ^(.*)$   http://www.example.com/$1   [R=301,L]

Nginx:

if ($host != 'example.org' ) {
    rewrite  ^/(.*)$  http://www.example.org/$1 permanent;
}

Another issue is .htaccess files, but this would only be an issue if your sharing the server with others.

I would also research any Apache modules that your relying on and ensure that the Nginx equivalents include the same functionality. Definitely test your webapp with Nginx in a test environment first to identify any issues.

In the end, if your goal is better performance then the migration from Apache to Nginx should be worth it.