PHP Conference Argentina 2013

1. nginx
origins, evolution, future!
!
Igor Sysoev

2. origins
• Apache 1.3 frontend: mod_proxy,
backend: mod_perl, and dedicated lightweight
server for images and static files!
• mod_proxy: 8K buffer + sockets buffers,
half-duplex mode, hack!
• mod_accel: acceleration, cache, content filters

3. origins
• C10K: thttpd, boa, mathopd!
• non-scalable: select, poll!
• scalable: /dev/poll, kqueue, real time signals,
epoll!
• portable, SMP

4. nginx
clients
backend
master process
PHP/FastCGI
worker process
worker process
cache manager
cache loader

5. heavy load environment
• backend acceleration!
• full buffering of client upload!
• reloading whole configuration!
• no CGI support!
• no run-time host resolving

6. features
• simple configuration!
• log rotation!
• reliable reconfiguration!
• online upgrade

7. evolution
• 2002: start of development!
• 4 Oct 2004: version 0.1.0!
static, proxy, SSL!
!
!

8. evolution
• 2002: start of development!
• 4 Oct 2004: version 0.1.0!
static, proxy, SSL!
!
!

9. evolution
• 2002: start of development!
• 4 Oct 2004: version 0.1.0!
static, proxy, SSL!
• Jan 2005: FastCGI!
• Spring 2005: SSI!
• 2006: embedded Perl

10. evolution
• 2008: XSLT and image filters!
• 2009: cache and AIO!
• 12 Apr 2011: version 1.0!
!

11. evolution
• 2008: XSLT and image filters!
• 2009: cache and AIO!
• 12 Apr 2011: version 1.0!
!

12. evolution
• 2008: XSLT and image filters!
• 2009: cache and AIO!
• 12 Apr 2011: version 1.0!
• Summer 2011: NGINX, Inc.!
• Spring 2013: WebSockets proxy and SPDY

13. future
• asynchronous vs non-blocking

14. AIO vs non-blocking
• non-blocking IO: returns status immediately:
complete, partial, not ready or failure!
• asynchronous IO: starts operation, callback is
called on completion

15. AIO vs non-blocking
• non-blocking is easy, suitable for simple
application, difficult for complex applications!
• asynchronous is more complex, but more
suitable for complex applications

16. future
• asynchronous vs non-blocking!
• queues, batching!
• epoll vs kqueue!
• multithreaded, auxiliary thread pools

17. nginx
clients
backend
master process
PHP/FastCGI
worker process
worker process
cache manager
cache loader

18. worker process
worker thread
kqueue / epoll
worker thread
kqueue / epoll
thread pool
auxiliary thread
auxiliary thread

19. dynamic future
• almost all directives support variables!
• virtual servers can be reloaded separately!
• dynamically loadable modules!
• more SSL/TLS libraries: GnuTLS, CyaSSL,
PolarSSL