3 ms·

Once, ever, is more than anybody wants. [I'm a huge nginx fan myself but recall that this is coming to the main project soonish.]

ck2 14y ago
Actually, nginx recompiles very quickly from the couple times I've done it (at least compared to apache/php). But I bet for developing modules, loading standalone is a huge help.
- sbarre 14y ago
  I think this sub-thread may be missing the point that on a production server you may not have installed the whole toolchain required to re-compile your webserver so dynamic module support is actually kind of a bigger deal than you might think.
  - adestefan 14y ago
    Where do you compile your modules and how is deploying a loadable module any different than deploying a new nginx binary?
    - mercurial 14y ago
      Well, the point is, Apache comes with enough modules that I never had any need to actually go and compile a custom one. And since they can be loaded at runtime, in terms of memory you only pay for what you use. I haven't used nginx often, but the default Debian nginx doesn't come with many things included, I find.
  - pyre 14y ago
    Well, the idea solution is that you don't compile things directly on your web server. There's no reason you can't compile it on a workstation and package it for deployment to production. Consider what you would be doing if you had a cluster of web servers. Would you compile manually on each server, or create a package (rpm/deb/tgz/etc) and deploy?
    - mercurial 14y ago
      No. But as I pointed out above, Apache comes with 67 modules out-of-the box on Debian, which means you're much less likely to need a custom package, as opposed to the (relative) hassle with nginx. This is why I very much look forward to seeing nginx with reloadable modules.
beagle3 14y ago
nginx compiles quickly enough that a script for "service nginx reload" could recompile and replace the binary, and it will only be a little slower than "service apache reload" will be. It's like a sausage, you can enjoy eating it without seeing how it's made.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Can Apache or other httpd's do the same live upgrading trick that Nginx has? Seems like a really wild feature.
  - beagle3 14y ago
    I don't think any other popular http server support this. If there's a web server written in Erlang, you can be sure that is available (it's a core Erlang feature). But apache can let you load a new .so without recompiling (or even restarting) the main server, which, for most intents and purposes, gives you equivalent functionality.

ck2 14y ago

Actually, nginx recompiles very quickly from the couple times I've done it (at least compared to apache/php). But I bet for developing modules, loading standalone is a huge help.

sbarre 14y ago
I think this sub-thread may be missing the point that on a production server you may not have installed the whole toolchain required to re-compile your webserver so dynamic module support is actually kind of a bigger deal than you might think.
- adestefan 14y ago
  Where do you compile your modules and how is deploying a loadable module any different than deploying a new nginx binary?
  - mercurial 14y ago
    Well, the point is, Apache comes with enough modules that I never had any need to actually go and compile a custom one. And since they can be loaded at runtime, in terms of memory you only pay for what you use. I haven't used nginx often, but the default Debian nginx doesn't come with many things included, I find.
- pyre 14y ago
  Well, the idea solution is that you don't compile things directly on your web server. There's no reason you can't compile it on a workstation and package it for deployment to production. Consider what you would be doing if you had a cluster of web servers. Would you compile manually on each server, or create a package (rpm/deb/tgz/etc) and deploy?
  - mercurial 14y ago
    No. But as I pointed out above, Apache comes with 67 modules out-of-the box on Debian, which means you're much less likely to need a custom package, as opposed to the (relative) hassle with nginx. This is why I very much look forward to seeing nginx with reloadable modules.

beagle3 14y ago

nginx compiles quickly enough that a script for "service nginx reload" could recompile and replace the binary, and it will only be a little slower than "service apache reload" will be. It's like a sausage, you can enjoy eating it without seeing how it's made.

jlgreco 14y ago
Can Apache or other httpd's do the same live upgrading trick that Nginx has? Seems like a really wild feature.
- beagle3 14y ago
  I don't think any other popular http server support this. If there's a web server written in Erlang, you can be sure that is available (it's a core Erlang feature). But apache can let you load a new .so without recompiling (or even restarting) the main server, which, for most intents and purposes, gives you equivalent functionality.