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NGINX
Original author(s)Igor Sysoev
Developer(s)F5, Inc.
Initial release4 October 2004; 20 years ago (2004-10-04)[1]
Stable release
1.27.2[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 2 October 2024
Repository
Written inC[3]
Operating systemBSD variants, HP-UX, IBM AIX, Linux, macOS, Solaris, Microsoft Windows,[4] and other *nix flavors[5]
TypeWeb server, reverse/mail proxy server
LicenseNginx: BSD-2-Clause License[6]
Nginx Plus: Proprietary software[7]
Websitenginx.org Edit this at Wikidata

Nginx (pronounced "engine x"[8] /ˌɛndʒɪnˈɛks/ EN-jin-EKS, stylized as NGINX or nginx) is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. The software was created by Russian developer Igor Sysoev and publicly released in 2004.[9] Nginx is free and open-source software, released under the terms of the 2-clause BSD license. A large fraction of web servers use Nginx,[10] often as a load balancer.[11]

A company of the same name was founded in 2011 to provide support and NGINX Plus paid software.[12] In March 2019, the company was acquired by F5, Inc. for $670 million.[13]

Popularity

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As of June 2022, W3Tech's web server count of all web sites ranked Nginx first with 33.6%. Apache was second at 31.4% and Cloudflare Server third at 21.6%.[14] As of March 2022, Netcraft estimated that Nginx served 22.01% of the million busiest websites with Apache a little ahead at 23.04%. Cloudflare at 19.53% and Microsoft Internet Information Services at 5.78% rounded out the top four servers for the busiest websites. Some of Netcraft's other statistics show Nginx ahead of Apache.[15]

A 2018 survey of Docker usage found that Nginx was the most commonly deployed technology in Docker containers.[16] In OpenBSD version 5.2 (November 2012), Nginx became part of the OpenBSD base system, providing an alternative to the system's fork of Apache 1.3, which it was intended to replace,[17] but later in version 5.7 (November 2014) it was removed in favor of OpenBSD's own httpd(8).[18][19]

Features

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Nginx may be configured to serve static web content or to act as a proxy server.[20]

Nginx can be deployed to also serve dynamic content on the network using FastCGI, SCGI handlers for scripts, WSGI application servers or Phusion Passenger modules, and can serve as a software load balancer.[21][20]

Nginx uses an asynchronous event-driven approach, rather than threads, to handle requests.[22] Nginx's modular event-driven architecture can provide predictable performance under high loads.[23][24]

HTTP proxy and Web server features

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Mail proxy features

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Other features include upgrading executable and configuration without client connections loss,[37] and a module-based architecture with both core[38] and third-party module support.[39]

The paid Plus product includes additional features such as advanced load balancing and access to an expanded suite of metrics for performance monitoring.[40][41]

Nginx in comparison to Apache

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Nginx was written with an explicit goal of outperforming the Apache web server.[42] While in the past Nginx used to outperform Apache, since Apache 2.4 they offer similar performance. [43][44] This former performance boost came at a cost of decreased flexibility, such as the ability to override system-wide access settings on a per-file basis (Apache accomplishes this with an .htaccess file, while Nginx has no such feature built in).[45][46]

Formerly, adding third-party modules to Nginx required recompiling the application from source with the modules statically linked. This was partially overcome in version 1.9.11 in February 2016, with the addition of dynamic module loading.[47] However, the modules still must be compiled at the same time as Nginx, and not all modules are compatible with this system; some require the older static linking process.[48]

Nginx Unit

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Nginx Unit is an open-source web application server, released in 2017 by NGINX, Inc. to target multi-language microservices-based applications. The initial release supported applications written in Go, PHP, and Python.[49] By version 1.11.0, the support was extended to Java, Node.js, Perl, and Ruby applications; other features include dynamic configuration, request routing, and load balancing.[50][51]

History

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2000s

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Igor Sysoev began development of Nginx in 2002.[9] Originally, Nginx was developed to solve the C10k problem, and to fill the needs of multiple websites including the Rambler search engine and portal, for which it was serving 500 million requests per day by September 2008.[52]

2010s

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Nginx Inc. was founded in July 2011 by Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov[12][53] to provide commercial products and support for the software.[54]

In October 2011, Nginx, Inc. raised $3 million from BV Capital, Runa Capital, and MSD Capital, Michael Dell's venture fund.[55]

The company announced commercial support options for companies using Nginx in production. Nginx offered commercial support in February 2012,[56][57] and paid Nginx Plus subscription in August 2013.[58] Support packages focus on installation, configuration, performance improvement, etc.[59] Support includes proactive notifications about major changes, security patches, updates and patches. Nginx, Inc. also offers consulting services to assist customers in custom configuration or adding additional features.[60]

In October 2013, Nginx, Inc. raised a $10 million series B investment round led by New Enterprise Associates.[61] That round included previous investors, as well as Aaron Levie, CEO and founder of Box.com.[62][63] In December 2014, Nginx raised a $20 million series B1 round led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from e.ventures (formerly BV Capital), Runa Capital, Index Ventures and Nginx's own CEO Gus Robertson.[64][65]

In September 2017, Nginx announced an API management tool, NGINX Controller, which would build off of their API Gateway, NGINX Plus.[66][67] In October 2017, Nginx, Inc. announced general available Nginx Amplify SaaS providing monitoring and analytics capabilities for Nginx.[68]

In June 2018, Nginx, Inc. raised $43 million in Series C Funding in a round led by Goldman Sachs "to Accelerate Application Modernization and Digital Transformation for Enterprises".[69]

On 11 March 2019, F5, Inc. acquired Nginx, Inc. for US$670 million.[70]

On 12 December 2019, it was reported that the Moscow offices of Nginx Inc. had been raided by police, and that Sysoev and Konovalov had been detained. The raid was conducted under a search warrant connected to a copyright claim over Nginx by Rambler—which asserts that it owns all rights to the code because it was written while Sysoev was an employee of the company.[71] On 16 December 2019, Russian state lender Sberbank, which owns 46.5 percent of Rambler, called an extraordinary meeting of Rambler's board of directors asking Rambler's management team to request Russian law enforcement agencies cease pursuit of the criminal case, and begin talks with Nginx and with F5.[72]

2020s

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On 18 January 2022, it was announced that Igor Sysoev was leaving Nginx and F5.[73]

In late 2022, Angie, an open source fork of Nginx, was released by some of the former Nginx developers.[74][75] Igor Sysoev is not actively involved in this project.[76]

In February 2024, Maxim Dounin, one of Nginx's core developers, created a Nginx fork called freenginx. In the open letter announcing the creation, Maxim Dounin criticised F5's interference with Nginx's development.[77]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CHANGES". Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Release 1.27.2". 2 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ "The NGINX Open Source Project on Black Duck Open Hub". www.openhub.net. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  4. ^ "nginx for Windows". Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Tested OS and platforms". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Licensing". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  7. ^ "End User License Agreement" (PDF). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Igor Sysoev". sysoev.ru. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  9. ^ a b Tony Mobily (5 January 2012). "Interview with Igor Sysoev, author of Apache's competitor NGINX". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  10. ^ Survey (31 July 2023). "July 2023 Web Server Survey | Netcraft". www.netcraft.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Use NGINX as a Front-end Proxy and Software Load Balancer". Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities". Form D. US Securities and Exchange Commission 17 October 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  13. ^ "F5 acquires NGINX for $670M to move into open-source, multi-cloud services". TechCrunch. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Usage Statistics of Web Servers". w3techs.com. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. ^ "March 2022 Web Server Survey". Netcraft News. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  16. ^ "8 surprising facts about real Docker adoption". 13 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  17. ^ "OpenBSD Upgrade Guide: 5.1 to 5.2". openbsd.org. 6 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Heads Up: Nginx Removed From Base".
  19. ^ "Upgrade Guide: 5.6 to 5.7". Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Beginner's Guide". nginx.org. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Use NGINX as a Front-end Proxy and Software Load Balancer". Linode Guides & Tutorials. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Welcome to NGINX Wiki! - NGINX". nginx.com.
  23. ^ "The Architecture of Open Source Applications (Volume 2): nginx". aosabook.org. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  24. ^ "How to Configure NGINX". Linode Guides & Tutorials. 8 March 2018.
  25. ^ "NGINX Docs | NGINX Reverse Proxy". NGINX Documentation.
  26. ^ "NGINX Docs | HTTP Load Balancing". NGINX Documentation.
  27. ^ "Module ngx_http_upstream_module". nginx.org. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  28. ^ "Introducing gRPC Support with NGINX 1.13.10". NGINX. 17 March 2018.
  29. ^ "WebSocket proxying". nginx.org.
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  31. ^ "Proxy: support for connection upgrade (101 Switching Protocols)". trac.nginx.org. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  32. ^ "Changes with nginx 1.25.0". nginx news. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  33. ^ Murenin, Constantine A. (18 February 2013). "A dynamic web-site written wholly in nginx.conf? Introducing mdoc.su!". nginx@nginx.org (Mailing list). Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  34. ^ Murenin, Constantine A. (24 February 2013). "mdoc.su – Short manual page URLs for FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and DragonFly BSD". Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  35. ^ a b "NGINX Docs | Configuring NGINX as a Mail Proxy Server". NGINX Documentation.
  36. ^ "Module ngx_mail_auth_http_module". nginx.org. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  37. ^ "Official documentation: Controlling nginx". nginx.org. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  38. ^ "nginx documentation". nginx.org. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  39. ^ "3rdPartyModules – Nginx Community". wiki.nginx.org. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  40. ^ "How to monitor NGINX". Datadog. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  41. ^ "Application Load Balancing with NGINX Plus". NGINX. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  42. ^ "NGINX vs. Apache: Our View of a Decade-Old Question". NGINX. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  43. ^ "Apache httpd 2.4" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  44. ^ "Picking a Proxy Server". 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  45. ^ Jankov, Tonino (13 June 2018). "Apache vs Nginx Performance: Optimization Techniques — SitePoint". SitePoint. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  46. ^ "Which web server should you use — Apache or NGINX?". TechRepublic. 18 August 2023.
  47. ^ "CHANGES-1.10". nginx.org. 31 January 2017.
  48. ^ "Introducing Dynamic Modules in NGINX 1.9.11 - NGINX". NGINX. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  49. ^ "Nginx goes beyond its server roots and launches its application platform". techcrunch.com. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  50. ^ "CHANGES". unit.nginx.org. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  51. ^ "March 2020 Web Server Survey". news.netcraft.com. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  52. ^ "Nginx: the High-Performance Web Server and Reverse Proxy". Linux Journal. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  53. ^ "Maxim Konovalov". NGINX. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  54. ^ "Company". nginx.com. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  55. ^ Natasha Starkell (11 October 2011). "Russian Nginx Raises $3 Million From International Investors". Techcrunch. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  56. ^ Darryl K. Taft (8 February 2012). "NGINX Launches Commercial Support for Open-Source Web Server". e Week. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  57. ^ Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (8 February 2012). "Commercial Support now available for the open-source NGINX Web server". ZDNet Open Source blog. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  58. ^ "Nginx Inc. Launches NGINX Plus". 22 August 2013.
  59. ^ Taft, Darryl K. (8 February 2012). "NGINX Launches Commercial Support for Open-Source Web Server". eweek.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  60. ^ "Commercial Support now available for the open-source NGINX Web server". ZDNet. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  61. ^ Sean Michael Kerner (16 October 2013). "Nginx Raises $10 Million in New Funding for Server Development". e Week. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  62. ^ Frederic Lardinois (15 October 2013). "Nginx Raises $10M Series B Round Led By NEA". Techcrunch. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  63. ^ Jolie O'Dell (15 October 2013). "Nginx ties up a sweet $10M funding deal and hundreds of millions of users". Venture Beat. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  64. ^ Frederic Lardinois (9 December 2014). "Nginx Raises $20M Series B1 Round To Drive International Expansion". Techcrunch. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  65. ^ Jordan Novet (9 December 2014). "Nginx gets $20M, because an open-source web server is just the beginning". VentureBeat. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  66. ^ "NGINX releases its new NGINX Application Platform". SD Times. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  67. ^ "Introducing NGINX API Management: Manage NGINX Plus API Gateways with NGINX Controller - NGINX". NGINX. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  68. ^ "NGINX Amplify is Generally Available - NGINX". 1 October 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  69. ^ "NGINX Raises $43 Million in Series C Funding to Accelerate Application Modernization and Digital Transformation for Enterprises" (Press release). 20 June 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  70. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "F5 acquires NGINX: What to expect from the deal". ZDNet. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  71. ^ Cimpanu, Catalin. "Russian police raid NGINX Moscow office". ZDNet. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  72. ^ Tsydenova, Nadezhda (16 December 2019). "Russia's Rambler drops effort for criminal case against Nginx web server". Reuters. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  73. ^ Whiteley, Rob (18 January 2022). "Do Svidaniya, Igor, and Thank You for NGINX". NGINX (Press release). Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022. we announce today Igor has chosen to step back from NGINX and F5 in order to spend more time with his friends and family and to pursue personal projects
  74. ^ Darkcrizt (3 November 2022). "Angie, the Nginx fork created by developers who left F5". Desde Linux. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  75. ^ "Angie: A New NGINX Fork Developed by Some of Its Former Devs". Vuink.com. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  76. ^ Borisov, Bobby (31 October 2022). "Angie: A New NGINX Fork Developed by Some of Its Former Devs". Linuxiac. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  77. ^ Larabel, Michael (14 February 2024). "Core NGINX Developer Forks Web Server Into Freenginx". www.phoronix.com. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
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