Ngix vs G-WAN for static content?

Question

Can someone point me to recent benchmarks on the two? Also more info about G-WAN would be nice, since up until now I never heard about it. I need the fastest server for static files.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 25 '12 at 08:17

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This link states that G-WAN can scale better than nginx and it can benefit more from multi-core CPUs and uses less resources. You can have a look at the architecture and performance sections.

In my opinion, I recommend you to install anyone of them and do your own benchmarks on your estimated/expected loads.

answered Apr 25 '12 at 08:17

Khaled

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From what I found, there isn't really any good benchmarks, and in the few places that have some benchmarks, the article seems biased towards G-WAN (including the link above). The G-WAN wikipedia discussion page and the pretty much dead forums don't give a good impression either. I'd either test it extensively or just stick with the tested (and open source). – Sašo Apr 25 '12 at 10:08
@Sašo: Maybe, they are biased. I got such a feeling when I read it. Because of that I suggested to test it himself. – Khaled Apr 25 '12 at 10:12

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 05 '12 at 20:05

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This comparative test (G-WAN vs Nginx) was done by an Academic expert of distributde architectures.

This is the very same test used by Phoronix, the official multi-OS benchmark.

answered May 05 '12 at 20:05

kernal

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 05 '12 at 23:30

My 2 cents: set up and test with local wgets or other scripted http requesting that either discard the downloaded files or dump them on a RAM disk (make sure you do not make the OS page out the RAM disk).

Experience values: on modern hardware, nginx will saturate a Gigabit link EASILY with multi-MB files. So could aio-era lighttpd, which is discontinued and insecure by now, sadly.

You might be either building a CDN, or be well advised to seek the services of one, if static file speed is still an issue nowadays (kilobyte sized files with completely random, non concentrated access patterns might be another issue...)

The architectural philosophy you are looking for in the "fastest static file server" is called "zero copy".

Ngix vs G-WAN for static content?

3 Answers3