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  1. #1

    Dedicated Server : NGINX or LiteSpeed

    Hello,

    I have seen many feedbacks and reviews for these two web servers ...

    but since they are developing so fast I needed a new reviews and opinion cause I wanna decide about my new dedicated server.

    The most important thing for me is Performance ... I have seen a great performance from the combination of NGINX and MariaDB ... but I wanna know how is the LiteSpeed ...

    Really appreciate your opinions ...

  2. #2
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    NGINX has worked perfectly fine for me and I've had no problems with it.

  3. #3
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    Litespeed is most likely going to be easier to get started with (especially with cPanel)
    Nginx is a good free alternative which may or may not come close to Litespeed, you could try it first to see how it works for you if you don't mind getting your hands dirty with the configuration.

    In the end it really depends on how much processing you'll be doing outside of the server. Are you just serving static files or will you be running a PHP app? in the former the performance of the webserver is going to be more important, in the latter it's not going to be as big of a deal as PHP will probably become the bottleneck sooner

  4. #4
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    With 5 commands you can get Nginx installed.

    http://nginxcp.com/

    Not too hard at all...

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Funtacular View Post
    With 5 commands you can get Nginx installed.

    http://nginxcp.com/

    Not too hard at all...
    Too bad it requires cPanel.

    Virtualmin also supports Nginx but I don't care much for their FastCGI setup (in combination with Nginx, they don't use php-fpm as it's not included by all distro's)

  6. #6
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    You also need to tell us what kind of software will reside on that server. static/dynamic, images , videos, etc. Although from your post I gather it will be mostly dynamic can you give us more detail.

  7. #7
    Thanks for all replies ...

    You know I need Performance ...

    I wanna Host a Fully Customized vBulletin and XenForo on the server with another script called PHPMELODY ...


    I don't care if there is a Hosting panel or not cause I will purchase a monthly Server administration ...

    I need the highest performance and also the support of MariaDB ...

    I heard that PHP-fpm is so much better than php cgi .. is it true ?


    thank you

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Funtacular View Post
    With 5 commands you can get Nginx installed.

    http://nginxcp.com/

    Not too hard at all...
    Doesn't work nearly as efficiently as just using nginx straight. It's automatic configuration and such pretty much uses nginx like a front-end proxy and it's not fine tuned. Much better in my opinion to just use nginx by itself.
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by kbeezie View Post
    Doesn't work nearly as efficiently as just using nginx straight. It's automatic configuration and such pretty much uses nginx like a front-end proxy and it's not fine tuned. Much better in my opinion to just use nginx by itself.
    I agree .. I have a very bad experience with NGiNX as a proxy server .. cause one of the most important issues is serving the php using nginx not only the static files ...

  10. #10
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    Far as Nginx vs Lightty both are good, but its more a matter of what are you more familiar with.

    I personally prefer nginx and it works all the same on a dedicated server as it would on a virtual one. But if I were putting it on a dedicated server I would use either FreeBSD with Jails (i.e.: so that the base system is only running crucial services and running everything else in a jail) or some form of virtualization like KVM to setup the server in a VPS.

    That way it becomes a bit easier to maintain, secure, isolate, upgrade, restart, shut down etc. Especially if your dedicated provider doesn't give you a VNC or IPKVM hookup to manage to server.
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by alichakery View Post
    I agree .. I have a very bad experience with NGiNX as a proxy server .. cause one of the most important issues is serving the php using nginx not only the static files ...
    Nginx is fine as a proxy server... if set up correctly, but that cpnginx plugin simply forwards *everything* to apache on the backend, mainly in order to keep up compatibility with .htaccess, but by doing that you're not taking advantage of some of the things nginx does best, such as handling static resources directly.

    I mean if I were to use nginx on a cpanel/whm server I would not use that plugin, rather I would reserve an IP for nginx and then manually configure nginx to work with it, would be far more efficient that way. (i.e.: client -> Dns -> points to IP nginx is on -> proxy_pass back to apache for non-static content).
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  12. #12

    *

    Quote Originally Posted by kbeezie View Post
    that cpnginx plugin simply forwards *everything* to apache on the backend
    Are you sure about that?

  13. #13
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    +1 nginx

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by reloaded View Post
    Are you sure about that?
    Based on looking at the automated configurations created by cpnginx and it's directadmin configuration yes, it can't directly serve static files and obey any .htaccess rules at the same time otherwise. Primarily they had it setup as a forward proxy with some caching flags and such turned on so that at the very least nginx would be caching some of the previously pulled files. But it still doesn't equate to much benefits over setting it up yourself.

    You actually get quite a bit more performance out of using a varnish plugin for cpanel/whm.
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  15. #15
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    If you have a good budget, I suggest you to use Litespeed (they are working at cache system for the future). It's a complete solution for web server, and you can replace Apache without problem. It has many functions and it's a premium software.

    If you want reduce and pay less, so Nginx is the best solution.
    Web Hosting Magazine | Italian site on the Hosting, Domains, VPS & Server

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doraj View Post
    If you have a good budget, I suggest you to use Litespeed (they are working at cache system for the future). It's a complete solution for web server, and you can replace Apache without problem. It has many functions and it's a premium software.

    If you want reduce and pay less, so Nginx is the best solution.
    The free version of course only allows for a maximum of 150 concurrent connections, so it's best to go with the paid version or not at all.
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  17. #17
    Thanks for the replies ...

    well the most important thing to me is performance .. I have heard that NGINX performance is so much better than LiteSpeed , and I think LiteSpeed is not compatible with MariaDB .. (bur I am not sure about it)

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by alichakery View Post
    Thanks for the replies ...

    well the most important thing to me is performance .. I have heard that NGINX performance is so much better than LiteSpeed , and I think LiteSpeed is not compatible with MariaDB .. (bur I am not sure about it)
    Litespeed web server works fine with any MySQL version, I've used MariaDB 5.2.x on Apache, Litespeed and Nginx (for Centminmod.com project).

    Nginx configured properly can handle alot in terms of performance, but for php intensive sites I find Litespeed web server the next step up from Nginx (personal opinion based on my own experience).

    And here's quick a history of Webhostingtalk.com discussion threads on Apache vs Litespeed, Apache + Varnish Cache vs Litespeed, Apache, Nginx and Litespeed etc



    To sum it up

    1. You need to reach certain level of high concurrency traffic to see the real benefits of Litespeed web server compared Apache standalone web server or Nginx. If you're forums or site are a new startup with very little in the way of concurrent visitor traffic, then Apache or Nginx standalone server (if tuned optimally) should suffice . Tacking on Varnish with Apache or Nginx will make things even more snappier and most cost effective boost a step up from Apache standalone.
    2. My first choice for very high concurrent traffic sites and best performance = litespeed web server or litespeed web server + litespeed cache or litespeed web server + varnish cache. I'm talking concurrency levels in the 1,000-10,000+ range. If you don't mind spending hours, days and weeks at a time managing/configuring and learning about nginx and nginx's alternative rewrite syntax for Apache htaccess/mod_rewrite equivalents, then nginx is also a good to Apache standalone.


    Personally, if time is money to you, then while nginx is free, it's hidden costs is your time. Yes long term wise once you learn Nginx and how to configure it, then probably it will pay off somewhat. But can definitely say the total hours you spend babysitting and administrating a Nginx based server will definitely be much higher than that with Litespeed web server. It's reason I jumped on Centmin.com project with my own modded version Centminmod.com to reduce some of that administration time for setting up and maintaining Nginx standalone.

    If you are unfamiliar with Nginx or Apache tuning, and need to hire someone to do it for you, then that's additional costs there as well, so for folks stating Nginx and Apache are free compared to Litespeed, the argument doesn't really hold up. It's only true if you are competent in tuning Nginx and Apache to meet traffic needs.

    Litespeed is more like Apache in that you can install, set and forget most of the time. It works well out of the box, only really needed to tune settings once a client >200,000 unique ip visitors/day or if you're behind a load balancer and you database backend is slow to respond to query requests. Litespeed all settings are in admin GUI interface control panel to adjust. Litespeed VPS license is US$15/month while 2 cpu license is like US$45/month. My time is certainly worth more than the license cost, so with Litespeed I also save my time compared to Nginx.

    But if you really can't afford a Litespeed license and you've outgrown Apache standalone (minus web accelerators like Varnish Cache), then yes Apache + Varnish or Nginx are better alternatives to Apache standalone.

    Just my AUD$0.02
    : CentminMod.com Nginx Installer Nginx 1.25, PHP-FPM, MariaDB 10 CentOS (AlmaLinux/Rocky testing)
    : Centmin Mod Latest Beta Nginx HTTP/2 HTTPS & HTTP/3 QUIC HTTPS supports TLS 1.3 via OpenSSL 1.1.1/3.0/3.1 or BoringSSL or QuicTLS OpenSSL
    : Nginx & PHP-FPM Benchmarks: Centmin Mod vs EasyEngine vs Webinoly vs VestaCP vs OneInStack

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by kbeezie View Post
    Based on looking at the automated configurations created by cpnginx and it's directadmin configuration yes, it can't directly serve static files and obey any .htaccess rules at the same time otherwise. Primarily they had it setup as a forward proxy with some caching flags and such turned on so that at the very least nginx would be caching some of the previously pulled files. But it still doesn't equate to much benefits over setting it up yourself.

    You actually get quite a bit more performance out of using a varnish plugin for cpanel/whm.
    yeah nginx admin (ngixncp) just nginx static file reverse proxy setups serving static files via nginx and passing on php and dynamic/htaccess calls to apache backend. I've had clients outgrown that setup due to php intensive scripts which end up bypassing nginx and hitting apache backend (the bottleneck)
    : CentminMod.com Nginx Installer Nginx 1.25, PHP-FPM, MariaDB 10 CentOS (AlmaLinux/Rocky testing)
    : Centmin Mod Latest Beta Nginx HTTP/2 HTTPS & HTTP/3 QUIC HTTPS supports TLS 1.3 via OpenSSL 1.1.1/3.0/3.1 or BoringSSL or QuicTLS OpenSSL
    : Nginx & PHP-FPM Benchmarks: Centmin Mod vs EasyEngine vs Webinoly vs VestaCP vs OneInStack

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by alichakery View Post
    Thanks for the replies ...

    well the most important thing to me is performance .. I have heard that NGINX performance is so much better than LiteSpeed , and I think LiteSpeed is not compatible with MariaDB .. (bur I am not sure about it)
    The webserver shouldn't have any problems with a database server as the two almost never talk to each other i.e.: on apache, litespeed, lighttpd, nginx, etc there is almost never connectivity between them and the database but rather dynamic scripting languages such as php, python, etc will be the portion talking to the database.

    Where you would normally run into problems, is whether or not the control panel that supports the webserver also happens to support the database type.
    IonVz - Nginx/FreeBSD/VPS Consulting | VPSNodeBox - Managed Support Representative

  21. #21
    I would pref. Litespeed for myself

  22. #22
    Thanks everyone ...

    infact the Litepspeed license is not an issue to me cause I have to pay about $1400 to someone one to config a nginx server properly for my scripts , so the license fee is not really an issue ...

    ok .. thanks everyone I think I found out everything I needed

    thanks

  23. #23
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    I think Eva sums it up very nicely. I'm quite happy with Apache + Varnish but agree it took some tweaking to get right and I'll do some more tweaking once I move up to nginx. If I were to factor in my hourly rate as lost time then the Litespeed licence would make more sense, but I'm a techie and this is what I do for a living

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