Kevin, On Fri, Jan 04, 2013 at 03:44:40PM -0500, KT Walrus wrote: > HAProxy also does all this stuff too (more or less). I plan on using HAProxy > if NGINX doesn't support everything I need done. > > I have a preference to use as few software packages as possible so I keep the > system as simple and maintainable as possible. Being able to eliminate > HAProxy would be a plus for me. I already need NGINX to handle basic web > serving, so I think I just need a few new features in the load balancing area > to go without HAProxy.
I think you shouldn't try that hard to adapt the tools to your needs. Many large scalable websites use haproxy+varnish+nginx together and are very happy with that combination. Each one has a separate clearly identified role. All 3 perform extremely well and they try to address different needs, so in general what you don't find in one of them is doable with the other two. And at least each of them is better than the two others at something. So why try to ditch any of them for the sake of package reduction ? This means you'll give up some capabilities. Focusing on reducing the number of packages only means that your system is not yet ready for deployment because you're managing everything by hand, and that does not scale. So I think you should definitely start by deciding how you want to manage your system, packages and configurations, and once you're done with that, simply install the 3 and try to build your scalable and manageable architecture. There are many people on these products' mailing lists who have a lot of experience (good and bad) with various models and who can probably suggest what to do and what not to do depending on your needs. Regards, Willy
