• Utchin
  • PunBB senior member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2007-02-09
  • Posts: 760

Topic: Apache being replaced

Just got an email from my host (apthost.com) saying that apache will not be in use anymore, and that .htaccess and mod_rewrite rules are no longer suported:

One of the major upgrades is replacing Apache as the front-end server
to handle all of your web-content delivery, this will be replaced by
Nginx.

It was a hard decision, but it's one we must make to improve service
to our customers today, and in the future. Its important you know what
the impact of this is , as it will affect the behavior of your
website.

The main reason for the switch was for speed, in which you will notice
as soon as the switch is made, in which we plan to deploy 1-2 weeks
from today.
How would this affect my website?

The only impact would be .htacess files, Nginx does not support it,
means all of your mod_rewrite rules would have to be converted to nginx
rewrite rules. Since nginx uses conditional code for rewrite rules,
its easy to do so, and there is a lot of websites out there describing
how to do so, like:

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/arch … king-tips/

Sorry. Unactive due to personal life.
  • From: Russia
  • Registered: 2007-12-13
  • Posts: 642

Re: Apache being replaced

You'll have to configure redirect to rewrite.php manually in the Nginx (we also use it in our high-load projects) server configuration file. It would be nice if you document your experience in wiki. Also you may get some issues related to $_SERVER and $_GET/$_POST arrays. Report them please, we'll try to help you. Good luck :-)

Carpe diem

Anatoly's Website

  • sirena
  • sirena
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2006-04-06
  • Posts: 473

Re: Apache being replaced

FWIW. You could try to mention to your host that if he wants to move away from Apache,  there are other web servers out there that can deliver a performance boost equal to or greater than nginx whilst making the transition away from Apache easier. One I've used is Litespeed Web Server - http://www.litespeedtech.com/solutions/webhosting/. I've used the free Standard version.

Litespeed goes neck and neck or exceeds nginx in performance benchmarks, whilst preserving Apache (and various control panel - eg cPanel) compatibility. Only problem is that the Enterprise version is not free. That may be an issue for your host, but the hassle of converting customers over from Apache can be avoided, which might count for something. It also has excellent responsive support direct from the developers, which both Apache and nginx certainly lack.