Re: Apache vs Express for Node

[Aaron Bartell <aaronbartell@xxxxxxxxx>]

Some things to note:

- At the end of the day you need a web server listening on a port for
inbound requests.  Apache is a webserver and Node.js has one built into
it.  Express is a web framework that sits on top of Node.js and isn't a
necessity.  See here:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9462356/can-we-say-node-js-is-a-web-server

- I use nginx (similar tool to Apache) on my IBM i to proxy for multiple
web servers (Ruby and Node.js) so they can all share port 80/443.  This is
an area where a front-end web server becomes more of a necessity.  I
haven't considered/attempted Node.js's web server facilitating this reverse
proxy scenario.

- Node.js has cluster capabilities.  This is so you can have many IBM i
jobs all servicing web requests for the same app.
https://nodejs.org/api/cluster.html  I have multiple customers that use
this approach ~without~ having Apache/nginx in front of Node.js (because
there's no need).

- Web servers (Apache/Nginx) are good at serving up static files.  Debates
have come up comparing speeds and feeds.  Here's one:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6634299/node-js-slower-than-apache  The
thing I really like about Node.js and its embedded web server is it
simplifies my deployment.  Sometimes that's a fair tradeoff.


Aaron Bartell
litmis.com - Services for open source on IBM i


On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 9:04 PM, Justin Taylor <JUSTIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> So I can use Apache or Express for Node.  Can anyone enlighten me as to
> the practical differences?
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