# NGINX Benchmarking ## In this learning path - [Introduction](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/) - [Overview of Azure Cobalt 100 and NGINX](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/backgroud/) - [Create an Arm-based Azure VM with Cobalt 100](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/instance/) - [Install NGINX](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/deploy/) - [NGINX Baseline Testing](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/baseline/) - [NGINX Benchmarking](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/benchmarking/) - [Next Steps](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/nginx-on-azure/_next-steps/) ## Benchmark NGINX with ApacheBench (ab) on Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS Use ApacheBench (**ab**) to measure NGINX performance on your Arm64 Azure VM. This section shows you how to install the tool, run a basic benchmark, interpret key metrics, and review a sample result from an Azure **D4ps_v6** instance. ## Install ApacheBench On **Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS**, ApacheBench is provided by the **apache2-utils** package: ```bash sudo apt update sudo apt install -y apache2-utils ``` Verify the installation: ```bash ab -V ``` Expected output: ``` __output__ This is ApacheBench, Version 2.3 <$Revision: 1923142 $> __output__ Copyright 1996 Adam Twiss, Zeus Technology Ltd, http://www.zeustech.net/ __output__ Licensed to The Apache Software Foundation, http://www.apache.org/ ``` ## Run a basic benchmark The general syntax for running an ApacheBench test is: ```bash ab -n -c ``` Example (1,000 requests, 50 concurrent, to the NGINX default page on localhost): ```bash ab -n 1000 -c 50 http://localhost/ ``` This command sends 1,000 total requests with 50 concurrent connections to `http://localhost/`. Sample output: ``` __output__ This is ApacheBench, Version 2.3 <$Revision: 1903618 $> __output__ Copyright 1996 Adam Twiss, Zeus Technology Ltd, http://www.zeustech.net/ __output__ Licensed to The Apache Software Foundation, http://www.apache.org/ __output__ Benchmarking localhost (be patient) Completed 100 requests Completed 200 requests Completed 300 requests Completed 400 requests Completed 500 requests Completed 600 requests Completed 700 requests Completed 800 requests Completed 900 requests Completed 1000 requests Finished 1000 requests __output__ Server Software: nginx/1.24.0 Server Hostname: localhost Server Port: 80 Document Path: / Document Length: 890 bytes Concurrency Level: 50 Time taken for tests: 0.032 seconds Complete requests: 1000 Failed requests: 0 Total transferred: 1132000 bytes HTML transferred: 890000 bytes Requests per second: 31523.86 [#/sec] (mean) Time per request: 1.586 [ms] (mean) Time per request: 0.032 [ms] (mean, across all concurrent requests) Transfer rate: 34848.65 [Kbytes/sec] received Connection Times (ms) min mean[+/-sd] median max Connect: 0 1 0.1 1 1 Processing: 0 1 0.1 1 1 Waiting: 0 1 0.2 1 1 Total: 1 2 0.1 2 2 Percentage of the requests served within a certain time (ms) 50% 2 66% 2 75% 2 80% 2 90% 2 95% 2 98% 2 99% 2 100% 2 (longest request) ``` ## Interpret benchmark results ApacheBench produces a variety of metrics, but the most useful ones highlight how well your server handles load. The requests per second value shows the average throughput, while the time per request (mean) indicates the latency experienced by each request. Ideally, the failed requests metric should remain at zero to confirm reliability. Finally, the transfer rate measures the effective bandwidth used by the responses, giving you insight into overall data flow efficiency. ## Benchmark summary on Arm64 The following results were collected on an Arm64 **D4ps_v6** VM running **Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS**: | Category | Metric | Value | |-------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------| | General info | Server Software | nginx/1.24.0 | | | Server Hostname | localhost | | | Server Port | 80 | | | Document Path | / | | | Document Length | 890 bytes | | Test setup | Concurrency Level | 50 | | | Time Taken for Tests | 0.032 sec | | | Complete Requests | 1,000 | | | Failed Requests | 0 | | Transfer stats | Total Transferred | 1,132,000 bytes | | | HTML Transferred | 890,000 bytes | | | Requests per Second | 31,523.86 #/sec | | | Time per Request (mean) | 1.586 ms | | | Time per Request (across all) | 0.032 ms | | | Transfer Rate | 34,848.65 KB/sec | | Connection times (ms) | Connect (min / mean / stdev / median / max) | 0 / 1 / 0.1 / 1 / 1 | | | Processing (min / mean / stdev / median / max) | 0 / 1 / 0.1 / 1 / 1 | | | Waiting (min / mean / stdev / median / max) | 0 / 1 / 0.2 / 1 / 1 | | | Total (min / mean / stdev / median / max) | 1 / 2 / 0.1 / 2 / 2 | ## Analysis of results from NGINX benchmarking on Arm-based Azure Cobalt-100 These results highlight the performance characteristics of NGINX on Arm64-based Azure VMs (such as **D4ps_v6**): - High Requests per second (31,523.86 requests/sec), demonstrating high throughput under concurrent load. - Response time per request averaged 1.586 ms, indicating efficient handling of requests with minimal delay. - Zero failed requests, confirming stability and reliability during testing. - Consistently low connection and processing times (mean ≈ 1 ms), ensuring smooth performance. Overall, NGINX on Arm64 provides a performant, cost‑efficient platform for web workloads on Azure. You can use the same benchmark to compare with equivalent x86-based instances to evaluate relative performance and cost efficiency across architectures.