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HAProxy vs Pound vs node-http-proxy: What are the differences?
### Introduction
When it comes to load balancing and reverse proxy servers, HAProxy, Pound, and node-http-proxy are popular choices. Each of these tools has its own unique features and advantages.
### 1. **Scalability**:
HAProxy is known for its high performance and scalability, being able to handle a large number of concurrent connections with low latency. Pound also performs well in terms of scalability but may not be as efficient as HAProxy in handling extremely high loads. Node-http-proxy, as the name suggests, is based on Node.js and provides scalability through the event-driven, non-blocking I/O model of Node.js.
### 2. **Configuration**:
HAProxy has a powerful and flexible configuration language that allows for fine-grained control over load balancing and routing rules. Pound, on the other hand, has a simpler configuration syntax that is easier to grasp for beginners but may lack some advanced features compared to HAProxy. Node-http-proxy offers a more JavaScript-oriented configuration approach, which can be appealing to developers familiar with Node.js.
### 3. **Protocols**:
HAProxy supports a wide range of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, and UDP, making it versatile for various types of traffic. Pound primarily focuses on HTTP and HTTPS protocols, making it suitable for web applications. Node-http-proxy also supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols and can be extended with Node.js modules for other protocols if needed.
### 4. **Logging and Monitoring**:
HAProxy provides comprehensive logging and monitoring capabilities, allowing administrators to track traffic, performance metrics, and error logs efficiently. Pound offers basic logging features but may not be as robust as HAProxy in terms of monitoring and reporting. Node-http-proxy can leverage Node.js logging libraries and modules for logging and monitoring purposes.
### 5. **SSL/TLS Termination**:
HAProxy and Pound both support SSL/TLS termination, allowing them to decrypt HTTPS traffic at the proxy server before forwarding it to backend servers. Node-http-proxy can also handle SSL/TLS termination through Node.js modules or middleware.
### 6. **Community Support and Development**:
HAProxy has a large and active community of users and developers, ensuring ongoing support, frequent updates, and a wealth of resources. Pound has a smaller community but is still actively maintained and updated. Node-http-proxy benefits from the vibrant Node.js community, with many npm modules and resources available for extending and customizing the proxy server functionality.
In Summary, HAProxy is known for its scalability and advanced features, while Pound offers simplicity and ease of configuration. Node-http-proxy leverages Node.js for scalability and flexibility, making it a good choice for developers familiar with JavaScript and Node.js ecosystem.
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Learn MorePros of HAProxy
Pros of node-http-proxy
Pros of Pound
Pros of HAProxy
- Load balancer131
- High performance102
- Very fast69
- Proxying for tcp and http58
- SSL termination55
- Open source31
- Reliable27
- Free20
- Well-Documented18
- Very popular12
- Runs health checks on backends7
- Suited for very high traffic web sites7
- Scalable6
- Ready to Docker5
- Powers many world's most visited sites4
- Simple3
- Ssl offloading2
- Work with NTLM2
- Available as a plugin for OPNsense1
- Redis1
Pros of node-http-proxy
- Opensource1
- Programmable1
Pros of Pound
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Cons of HAProxy
Cons of node-http-proxy
Cons of Pound
Cons of HAProxy
- Becomes your single point of failure6
Cons of node-http-proxy
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What is HAProxy?
HAProxy (High Availability Proxy) is a free, very fast and reliable solution offering high availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based applications.
What is node-http-proxy?
node-http-proxy is an HTTP programmable proxying library that supports websockets. It is suitable for implementing components such as proxies and load balancers.
What is Pound?
Pound was developed to enable distributing the load among several Web-servers and to allow for a convenient SSL wrapper for those Web servers that do not offer it natively.
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What tools integrate with HAProxy?
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Blog Posts
What are some alternatives to HAProxy, node-http-proxy, and Pound?
NGINX
nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.
Traefik
A modern HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer that makes deploying microservices easy. Traefik integrates with your existing infrastructure components and configures itself automatically and dynamically.
Envoy
Originally built at Lyft, Envoy is a high performance C++ distributed proxy designed for single services and applications, as well as a communication bus and “universal data plane” designed for large microservice “service mesh” architectures.
Squid
Squid reduces bandwidth and improves response times by caching and reusing frequently-requested web pages. Squid has extensive access controls and makes a great server accelerator. It runs on most available operating systems, including Windows and is licensed under the GNU GPL.
Varnish
Varnish Cache is a web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy. You install it in front of any server that speaks HTTP and configure it to cache the contents. Varnish Cache is really, really fast. It typically speeds up delivery with a factor of 300 - 1000x, depending on your architecture.