Apache Traffic Server

#1

Post by nuerow » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 10:30 AM UTC

Apache Traffic Server
trafficserver.apache.org

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#2

Post by Thaxll » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

Looks recent, at first I thought it was webserver from the 90's...

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#3

Post by tyingq » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

Lots of choices in the this space...

  - this tool (apache traffic server)
  - regular apache can proxy/cache/route
  - nginx
  - traefik
  - haproxy
  - envoy
  - kong
  - ...more

Then it also somewhat intersects with less directly related things in other spaces, like squid, varnish, istio, and so on.

Is there some document somewhere that goes over the choices, overlaps, etc?

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#4

Post by mrweasel » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:15 PM UTC

Thaxll wrote: post #2

Looks recent, at first I thought it was webserver from the 90's...

I kinda forgot the Traffic Server existed. I remember we looked at it 10 years ago for a project, but just went with nginx instead. I don't think we ever really saw the point in Traffic Server, and I still don't. That might just be because it solves a set of problems I don't deal with.

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#5

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:32 PM UTC

Thaxll wrote: post #2

Looks recent, at first I thought it was webserver from the 90's...

[deleted]

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#6

Post by nuerow » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:33 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #3

Lots of choices in the this space... - this tool (apache traffic server) - regular apache can proxy/cache/route - nginx - traefik - haproxy - envoy - kong - ...more Then it also somewhat intersects with less directly related things in other spaces, like squid, varnish, istio, and so on. Is there some document somewhere that goes over the choices, overlaps, etc?

> Is there some document somewhere that goes over the choices, overlaps, etc?

I believe Apache Traffic Server doesn't really compete with the likes of nginx or traefik. Apache Traffic Server is a HTTP caching server/web accelerator, thus it's specialized for caching HTTP requests and consequently it's simpler to deploy and configure. With that in mind, it competes with the likes of Squid[1] or Varnish[2].

[1] http://www.squid-cache.org/

[2] https://varnish-cache.org/

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#7

Post by Semaphor » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:34 PM UTC

Discussion in 2016 [0]

My impression from the comments is, that at least back then, it could be faster than things like Nginx or Varnish

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10983331

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#8

Post by tyingq » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:38 PM UTC

nuerow wrote: post #6

tyingq wrote: post #3

Lots of choices in the this space... - this tool (apache traffic server) - regular apache can proxy/cache/route - nginx - traefik - haproxy - envoy - kong - ...more Then it also somewhat intersects with less directly related things in other spaces, like squid, varnish, istio, and so on. Is there some document somewhere that goes over the choices, overlaps, etc?

> Is there some document somewhere that goes over the choices, overlaps, etc? I believe Apache Traffic Server doesn't really compete with the likes of nginx or traefik. Apache Traffic Server is a HTTP caching server/web accelerator, thus it's specialized for caching HTTP requests and consequently it's simpler to deploy and configure. With that in mind, it competes with the likes of Squid[1] or Varnish[2]. [1] http://…

It does support routing via SNI. And of course, people do use nginx (and other tools) just as proxy caches. That's sort of what I was getting at, lots of overlap and sub-niches.

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#9

Post by nuerow » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

Thaxll wrote: post #2

Looks recent, at first I thought it was webserver from the 90's...

> Looks recent, at first I thought it was webserver from the 90's...

Well, old ideas are indeed new once everyone forgets they were a thing. Nowadays CDNs and edge caches and web accelerators are seeing a resurgence, and in practice they can mean having an instance of Apache Traffic Server deployed somewhere.

Re: Apache Traffic Server

#10

Post by linsomniac » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

Subject should be changed to "Apache Traffic Server Security Fixes" or similar.

Looks like the "News" is that Nov 2 they released 8.1.3 and 9.1.1 with "security fixes". However, after digging for half an hour I can't tell what the nature of the security fix is. Changelogs and issues related to these releases don't highlight any particular security issues or what the impacts are.