A high-performance HTTP server written in C, designed for maximum efficiency, edge caching, and production-grade performance.
- 437,344 RPS peak throughput (500 concurrent connections)
- 241.9% performance improvement with edge caching
- Sub-millisecond latency (281ΞΌs average with caching)
- 81% bandwidth reduction through intelligent caching
- Production-ready scalability handling 26+ million requests/minute
- Zero-Copy I/O: Uses sendfile() for efficient file transfers
- Non-Blocking Architecture: Event-driven with epoll for maximum concurrency
- Master-Worker Model: Pre-fork architecture similar to Nginx
- Memory Pooling: Custom allocation system reduces fragmentation
- Keep-Alive Support: Persistent connections for reduced latency
- Intelligent Response Caching: Hash-based in-memory cache for static assets
- ETag Support: RFC-compliant conditional requests with If-None-Match
- 304 Not Modified: Optimized responses for unchanged content
- Vary Header Handling: Cache awareness of Accept-Encoding and User-Agent
- Cache Invalidation: Time-based expiration with configurable timeouts
- Gzip/Deflate Support: Automatic content compression for compatible clients
- MIME-Type Awareness: Intelligent compression based on content type
- Adaptive Compression Levels: Optimized settings per content type
- Bandwidth Optimization: Up to 81% reduction in data transfer
- HTTP/1.1 Compliant: Full support for modern HTTP features
- Multiple Methods: GET, HEAD, POST support
- Range Requests: Partial content delivery
- MIME Type Detection: Automatic content-type headers
- Cache-Control Headers: Proper caching directives
- Last-Modified Support: File-based modification tracking
| Scenario | RPS | Improvement | Transfer Rate | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 91,216 | - | 0.90 GB/s | 1.09ms |
| 33% Cache | 311,891 | +241.9% | 2.07 GB/s | 281ΞΌs |
| 50% Cache | 284,923 | +212.3% | 1.42 GB/s | 261ΞΌs |
| 80% Cache | 272,238 | +198.5% | 571 MB/s | 346ΞΌs |
| Test | Concurrency | RPS | Transfer Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Load | 200 | 311,891 | 2.07 GB/s |
| High Load | 500 | 437,344 | 2.90 GB/s |
| Sustained (60s) | 300 | 272,238 | 571 MB/s |
| Mode | RPS | Transfer Rate | Compression Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Compression | 91,216 | 0.90 GB/s | - |
| Gzip | 34,065 | 100 MB/s | ~70% |
| Mixed Compression | 98,149 | 244 MB/s | ~60% |
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
β Master Process β
β β’ Configuration Management β’ Worker Monitoring β
β β’ Socket Creation β’ Graceful Shutdown β
βββββββββββββββββββ¬ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
β
βββββββββββββΌββββββββββββ¬ββββββββββββ
β β β β
βββββββΌβββββ ββββββΌβββββ ββββββΌβββββ βββββΌβββββββ
β Worker 1 β β Worker 2β β Worker 3β β Worker N β
β β’ epoll β β β’ epoll β β β’ epoll β β β’ epoll β
β β’ cache β β β’ cache β β β’ cache β β β’ cache β
β β’ gzip β β β’ gzip β β β’ gzip β β β’ gzip β
ββββββββββββ βββββββββββ βββββββββββ ββββββββββββ
Client Request
β
βββββββββββββββ Cache Hit? βββββββββββββββ
β Parse β βββββββββββββββ β Cached β
β Headers β β Response β
βββββββ¬ββββββββ βββββββββββββββ
β Cache Miss β
β βββββββββββββββ
βββββββββββββββ β Send β
β File β βββββ ETag ββββββ β 304/200 β
β System β Check β Response β
βββββββ¬ββββββββ βββββββββββββββ
β
β
βββββββββββββββ Compress? βββββββββββββββ
β Content β βββββββββββββββ β Gzip/ β
β Type β β Deflate β
β Check β β Content β
βββββββ¬ββββββββ βββββββ¬ββββββββ
β β
β β
βββββββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ
β Cache β ββββββββββββββββββ Send β
β Response β β Response β
βββββββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential cmake libz-dev
# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install gcc cmake make zlib-devel
# macOS
brew install cmake# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dexter-xd/NxLite.git
cd NxLite
# Create build directory
mkdir build && cd build
# Configure and build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
# The binary will be at: build/nxlite# Run with default configuration
./nxlite
# Run with custom config
./nxlite ../server.conf
# Background execution
nohup ./nxlite > server.log 2>&1 &# Basic Settings
port=7877
worker_processes=auto
root=../static
# Performance Tuning
max_connections=100000
keep_alive_timeout=120
cache_timeout=3600
cache_size=10000
# Logging
log_level=INFO
access_log=./logs/access.log
error_log=./logs/error.log| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
port |
7877 | Server listening port |
worker_processes |
4 | Number of worker processes |
root |
../static | Document root directory |
max_connections |
10000 | Maximum concurrent connections |
keep_alive_timeout |
60 | Keep-alive timeout (seconds) |
cache_timeout |
3600 | Response cache TTL (seconds) |
cache_size |
10000 | Maximum cached responses |
cd benchmark
# Fast validation (10 seconds)
./quick_test.sh
# Comprehensive testing (30 seconds per test)
./comprehensive_test.sh
# Production simulation (60+ seconds)
./production_test.sh# Baseline performance
wrk -t4 -c100 -d30s http://localhost:7877/
# Edge caching test (33% conditional)
wrk -t4 -c100 -d30s -s mixed_cache.lua http://localhost:7877/
# Stress test (500 connections)
wrk -t8 -c500 -d30s -s mixed_cache.lua http://localhost:7877/
# Compression test
wrk -t4 -c100 -d30s -H 'Accept-Encoding: gzip' http://localhost:7877/# Mixed content types with caching
wrk -t4 -c100 -d60s -s real_world.lua http://localhost:7877/
# Heavy caching scenario (80% repeat visitors)
wrk -t4 -c100 -d30s -s heavy_cache.lua http://localhost:7877/# /etc/sysctl.conf
fs.file-max = 100000
net.core.somaxconn = 65536
net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65536
net.ipv4.tcp_fin_timeout = 30
net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_time = 300
# Apply changes
sudo sysctl -p# /etc/security/limits.conf
* soft nofile 100000
* hard nofile 100000
# Verify
ulimit -n# For 8-core server
worker_processes=8
max_connections=50000
keep_alive_timeout=120
# For high-traffic sites
cache_size=50000
cache_timeout=7200# Real-time access log
tail -f build/logs/access.log
# Error monitoring
tail -f build/logs/error.log
# Performance metrics
grep "Cache hit" build/logs/nxlite.log# Basic connectivity
curl -I http://localhost:7877/
# Cache validation
curl -H "If-None-Match: \"some-etag\"" http://localhost:7877/
# Compression check
curl -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" -v http://localhost:7877/- Load Balancer: Place behind nginx/HAProxy for SSL termination
- Monitoring: Use Prometheus + Grafana for metrics
- Logging: Centralized logging with ELK stack
- Caching: Configure appropriate cache sizes for your workload
FROM ubuntu:22.04
RUN apt update && apt install -y build-essential cmake libz-dev
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
RUN mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make
EXPOSE 7877
CMD ["./build/nxlite"]We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.
# Install development dependencies
sudo apt install valgrind gdb clang-format
# Run tests
cd benchmark && ./comprehensive_test.sh
# Memory leak check
valgrind --leak-check=full ./build/nxliteThis project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- Inspired by nginx architecture
- Built with modern C performance practices
- Benchmarked against industry standards
NxLite - Where performance meets simplicity. Ready for production. π