Latest Version of Zend Server Adds NGINX Support, Mobile Analytics to Professional PHP Stack

PHP is Now Easy to Use With NGINX, the Powerhouse Web Server Behind 1/3 of All High-Performing Websites

Cupertino, Calif. – June 25, 2013 – Zend, the PHP Company, has announced an integrated offering with NGINX, the world’s fastest growing Web server. NGINX, which currently powers over 100 million websites [1], drives high performance and scalability for today’s mobile and Web apps. Due to its optimized approach to handling high-traffic, high-performance websites, NGINX is used by more than one-third of global high-traffic websites [2]. In particular, NGINX has advantages for REST/JSON- based server apps, where it can greatly increase responsiveness and reduce the resources required for high frequency client server communication. 

Zend Server 6.1, the latest version of Zend Server, is now shipped with NGINX support. The combination of Zend Server and NGINX is the fastest available out-of-the-box PHP implementation. Together, Zend Server and NGINX make it easier than ever to set up high-performing, PHP-based websites, and gain visibility into site performance. By coupling the benefits of NGINX with Zend Server’s clustering abilities, application monitoring and high availability, users can enjoy low response times, high performance and high availability for their Web and mobile apps.

Because the majority of NGINX core libraries are pre-installed with Zend Server and tested for compatibility, the NGINX installation process becomes seamless. “Zend Server and NGINX combine for an extremely compelling professional PHP stack” said Joe Stagner, Zend Director of Developer Strategy. “In today’s “always connected” world, performance, scalability and production agility are simply required. Zend Server not only delivers this in combination with NGINX, but does so in a way that makes installing the certified stack really easy!”

NGINX, which excels at driving performance on high-traffic websites, is perfect for the business-critical PHP applications running on Zend Server. Using Zend Server’s simple, pre-integrated architecture, NGINX uses an event driven design which is ideal for ‘chatty’ client-server interactions that are often found in the mobile-first architectures driven by REST/JSON-based services. Developers and companies with streaming or multimedia apps will experience ongoing high performance, regardless of traffic, because NGINX optimizes resource consumption by decoupling PHP from static content and video streaming. 

“As we continue to innovate and build ecosystems around NGINX, it’s great to see a leading vendor like Zend come out and integrate with us,” said Gus Robertson, CEO of NGINX. “The strong technological foundation of NGINX and Zend’s advanced enterprise functionalities make for an integrated solution that truly stands out for mobile and Web apps, especially in the enterprise.”

“It is great to see Zend Server integrated with NGINX ”, said Maik Kühn, CTO from the EOL Group, one of the largest online media companies in Germany. “For us, high performance and instant scalability are critical for our apps, portals and commerce platforms. We create compelling online and mobile marketing plans and executions for our clients, and the ability to immediately scale to meet demand is essential.”

Zend Server 6.1 comes with new benefits in addition to its existing automated deployment capabilities, advanced debugging, high availability and performance insights. Zend Server 6.1 now displays real-time mobile analytics, giving application owners valuable insight into mobile usage and app behavior. This data provides understanding of how mobile users are accessing these apps, including trends over time. 

Zend Server 6.1 also enhances its deployment capabilities by adding the support for shared code libraries which means you can now centrally manage and version your frameworks and libraries, even if they are shared by a number of apps. This has the benefit of removing the need to duplicate libraries across applications, reducing application package size, and making it simpler to work with multiple library versions. Overall, this capability will simplify the task of keeping libraries up to date and in synch.

Today, Zend also released Zend Studio version 10.1 with full support for Zend Server’s new PHP Library Deployment, enabling developers to take advantage of the new capability in their workflows. Zend Studio 10.1 also includes fixes and improvements for framework and library management in projects, Zend Framework 2 integration, Symfony integration, Composer support and many other fixes and improvements.

Zend Studio 10.1 is available immediately for trial download at www.zend.com/studio.

Zend Server 6.1 is available on-premise or in the cloud. Enterprises can leverage Zend Server with a variety of cloud infrastructure and management software, including IBM SmartCloud, Amazon Web Services, VMware, Red Hat OpenShift, RightScale and others. Zend Server can be purchased directly from Zend, through Zend’s channel and cloud partners, and pricing starts under $100 a month on the Amazon Web Services marketplace. 

More information on Zend Server with NGINX can be found at http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/nginx.

To download Zend Server, visit www.zend.com/server or try it today on the Zend Developer Cloud at www.zend.com/server/phpcloud.

Sources

[1] Web Technology Surveys, “Usage of Web Servers Broken Down by Ranking.” <http://w3techs.com/technologies/cross/web_server/ranking>

[2] Netcraft, “July 2010 Web Server Survey.”
< http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2013/06/06/june-2013-web-server-survey-3.html >

About Zend Technologies
Zend partners with businesses to rapidly deliver modern apps across mobile and cloud. Zend helped establish the PHP language, which today powers over 240 million applications and web sites. Zend’s flagship offering, Zend Server, is the leading Application Platform for developing, deploying and managing business-critical applications in PHP. Zend solutions are deployed at more than 40,000 companies, including NYSE Euronext, BNP Paribas, Bell Helicopter, France Telecom and other leading brands worldwide. Learn more at www.zend.com.

Zend partners with businesses to rapidly deliver modern apps across mobile and cloud. Zend helped establish the PHP language, which today powers over 200 million applications and web sites. Zend’s flagship offering, Zend Server, is the leading Application Platform for developing, deploying and managing business-critical applications in PHP. Zend solutions are deployed at more than 40,000 companies, including NYSE Euronext, BNP Paribas, Bell Helicopter, France Telecom and other leading brands worldwide. Learn more at www.zend.com.