# Handle user uploads in static content server (newbie question) **URL:** \ **Category:** NGINX\ **Created:** [April 12, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713 "2010-04-12T02:59:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/1 "2010-04-12T02:59:32Z")
Hi guys. Newbie question here, apologies in advance. By using a static content server (nginx as reverse proxy), how does one deal with user uploads? I mean, I can understand if I client request our website’s /images/logo.png file, because we manually store it on the static content server, but what about the photo that our user just uploaded to his photo album? My confusion is: if a request is to a .php file, I’ll pass through the back-end server. So If a user wants to upload a file, it’ll be upload to /user-uploads/file.jpg _on the back-end server_. How can we make the static server serve the image? I’m imagining there has to be some sort of synchronization, but then again there the problem that the image might take longer to be replicated to the static content server and when the user request’s it, he’ll get a 404… not acceptable for online businesses. Can anyone with more experience tell me what am I missing? Cheers Leonardo ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/2 "2010-04-12T03:50:29Z")
To make it simpler, here’s a scenario: Server A is [static.domain.com](http://static.domain.com) ip 10.10.10.10 servers ALL static content (jpegs, gifs, pngs, mp3s etc… including user uploaded content like photo albums) Server B is [www.domain.com](http://www.domain.com) ip 10.10.10.20 servers DYNAMIC content, php files. If user submits a jpg to his photo album, it’ll get uploaded to B, as page’s going to run on server B because it’s a .php file (upload.php). How can the image possibly be served from server A without synchronization issues? There, much better. 🙂 Thanks, Leonardo. ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/3 "2010-04-12T04:18:35Z")
On Apr 12, Leonardo C. wrote: > synchronization issues? > You options are: (1) Shared filesystem between the two hosts to hold the static content (2) Use nginx with caching proxy on the static machine In this setup, a cache miss will result in a request for the static resource from the dynamic server (which I assume is also capable of serving static content). This should work as long you expect to have a high cache hit ratio ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/4 "2010-04-12T04:19:10Z")
Just like you configure a proxy to your backend server, you can have a separate directory for uploaded files served through a proxy. There should be no need to sync files between the two servers. For example: location /uploads/ { proxy\_pass [http://10.1.1.2/uploads/](http://10.1.1.2/uploads/) # or whatever } ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/5 "2010-04-12T04:34:23Z")
On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 12:17 PM, Arvind Jayaprakash [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > How can the image possibly be served from server A without > > synchronization issues? > > You options are: > > (1) Shared filesystem between the two hosts to hold the static content They’re different linodes so I don’t think this is an option. > (2) Use nginx with caching proxy on the static machine > In this setup, a cache miss will result in a request for the static > resource from the dynamic server (which I assume is also capable of > serving static content). This should work as long you expect to have a > high cache hit ratio So user uploads a file to Dynamic Server (D). All request to static files are served from Static Server (S). If a file is not found on (S), cache miss, serve the file from (D). Correct? In this scenario, how would the file ever get served from the Static Server (S)? Something has to copy the files from server D to S… ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/6 "2010-04-12T04:37:54Z")
> location /uploads/ { > proxy\_pass [http://10.1.1.2/uploads/](http://10.1.1.2/uploads/) # or whatever > } So the code above is in the .conf file of the Dynamic server and 10.1.1.2 is the Static server’s IP, correct? I don’t see how this can work still. If a file is Posted to upload.php, it’ll end up on Dynamic server and not on Static. ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/7 "2010-04-12T05:44:02Z")
On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 9:52 AM, Leonardo C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Does that sound reasonable? I believe that’s what originally suggested. The alternative is beaming the file using ssh to static server’s directory automatically on upload (using php functions, etc). Might cause slight delay and more complex setup though. – O\< ascii ribbon campaign - stop html mail - [www.asciiribbon.org](http://www.asciiribbon.org) ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/8 "2010-04-12T05:51:04Z")
> I believe that’s what originally suggested. Indeed Edho, i just expanded upon Arvind’s idea to make sure I understand it. > The alternative is beaming the file using ssh to static server’s > directory automatically on upload (using php functions, etc). Might > cause slight delay and more complex setup though. Yeah, NFS seems to be the winner. If anyone is interested, I’ll follow up the solution posted here: [http://www.linode.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4618](http://www.linode.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4618) Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/9 "2010-04-12T05:55:10Z")
Do you guys think have another instance of nginx handling static content on the same server would be a better solution than a dedicated static server? I’d use proxy\_pass for both scenarios… Nginx handles things so well that I might have difficulties justifying another server… Cheers ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/10 "2010-04-12T04:53:06Z")
> 1. Shared filesystem between the two hosts to hold the static content I just found out that I can do that on linode. Thanks for bringing this idea up! Here’s a solution: Using NFS, mount on the Dynamic server the Static server’s directory for static files (/images /user-uploads etc). Have nginx on Dynamic with proxy\_pass to Static for all static content. All uploads go to the mounted drive on Dynamic (which points to Static). Does that sound reasonable? Cheers Leonardo On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 12:17 PM, Arvind Jayaprakash ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/11 "2010-04-12T19:17:16Z")
On Apr 12, Leonardo C. wrote: > I just found out that I can do that on linode. Thanks for bringing this > idea up! > > Here’s a solution: > Using NFS, mount on the Dynamic server the Static server’s directory > for static files (/images /user-uploads etc). Have nginx on Dynamic > with proxy\_pass to Static for all static content. All uploads go to > the mounted drive on Dynamic (which points to Static). Either I am understanding this incorrectly or this sounds like you have made things worse! If the user requests for the static content is going to enter via D, then what is the point? User download/access of static content should directly hit nginx running on S which accesses it’s local storage. The reason why I’d push for the caching proxy option over shared storage is that in the setup you suggested, NFS is being configured for remote writes (during file upload). NFS writes should be avoided for the following reasons: - Security (why allow remote write access?) - NFS does not offer all POSIX guarantess which might become an issue (usually does during writes more than reads) - Unavailability of the remote system translates into an inability to accept new uploads ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/12 "2010-04-12T19:08:29Z")
On Apr 12, Leonardo C. wrote: > how would the file ever get served from the Static Server (S)? > Something has to copy the files from server D to S… - D is also capable of serving the static files. - S has a proxy pass to D with the caching options turned on. - User traffic always refers to S and not D for the static content. This way, S _pulls_ the file from D on a cache miss over HTTP. I have been using this setup in production for a few months now. And it works even in cases where D & S are in different continents. ---
**Author:** ![leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@leonardocg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/leonardocg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/handle-user-uploads-in-static-content-server-newbie-question/186713/13 "2010-04-14T03:49:43Z")
> Either I am understanding this incorrectly or this sounds like you have > made things worse! > > If the user requests for the static content is going to enter via D, > then what is the point? User download/access of static content should > directly hit nginx running on S which accesses it’s local storage. Well in theory user uploads to D and all requests come from S, but if the img reside on a different server, latency issues arise. Truly static content like Logo’s, Background etc are safely in S, but user uploaded content is the problem. > The reason why I’d push for the caching proxy option over shared storage > is that in the setup you suggested, NFS is being configured for remote > writes (during file upload). NFS writes should be avoided for the > following reasons: Not sure if I got the caching proxy option and how it could handle user uploads…can you elaborate? > - Security (why allow remote write access?) > > - NFS does not offer all POSIX guarantess which might become an issue > (usually does during writes more than reads) > > - Unavailability of the remote system translates into an inability to > accept new uploads This is 100% true, it’ll add another point of failure… not sure if there are other options though. Cheers Leo On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 3:16 AM, Arvind Jayaprakash [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On Apr 12, Leonardo C. wrote: > > > I just found out that I can do that on linode. Thanks for bringing this > > idea up! > > > > Here’s a solution: > > Using NFS, mount on the Dynamic server the Static server’s directory > > for static files (/images /user-uploads etc). Have nginx on Dynamic > > with proxy\_pass to Static for all static content. All uploads go to > > the mounted drive on Dynamic (which points to Static).