While ab (Apache Benchmark) is a classic tool for basic load testing, modern web stacks often require more sophisticated testing capabilities. Yes, Apache Benchmark does work with NGINX (it just sends HTTP requests regardless of server software), but you might need features like:

• Support for HTTP/2 and WebSockets
• More detailed metrics and visualization
• Distributed testing capabilities
• Scriptable test scenarios

For quick terminal-based testing similar to ab:

# Siege (simple installation)
sudo apt-get install siege
siege -c100 -t30s http://yourserver.com

# wrk (modern HTTP benchmarking tool)
sudo apt-get install wrk
wrk -t12 -c400 -d30s http://yourserver.com

# hey (Go-based alternative)
go install github.com/rakyll/hey@latest
hey -n 10000 -c 100 http://yourserver.com

For more visual analysis:

• JMeter: Install via sudo apt-get install jmeter
• Locust: Python-based with web UI (install via pip)
• k6: Modern developer-centric tool with CLI and cloud options

When testing NGINX, you might want to verify:

# Test keepalive connections
wrk -t4 -c100 -d60s --timeout 30s --latency -H "Connection: keep-alive" http://yourserver.com

# Test HTTP/2 (requires appropriate build of your testing tool)
h2load -n 100000 -c 100 -m 100 https://yourserver.com

For serious production testing:

• Loader.io (free tier available)
• BlazeMeter
• Gatling FrontLine

Create a test.js file:

import http from 'k6/http';
import { check, sleep } from 'k6';

export let options = {
  stages: [
    { duration: '30s', target: 100 },  // ramp up
    { duration: '1m', target: 100 },   // sustain
    { duration: '30s', target: 0 },    // ramp down
  ],
};

export default function() {
  let res = http.get('http://yourserver.com');
  check(res, {
    'status was 200': (r) => r.status == 200,
    'response time < 200ms': (r) => r.timings.duration < 200,
  });
  sleep(1);
}

Run with: k6 run test.js

Regardless of tool, track these essential metrics:

• Requests per second
• Error rates
• Latency percentiles (p95, p99)
• Throughput
• System resource usage (CPU, memory, network)

While Apache Benchmark (ab) remains a popular choice for quick performance tests, modern web servers and complex applications often demand more sophisticated testing tools. Here are powerful alternatives that work exceptionally well on Ubuntu systems:

wrk combines multithreaded design with Lua scripting for advanced testing scenarios. It's particularly effective for Nginx servers:

# Install on Ubuntu
sudo apt install wrk

# Basic test command (adjust threads/connections as needed)
wrk -t12 -c400 -d30s http://yourserver.com/

Siege offers more comprehensive reporting than ab and supports multiple URLs:

sudo apt install siege
siege -c100 -t1M http://yourserver.com/api

For complex scenarios requiring programmable behavior:

pip install locust
# Create locustfile.py with your test scenarios
locust -f locustfile.py --host=http://yourserver.com

k6 provides JavaScript scripting and excellent metrics:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys C5AD17C747E3415A3642D57D77C6C491D6AC1D69
echo "deb https://dl.k6.io/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/k6.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install k6

# Example test.js
import http from 'k6/http';
import { check } from 'k6';

export default function() {
  let res = http.get('http://yourserver.com');
  check(res, { 'status was 200': (r) => r.status == 200 });
}

Apache Benchmark absolutely works with Nginx servers - it's protocol-level testing. However, Nginx's event-driven architecture may require different testing approaches than Apache's process-based model. Consider these additional tools:

Vegeta - Versatile HTTP Load Testing

echo "GET http://yourserver.com" | vegeta attack -duration=60s -rate=100 | vegeta report

JMeter - Enterprise-Grade Testing

While heavier, JMeter provides the most comprehensive testing capabilities:

sudo apt install jmeter
jmeter -n -t TestPlan.jmx -l results.jtl

For quick sanity checks: wrk or Siege
For complex API testing: Locust or k6
For production-grade tests: JMeter or distributed k6

Remember to always test in staging environments first and gradually increase load to identify breaking points without affecting production systems.