Nginx

NGINX is a popular open-source web server, reverse proxy server, and load balancer. It's known for its high performance, scalability, and reliability, making it widely used for serving web content, handling incoming HTTP requests, and distributing traffic across multiple servers.

Setup

Sample Config

server {
    listen       80;
    listen       443 ssl;
    server_name  localhost;
    ssl_certificate  /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    location / {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:5555;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Debian

This setup gives you a robust platform for hosting web applications, serving static content, or functioning as a reverse proxy to manage traffic to other services on your network. NGINX’s flexibility and Debian’s stability make them a preferred choice for many system administrators and developers.

Installation location

/etc/nginx/sites-available/

Common Commands

Here are some common NGINX commands:

Start NGINX:

sudo systemctl start nginx

Stop NGINX:

sudo systemctl stop nginx

Restart NGINX:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Reload NGINX:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Check NGINX Configuration:

sudo nginx -t

Show NGINX Status:

sudo systemctl status nginx

Enable NGINX at Startup:

sudo systemctl enable nginx

Disable NGINX at Startup:

sudo systemctl disable nginx

MacOs

NGINX isn't commonly used as a web server on macOS. However, if you have NGINX installed on macOS, you can manage it with similar commands as on Linux, but using brew (Homebrew) for installation and service management:

Installation Location

/opt/homebrew/etc/nginx/servers/

Common Commands

Install NGINX:

brew install nginx

Start NGINX:

brew services start nginx

Stop NGINX:

brew services stop nginx

Restart NGINX:

brew services restart nginx

Reload NGINX:

nginx -s reload

Check NGINX Configuration:

nginx -t

Information

Here's a breakdown of NGINX's key features and functionalities:

Web Server: NGINX can serve static and dynamic content over HTTP and HTTPS protocols. It efficiently handles incoming client requests, processes them, and returns the appropriate web pages or resources. NGINX is known for its low memory usage and high concurrency, making it capable of handling thousands of concurrent connections with minimal resource consumption.
Reverse Proxy: NGINX can act as a reverse proxy server, sitting in front of web servers or application servers and forwarding client requests to the appropriate backend servers. It can perform tasks like load balancing, SSL termination, caching, compression, and request routing, improving performance, security, and reliability.
Load Balancer: NGINX can distribute incoming traffic across multiple backend servers, ensuring optimal resource utilization and high availability. It supports various load balancing algorithms, such as round-robin, least connections, IP hash, and more, allowing administrators to configure load balancing strategies based on their specific requirements.
SSL/TLS Termination: NGINX can handle SSL/TLS encryption and decryption for incoming HTTPS connections, relieving backend servers of the computational overhead associated with SSL/TLS encryption. It can also perform SSL termination, allowing secure communication between clients and NGINX while forwarding unencrypted traffic to backend servers.
Caching: NGINX supports caching of static and dynamic content, reducing the response time and server load for frequently accessed resources. It can cache responses from backend servers and serve them directly to clients without forwarding requests to the backend, improving performance and scalability.
HTTP/2 and WebSocket Support: NGINX supports modern web protocols like HTTP/2 and WebSocket, enabling faster and more efficient communication between clients and servers. HTTP/2 offers features like multiplexing, header compression, and server push, while WebSocket allows full-duplex communication over a single TCP connection.
Modular Architecture: NGINX has a modular architecture that allows administrators to extend its functionality through third-party modules or custom configurations. This flexibility enables NGINX to adapt to various use cases and integrate with other technologies seamlessly.

Overall, NGINX is a powerful and versatile web server, reverse proxy, and load balancer that provides high performance, scalability, and reliability for serving web content and handling incoming traffic in modern web applications and infrastructure deployments.

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