Nginx
MentionedPlatform
Also known as: NGINX
Fast web server and reverse proxy that spreads traffic, terminates TLS and serves static files.
Nginx, explained
Written by EduVerseWhat it is
Nginx (pronounced “engine-x”) is a web server and reverse proxy. It sits in front of your applications, accepts HTTP and HTTPS traffic, serves static files itself and forwards other requests to the right backend, configured through server and location blocks in nginx.conf.
Why teams use it
Your app shouldn’t have to deal with TLS certificates, compression, slow clients or spreading load over several instances. Nginx handles those jobs efficiently, with little memory. Alternatives include Apache httpd, Caddy (simple automatic HTTPS) and HAProxy, and in Kubernetes you also meet Nginx as an ingress controller.
An example from work
After a deploy, users see 502 Bad Gateway. In /var/log/nginx/error.log you find connect() failed (111: Connection refused) while connecting to upstream: the app didn’t start, or proxy_pass points at the wrong port. After any config change, nginx -t checks the syntax before you reload.
Our own explanation, not a quote from the book.
Where it fits
Reverse proxy, load balancing, Kubernetes ingress
Coverage in the book
Mentioned as part of the wider landscape, without in-depth coverage.
