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NGINX (Engine X)

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Benjamin Hobbs edited this page Jun 7, 2023 · 1 revision

NGINX

From https://www.nginx.com/resources/glossary/nginx/

  • NGINX is open source software for web serving, reverse proxying, caching, load balancing, media streaming, and more.

    • Can also function as a proxy server for email (POP3, IMAP, and SMTP)

    • Can also function as a reverse proxy and load balancer for HTTP, TCP and UDP servers.

History

  • Created by Igor Sysoev to solve the C10K problem (term coined in 1999 describing the difficulty that existing web servers experienced in handling large numbers of concurrent connections)

  • NGINX was revolutionary for server operation (in high-performance contexts) and was the fastest web server available momentarily

  • Sysoev open-sourced the project in 2004 and its use grew. Sysoev co-founded NGINX, Inc to support continued development and to market a commercial product in NGINX Plus with additional features. Today NGINX, Inc is part of F5 Inc. and is still widely used.

What more do I want to know?

What are some common use cases for NGINX?

  • web serving

  • reverse proxying

  • caching

  • load balancing

  • media streaming

  • proxy server for email (POP3, IMAP, and SMTP)

How does NGINX handle tasks that could slow down the web server?

  • Compressing/Caching content to improve performance.

Describe, as if to a non-technical friend how to actually pronounce “NGINX”, and why an org might chooose to use it.

  • it is pronounced "EN-gine X" [engine X]

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