Nginx in front of an application server.
WHAT IT DOES
Receives requests, serves static files directly, and forwards dynamic requests to the application behind it.
WHY IT HELPS
Static files are served efficiently without involving the application Connections are handled cheaply, so slow clients do not tie up application processes Caching can be applied at the proxy SSL termination happens in one place Multiple applications can sit behind one entry point
TYPICAL ARRANGEMENTS
Nginx in front of Apache, combining Nginx efficiency with .htaccess support Nginx in front of a Node.js or Python application Nginx in front of PHP-FPM directly
CONFIGURATION POINTS
Pass the real visitor address through, or your application logs show only the proxy Pass the protocol through, or the application may not know the request was secure Set sensible timeouts Configure caching deliberately, excluding anything user-specific
THE TRADE-OFF
More components to configure and maintain. Worth it for sites with meaningful traffic; unnecessary complexity for a small site.
