In this article, our focus will be on providing a clear and comprehensive answer to the question “What is Nginx?” as well as how to install this software on your system.
What is Nginx?
In this article, we will answer the question of “What is Nginx?” and explore its advantages and uses. We will also go through the installation process. A web server is one of the fundamental components of the internet. In fact, web servers are computers that deliver web pages to you upon request. Each web server has its own IP address and domain name. To convert a computer into a web server, you need to install one of the web server software, such as Apache, Tornado, XAMPP, Caddy, NGINX, and others.
Introduction to Nginx Web Server
Nginx (pronounced as “engine-x”) is an open-source web server that was initially introduced as an alternative to Apache. It quickly gained success and popularity, solidifying its position as a reverse proxy, HTTP cache, and load balancer.
Some of the most well-known companies using Nginx include:
- Microsoft
- IBM
- Autodesk
- GitLab
- Atlassian
- Cisco
Nginx was created by Igor Sysoev and released to the public in 2004. Before its introduction, Apache was the dominant web server. One of Apache’s major drawbacks was the C10K problem, which refers to the issue where a web server fails when 10,000 connections are simultaneously established, causing websites to go offline. Nginx addressed this problem by offering excellent scalability, which made it a popular choice for many large and high-traffic websites that switched from Apache to Nginx to avoid facing the C10K issue.
How Does Nginx Work?
Now that we understand what Nginx is and the purpose it serves, it’s time to explore how it works. You can install and set it up on a Linux vps.
One of the most important features of Nginx is its high concurrency and low memory usage. Instead of creating a new process for each web request, Nginx uses an event-driven, asynchronous approach where all requests are processed in a single thread.
In Nginx, main processes can control several worker processes. While the actual processing is done by the workers, each master process manages the worker processes. Because Nginx is asynchronous, each request can be handled by a worker without blocking other requests.
Some of the most important and commonly used features of Nginx include:
- Reverse proxy with caching
- IPv6 support
- Load balancing
- FastCGI interface support with caching
- WebSockets
- Directory listing, static file management, and automatic indexing
- TLS/SSL certificates with SNI
- Nginx Architecture
Nginx Architecture
The Nginx web server uses a worker-master architecture by implementing event-driven, non-blocking, and asynchronous models.
- Each worker accepts new requests from a shared receiver socket and runs highly efficient event loops to handle thousands of requests within each worker.
- The master processes read and verify configurations by creating, connecting, and passing through sockets.
- Additionally, the master is responsible for managing the start, stop, and maintenance of the configured worker processes. The master node can reconfigure worker processes in the service without interruption.
Proxy caches are specific processes. Each proxy cache has a loader and a cache manager. The cache loader’s tasks include checking disk cache items and populating the in-memory database with cache metadata. This process ensures that NGINX instances are prepared to work with files that have already been stored on disk in a dedicated structure. The cache manager’s responsibility is to manage cache expiration and invalidation.
Nginx Web Server Security
Nginx offers several additional security features to its users. One of these features is rate limiting, which reduces the rate of incoming requests to a normal level for legitimate clients, helping protect the server against DDoS attacks. Rate limiting is also used to protect upstream servers from excessive user requests.
In addition, Nginx users can prevent DDoS attacks by denying or allowing access based on the client’s IP address. Access control can be done using passwords, bandwidth, or the result of a sub-request.
Furthermore, Nginx supports the latest version of Transport Layer Security (TLS), providing its users with reliable encryption for data transmitted over the internet.
For more advanced security features, users can opt for the premium NGINX Plus version.
Advantages of Nginx
Using Nginx offers many significant benefits. Some of the key advantages of the Nginx web server include:
- The website’s loading time is significantly reduced. With a shorter waiting time, the user experience improves, and visitors don’t have to wait long on your site.
- Nginx improves traffic routing to web servers, increasing overall speed and performance. This is another strategy to enhance the user experience.
- It is an affordable and powerful load balancer.
- With its scalability and ability to handle simultaneous requests, it prevents website downtime and slow performance.
- It allows for “on-the-fly” upgrades without downtime or service interruptions.
Applications of Nginx
The Nginx web server can be configured for the following purposes:
- Web Server: It is commonly used due to its performance and scalability.
- Reverse Proxy: Nginx directs client requests to a back-end server, performing the reverse proxy function.
- Load Balancer: It automatically distributes network traffic without the need for manual configuration.
- API Gateway: Useful for routing requests, handling exceptions, and managing request routing.
- Web Application Firewall: It protects your application by filtering incoming and outgoing network requests on the server.
- Cache: Nginx helps store your data to handle subsequent requests more efficiently.
- Kubernetes Platform (K8s): It assists with automatic deployment and scaling, managing containerized applications.
- Sidecar Proxy: It routes traffic to and from containers, helping manage container traffic.
How to Install Nginx
After understanding what Nginx is and its benefits and applications, it’s time to install it. First, open your Linux device and use the following commands to update it:
sudo apt-get update
Then, execute this command:
sudo apt-get install nginx
Next, activate your firewall using the following command:
sudo ufw enable
To confirm the installation of NGINX, run the following command:
nginx -v
If you want to check whether NGINX is running, use the command:
sudo ufw status
After executing this command, you should see the following:
status: active
To verify that the NGINX server is working correctly, run:
sudo systemctl status nginx
If everything is working properly, a success message will appear.
FAQs
Is Nginx free?
Yes. However, its advanced version, known as NGINX Plus, is paid. To use this version, you must pay a subscription fee. The premium version of the Nginx web server, which includes a load balancer, content cache, web server, API gateway, and microservices proxy, costs around $2500 per year.
Can Nginx be used as a web proxy?
Yes. Nginx can act as a reverse proxy for various protocols such as HTTP, IMAP, UDP, SMTP, POP3, and HTTPS.
Is Nginx suitable for high-traffic websites?
Yes. Nginx was specifically designed to solve the C10K problem. For this reason, it is highly suitable for large, high-traffic websites.
