A quick evaluation of Nginx
Evaluating the benefits and limitations of Nginx.
What are web servers?
A web server is a type of computer software and hardware that accepts requests either via HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) or the more secure HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure).
Amongst allowing requests via the HTTP protocol, web servers also support SMTP protocols for simple mailing and FTP protocols for file transfers and uploads.
Examples of web servers:
There are many types of web servers that exist on the web, but these are some of the most common ones out there:
- Nginx
- Apache
- FoxServ
- Microsoft’s IIS
- Boa
- Tomcat
The most popular web servers:
Currently, as of this moment, Nginx and Apache are the most popular in-demand web servers to date.
Nginx
Nginx, which is pronounced as “Engine-X” is an open-source web server that was released in 2004 by Igor Sysoev. Initially, Nginx was used more to deal with serving static files, but now it’s been completely transformed to handle a wide array of server tasks. With Apache, they both serve more than 50% of all the traffic that is on the web.
Benefits:
- It follows an event-driven approach
- Capable of handling multiple threads within a single thread
- Exceptional security with less code
Limitations:
- Its 3rd party core modules are not dynamically loadable
- It doesn’t allow for additional configuration of any sort
- Doesn’t process dynamic content at all.
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Originally published at https://www.cloudwithdjango.com on September 18, 2022.
