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GRADAX

Nginx

High-performance web server and reverse proxy for modern applications.

Nginx is the world's most popular web server, powering over 34% of all websites including Netflix, Airbnb, Dropbox, and WordPress.com. Originally designed to solve the C10K problem (handling 10,000 concurrent connections), Nginx's event-driven architecture efficiently handles massive traffic loads. Beyond serving static files, Nginx excels as a reverse proxy, load balancer, SSL terminator, and API gateway.

We use Nginx as the reverse proxy and load balancer for our self-hosted applications. Nginx sits in front of Node.js, Python, and PHP applications, handling SSL termination, static file serving, and request routing. Nginx's low memory footprint and high concurrency make it ideal for production deployments.

What we use it for

  • Reverse proxy for Node.js applications
  • Load balancing across multiple servers
  • SSL/TLS termination and HTTPS management
  • Static file serving and caching
  • Rate limiting and access control
  • API gateway and request routing

What it gives us

  • Event-Driven ArchitectureHandle thousands of concurrent connections with minimal memory usage and CPU overhead.
  • Reverse ProxyRoute requests to backend applications, handle SSL, and add caching, compression, and security headers.
  • Load BalancingDistribute traffic across multiple backend servers with round-robin, least-connections, or IP-hash algorithms.
  • Configuration FlexibilityDeclarative configuration for complex routing rules, redirects, rewrites, and virtual hosts.

Questions we get asked

Nginx vs Apache, which is better?
Nginx handles concurrent connections more efficiently than Apache and uses less memory. Apache has more modules and .htaccess support. We recommend Nginx for modern applications.
Do I need Nginx with Vercel or Cloudflare?
No. Vercel and Cloudflare handle routing, SSL, and caching automatically. Nginx is needed for self-hosted applications, Docker deployments, and custom infrastructure.
Is Nginx free?
Nginx open-source is free. Nginx Plus (commercial) starts at $2,500/year with additional features. The open-source version is sufficient for most deployments.
Can Nginx improve my website's speed?
Yes. Nginx's caching, gzip compression, and efficient static file serving can significantly reduce response times. As a reverse proxy, it offloads work from application servers.

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