What Is NGINX? How Does It Work?

The web server is a critical component of the overall internet infrastructure. These computers, known as web servers, were created solely to deliver the requested webpage. Each web server has an Internet Protocol address (IP address) as well as a domain name. To transform your computer into a web server, you must first install the web server software on it. NGINX, XAMPP, Apache, Tornado, and Caddy are some examples of web server software. Another alternative is Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). We’ll be focusing on NGINX in this article. 

NGINX should be defined first

Nginx is a popular open-source web server, proxy server, and load balancer due to its lightweight architecture, high performance, and comprehensive feature set. NGINX may act as an email proxy server (IMAP, POP3, and SMTP), as well as a reverse proxy and load balancer for HTTP, TCP, and UDP servers. These features are in addition to the HTTP server capabilities it already has. 

What is the Purpose of NGINX? 

Before we continue our NGINX education, let’s look at the inner workings of a web server. When someone requests that a webpage be opened, the browser communicates with the web server of the website in question. The web server will then look for the necessary files for the page and send them to the browser whenever they are found. It is the most basic type of request that could be made. 

NGINX is used to serve websites

NGINX was always meant to be the world’s fastest web server, and obtaining and maintaining that level of speed remains one of the project’s core goals. In comparison testing comparing web server performance, NGINX consistently comes out on top, beating out Apache and other servers. Yet, websites have moved from static HTML pages to content that is dynamic and composed of various components since the first release of NGINX. NGINX has matured alongside it and currently supports all of the current Web components. WebSocket, HTTP/2, gRPC, and the streaming of various video formats are among these components (HDS, HLS, RTMP, and others). 

How does the Nginx server function? 

Nginx was built from the bottom up to have a low memory footprint while maintaining high concurrency. Nginx employs an asynchronous, event-driven technique that handles web requests in a single thread rather than spawning new processes for each web request. The event-driven model is the name given to this method. 

While utilizing Nginx, one master process can control a number of worker processes. While the workers are in charge of the actual processing, the master is in charge of keeping the worker processes running. Because Nginx is asynchronous, the worker can process each request in parallel without causing any other requests to be delayed. 

The Internal Architecture of NGINX 

NGINX uses a master-slave architecture, which enables the construction of event-driven, asynchronous, and non-blocking models. 

It also makes use of a complex event-based mechanism seen in a variety of operating systems. Furthermore, NGINX employs multiplexing and event notifications, as well as assigning certain responsibilities to their own independent processes. For example, if you have ten different jobs, you will need ten different processes to handle each one. NGINX processes highly effective run loops using a single-thread process known as workers. 

• To process thousands of requests, workers will first retrieve new requests over a shared listen socket before executing highly efficient run loops within each worker. 
• Masters are in charge of reading and validating configurations via generating, binding, and crossing sockets. They are also in charge of initiating and terminating worker processes, as well as controlling the total number of configured employees. Furthermore, the master node has the capacity to restructure the worker process without disrupting service. 
• The processes that handle proxy caches are one-of-a-kind. They include a cache loader as well as cache management. The cache loader checks the disk cache item and inserts the cache metadata into the engine’s in-memory database. It prepares the NGINX instances to deal with files that have already been saved on disk in a structure that has been designated specifically for them. The cache manager manages the expiration and invalidation of cached data. 

The Importance of Nginx in System Development and Operations 

There are instances in the role of DevOps and Administrators when it is absolutely vital to provide someone rapid access to a site, whether it’s a Docker container, one of the various containers, or some form of internal service. 

Everyone is familiar with the functions provided by Nginx, which include traffic proxies, load balancing between servers, and other useful features that aid in the combination of various types of services. The task of resolving issues that arise during the development process, on the other hand, is significantly more extensive. 

Nginx has become one of the most commonly used and widely utilized web servers due to its lightning-fast performance and rock-solid dependability. Yet, monitoring the system’s performance and availability is critical since this can help you prepare for worst-case circumstances, such as sudden or unexpected increases in traffic. You will also be kept informed about the current state and overall health of your application. 

Comparison of Nginx with other web servers: Apache vs. NGINX

Both Apache and NGINX are major players in the web server industry, handling roughly 5% of all Internet traffic on the internet. Despite their similarities, Apache and NGINX are not the same. Nginx is a high-performance, asynchronous web server and reverse proxy server that is open source, whereas Apache is an HTTP server that is open source. 

Given that both Apache and NGINX are quite powerful, choosing between the two can be tough. For example, Apache provides a wide range of modules, whereas NGINX prioritizes both scalability and speed. 

The Apache web server’s process-driven architecture spawns a new thread for each request, but the NGINX web server’s event-driven architecture allows it to handle multiple requests in a single thread. This is the main difference between the two web servers. As a result, NGINX can achieve better overall performance. 

While both NGINX and Apache have advantages and disadvantages, the choice between the two will ultimately come down to the user’s personal tastes. 

Bottom Line

NGINX is a well-known open-source web server that also serves as a load balancer, email proxy, and reverses proxy. Because the software’s structure is event-driven and asynchronous, it is feasible to process a high number of requests concurrently. Furthermore, NGINX is very scalable, implying that its service may grow in parallel with the volume of traffic generated by its users. Certainly, NGINX and Apache are two of the most popular web servers on the market today.