Nginx is a lightweight HTTP server designed for high-traffic websites, with network scalability as primary objective. With the advent of high-speed Internet access, short loading times and fast transfer rates have become a necessity. This free open-source solution will either serve as full replacement of other software such as Apache, or stand in front of your existing infrastructure to improve its overall speed. However, migrating to Nginx requires some guidance.

This book serves as a detailed guide to setting up Nginx in different production situations: as standalone server, as reverse proxy, interacting with applications via FastCGI, and more. In addition, the complete directive reference will be your best friend at all stages of the configuration and maintenance processes.

This book is the perfect companion for both Nginx beginners and experienced administrators. For the former, it will take you through the complete process of setting up this lightweight HTTP server on your system and configuring its various modules to get it to do exactly what you need, in a fast and secure way. For the latter, it provides different angles of approach that can help you make the most of your current infrastructure. As the book progresses, it provides a complete reference to all the modules and directives of Nginx. It will explain how to replace your existing server with Nginx or configure Nginx to work as a frontend for your existing server.

By the end of this book, you will be geared up to implement Nginx as a web server that will boost the speed of all your web applications.