NGINX and Web Server Technologies

Web server technologies are the foundational software that listens for and responds to client requests over a network, most commonly serving web pages via the HTTP protocol. At the heart of this field is NGINX, a high-performance, open-source web server renowned for its stability, rich feature set, and efficient, event-driven architecture that allows it to handle tens of thousands of simultaneous connections with minimal memory usage. Beyond its primary role of serving static content, NGINX and similar technologies are crucial components in modern web infrastructure, often functioning as reverse proxies to direct traffic to application servers, load balancers to distribute requests for scalability and high availability, and as a caching layer to accelerate content delivery to users.

  1. Foundations of Web Server Technology
    1. The Client-Server Model
      1. Definition and Core Concepts
        1. Client Types
          1. Web Browsers
            1. Mobile Applications
              1. Command-Line Tools
                1. API Clients
                  1. IoT Devices
                  2. Server Types
                    1. Web Servers
                      1. Application Servers
                        1. Database Servers
                          1. Proxy Servers
                          2. The Request-Response Cycle
                            1. Request Initiation
                              1. Request Processing
                                1. Response Generation
                                  1. Response Delivery
                                    1. Connection Management
                                  2. The HTTP Protocol
                                    1. Protocol Overview and History
                                      1. HTTP Versions
                                        1. HTTP/1.0
                                          1. Basic Features
                                            1. Connection Model
                                              1. Limitations
                                              2. HTTP/1.1
                                                1. Persistent Connections
                                                  1. Chunked Transfer Encoding
                                                    1. Host Header Requirement
                                                      1. Pipeline Support
                                                      2. HTTP/2
                                                        1. Binary Protocol
                                                          1. Multiplexing
                                                            1. Header Compression
                                                              1. Server Push
                                                                1. Stream Prioritization
                                                                2. HTTP/3 and QUIC
                                                                  1. UDP-based Transport
                                                                    1. Connection Migration
                                                                      1. Improved Latency
                                                                        1. Security Features
                                                                      2. HTTP Request Methods
                                                                        1. GET
                                                                          1. POST
                                                                            1. PUT
                                                                              1. DELETE
                                                                                1. HEAD
                                                                                  1. OPTIONS
                                                                                    1. PATCH
                                                                                      1. CONNECT
                                                                                        1. TRACE
                                                                                        2. HTTP Status Codes
                                                                                          1. 1xx Informational Responses
                                                                                            1. 2xx Success Responses
                                                                                              1. 3xx Redirection Messages
                                                                                                1. 4xx Client Error Responses
                                                                                                  1. 5xx Server Error Responses
                                                                                                  2. HTTP Headers
                                                                                                    1. Request Headers
                                                                                                      1. Response Headers
                                                                                                        1. Entity Headers
                                                                                                          1. General Headers
                                                                                                            1. Custom Headers
                                                                                                              1. Security Headers
                                                                                                              2. Uniform Resource Locators
                                                                                                                1. URL Structure and Components
                                                                                                                  1. Query Strings
                                                                                                                    1. URL Encoding
                                                                                                                      1. Relative vs Absolute URLs
                                                                                                                    2. The HTTPS Protocol
                                                                                                                      1. SSL/TLS Fundamentals
                                                                                                                        1. Encryption Principles
                                                                                                                          1. Authentication Mechanisms
                                                                                                                            1. Data Integrity Verification
                                                                                                                            2. Cryptographic Concepts
                                                                                                                              1. Symmetric Encryption
                                                                                                                                1. Asymmetric Encryption
                                                                                                                                  1. Hash Functions
                                                                                                                                    1. Digital Signatures
                                                                                                                                    2. TLS Handshake Process
                                                                                                                                      1. Client Hello
                                                                                                                                        1. Server Hello
                                                                                                                                          1. Certificate Exchange
                                                                                                                                            1. Key Exchange
                                                                                                                                              1. Session Establishment
                                                                                                                                              2. Digital Certificates
                                                                                                                                                1. Certificate Structure
                                                                                                                                                  1. Certificate Types
                                                                                                                                                    1. Certificate Authorities
                                                                                                                                                      1. Certificate Signing Request
                                                                                                                                                        1. Chain of Trust
                                                                                                                                                          1. Self-Signed Certificates
                                                                                                                                                            1. Certificate Validation
                                                                                                                                                          2. Web Server Roles and Functions
                                                                                                                                                            1. Static Content Serving
                                                                                                                                                              1. HTML Documents
                                                                                                                                                                1. CSS Stylesheets
                                                                                                                                                                  1. JavaScript Files
                                                                                                                                                                    1. Images and Media
                                                                                                                                                                      1. File Downloads
                                                                                                                                                                      2. Dynamic Content Processing
                                                                                                                                                                        1. Server-Side Scripting
                                                                                                                                                                          1. Database Integration
                                                                                                                                                                            1. Template Processing
                                                                                                                                                                            2. Reverse Proxy Functions
                                                                                                                                                                              1. Request Forwarding
                                                                                                                                                                                1. Response Handling
                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Header Manipulation
                                                                                                                                                                                  2. Load Balancing
                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Traffic Distribution
                                                                                                                                                                                      1. High Availability
                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Failover Mechanisms
                                                                                                                                                                                        2. API Gateway Services
                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Request Routing
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Authentication
                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Rate Limiting
                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Request Transformation
                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Caching Services
                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Content Caching
                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Cache Management
                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Cache Invalidation

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                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. Introduction to NGINX