How does Nginx receive and process requests?

Question

IT Interview Practice · Accepted Answer

Nginx sits between visitors and your application. It can return a static file itself or pass a request to a backend, the application that generates the response. ## Follow a request for a product ```text Browser -> Nginx -> Application -> Database Browser <- Nginx <- Application <- Database ``` For a product page, Nginx receives the request, selects the website and path rules, and forwards it to the application. The application reads the product and returns a response through Nginx. For a static image, Nginx can read the file directly instead. ## Who does the work? - The master process reads configuration and manages workers. Think of it as the supervisor. - Worker processes handle connections and requests. A worker can manage many connections at once. While one request waits for the backend, an event loop lets the worker handle another connection that is ready. It does not reserve a thread for every waiting visitor. ## What this does not solve If the product query takes a long time, Nginx still waits for it. More workers do not automatically fix a slow database. First identify whether the wait happens in Nginx, the application or the database. [Official documentation](https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html).

Follow a request for a product

Who does the work?

What this does not solve

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