Web Server #

This section covers Nginx in its most basic yet most powerful role: as a web server serving files directly from disk. Although it sounds simple, there are many technical details you need to master to do it correctly, securely, and efficiently — from how Nginx determines which file path to serve, how to set up multiple sites on one server, handling directory requests, to presenting professional error pages.

Nginx is essentially a highly efficient machine for answering the question: “Which file on disk should I send for this request?” Every article in this section dissects one aspect of that question.

Learning Map #

flowchart TD
    A["📁 Static Files\nroot directive, sendfile,\nMIME types, cache headers"] --> B["🏠 Virtual Host\nname-based, IP-based,\nmulti-site, HTTPS"]
    B --> C["🔀 Root vs Alias\nPath formation,\ntrailing slash, try_files"]
    C --> D["📋 Index & Autoindex\nindex directive,\ndirectory listing, security"]
    D --> E["⚠️ Error Page\nerror_page, internal redirect,\nproxy_intercept_errors"]

Articles in This Section #

Article	What You’ll Learn
Serving Static Files	How Nginx reads and sends files from disk, transfer optimization with `sendfile`, browser cache headers, and a complete configuration for production static sites
Virtual Host	Running many websites from one server — name-based hosting, per-domain SSL certificate management, and multi-site management workflows
Root & Alias	The fundamental difference in how `root` and `alias` construct file paths, when to use each, and the trailing slash traps that most often cause errors
Index & Autoindex	Default index files when a request hits a directory, when directory listing is useful and when it’s dangerous, and how to secure it
Custom Error Page	Replacing Nginx’s built-in error pages with custom pages, handling upstream/backend errors, and hiding server version information