The HTTP Server

The HTTP server handles the connections with the client and forwards all the requests to the Node server. In some way, it is a kind of proxy. Currently, there are two main HTTP servers on the market that were used widely in production: Apache and Nginx, both can be used to server Node applications. However, in this book, we will cover Nginx. The main reason for this decision is its simplicity and performance and it is smaller than Apache.

To install Nginx, use apt-get:

$ sudo apt-get install nginx
[sudo] password for abiee:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  nginx-common nginx-core
Suggested packages:
  fcgiwrap nginx-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  nginx nginx-common nginx-core
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
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