First off, Nginx is pronounced "engine X"!
I've read "N jinx" so far. Because it was always written in lowercase like 'nginx'...🤣
NGINX
is focused on high performance, high concurrency and low resource usage. This is mostly known as a web server, but in fact NGINX is a reverse proxy.
Reverse proxy: A server that receives a client's request, sends it to the web server, receives a response, and delivers it back to the client. That is, the server that exists between the client and the web server.
As Nginx intercepts the client's request in front of the server, clients cannot directly communicate with the real server.
This gives some great advantages.
1. Load balancing
If you are operating a site with a lot of requests, you will have multiple servers instead of one. In that case, Nginx will play the role of preventing requests from being concentrated only on a specific server.
2. Protection from attack
With Nginx, websites or services do not need the IP address of the real server, so even if an attack such as DDoS comes in, NGINX will be attacked, but the real server will be prevented from attacking.
3. Caching
Nginx can cache content, so it responds faster, improving performance.
More
If you want to know more about NGINX, please check the official documents below.