How to Work with scgi_socket_keepalive in nginx
Well, let's talk about nginx and ngx_http_scgi_module, which is one of the commonly used modules in nginx for establishing a connection with SCGI applications. SCGI is a lightweight and less resource-intensive protocol for communication between web servers and applications. This protocol has a higher speed compared to CGI, and for this reason, it's used in many projects.
One of the interesting features in nginx for SCGI is the scgi_socket_keepalive directive. When you use this directive, nginx retains SCGI connections to avoid the need for re-establishing the connection. This can help improve performance and reduce response time delays. In other words, for repeated requests, you can reuse a connection, which can result in a lower load on the server.
Now let’s take a look at how to use this directive. In your nginx configuration file (usually nginx.conf), you can add the scgi_socket_keepalive directive to the location block relevant to SCGI. This action tells nginx to allow SCGI connections to be maintained for a longer duration.
Additionally, there are other directives that can be combined with scgi_socket_keepalive. For instance, you can configure the number of persistent connections, which can significantly affect the overall performance of the server. Therefore, you should definitely tune these parameters to achieve the best results.
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.com;
location /scgi {
include fastcgi_params;
scgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
scgi_socket_keepalive on;
}
}
Code Explanation
The above code does the following:
1.
server {: This line indicates the start of a new server block.2.
listen 80;: nginx listens to requests on port 80.3.
server_name example.com;: Specifies that this server responds to the domain example.com.4.
location /scgi {: Defines a location block for path /scgi.5.
include fastcgi_params;: Includes the parameters required for FastCGI.6.
scgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;: Specifies which address and port SCGI requests should be sent to.7.
scgi_socket_keepalive on;: Enables the keep-alive feature for SCGI connections to reduce load and improve performance.