In the never-ending search for better site performance, we’re all looking for an extra edge. Server-side caching is used by countless websites to improve website speed. Now, cPanel users have another tool at their disposal. cPanel now officially supports NGINX.
Why Server-Side Caching?
As a website loads on a visitor’s browser, this takes processing power from the server. It takes time to retrieve and process the data — and this work is duplicated for every new visitor. Caching, at its core, is the savings of this data so that it does not have to be constantly reprocessed.
Modern websites create pages dynamically. This is so each user can receive the most up-to-date version of the website. But, practically, most websites don’t actually change that much. So, instead of creating the HTML from the backend database every time, a server can simply store the HTML and send it to requesting browsers, saving a bunch of processing power. The HTML is refreshed on predefined intervals to ensure it’s reasonably up to date.
What is NGINX?
NGINX is a web server, reverse proxy, and HTTP cache. While it can be used in place of the Apache web server in some scenarios, it is more frequently used as a server-side reverse proxy and cache for websites served by Apache.
NGINX actually mediates access by connecting browsers to the server. This enables it to bypass the server entirely, which is ideal for optimizing performance.
cPanel and NGINX Integration
cPanel has added new functionality to make it easier to deploy NGINX as a cache on cPanel servers. For cPanel & WHM Version 96, users can take advantage of a new NGINX Manager interface, which can do one-click NGINX caching installations for all users
Users of older versions like cPanel and WHM Version 94 can also take advantage of NGINX caching. Activation is slightly more complicated, requiring access to the server’s root account and WHM with EasyApache 4 installed. More instructions on activation can be found here.
This NGINX functionality is now available with any CanSpace VPS or Dedicated Server hosting account. If you have any questions on how to make sure of this functionality, reach out to us!
