The answer
Proxy buffering (proxy_buffering on) makes Nginx buffer the response from Node.js before sending to the client. This frees Node.js to handle other requests. Set proxy_buffer_size 4k and proxy_buffers 8 4k for typical API responses.
Nginx Performance Tuning for Node.js Worker Processes, Caching, and Compression
What are proxy buffers in Nginx?
More FAQs in Nginx Performance Tuning for Node.js Worker Processes, Caching, and Compression
Set worker_processes auto (one per CPU core) and worker_connections 2048 in nginx.conf. Total max clients = worker_processes × worker_connections. On a t2.micro with 1 vCPU, you get 1 worker × 2048 = 2048 concurrent connections.
Set gzip on, gzip_comp_level 6, gzip_min_length 1000, gzip_types for text-based MIME types (text/plain, text/css, application/json, application/javascript). Add gzip_vary on for the Vary header. This reduces bandwidth by 60-80%.
Add a location block matching static file extensions (js, css, png, jpg, etc.) with expires 1y, add_header Cache-Control 'public, immutable', and access_log off. Hashed file names from build tools ensure new versions get new URLs.
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