Gzip compression in Nginx - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Gzip compression in the context of nginx?

Gzip compression is a method used by nginx to reduce the size of files sent from the server to the client, making web pages load faster by compressing text-based content like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

beginner

Which nginx directive enables Gzip compression?

The directive gzip on; enables Gzip compression in the nginx configuration.

intermediate

What does the gzip_types directive do in nginx?

The gzip_types directive specifies which MIME types should be compressed by Gzip, such as text/html, application/javascript, and text/css.

beginner

How can you check if Gzip compression is working on your website?

You can check Gzip compression by using browser developer tools or online tools that inspect response headers for Content-Encoding: gzip, indicating the content is compressed.

intermediate

What is the purpose of the gzip_min_length directive?

The gzip_min_length directive sets the minimum size of a response that will be compressed. Responses smaller than this size will not be compressed to avoid overhead.

Which nginx directive turns on Gzip compression?

A gzip on;

B gzip_enable;

C enable_gzip;

D compression on;

The correct directive to enable Gzip compression in nginx is gzip on;.

What type of content is typically compressed by Gzip in nginx?

A Images like PNG and JPEG

B Binary executable files

C Video files

D Text-based files like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Gzip compression is effective for text-based files such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, not for images or videos.

Which header indicates that the response is compressed with Gzip?

A Content-Encoding: gzip

B Content-Type: gzip

C Encoding: gzip

D Compression: gzip

The header Content-Encoding: gzip shows that the response is compressed using Gzip.

What does the gzip_min_length directive control?

A Maximum size of files to compress

B Minimum size of files to compress

C Compression level

D Timeout for compression

gzip_min_length sets the minimum size of a response to be compressed.

If you want to compress JSON responses, which directive should you configure?

A gzip_json on;

B gzip_include json;

C gzip_types application/json;

D gzip_enable json;

To compress JSON, add application/json to the gzip_types directive.

Explain how to enable and configure Gzip compression in nginx for a website.

Think about the main directives and the steps to activate compression.

Describe how you can verify that Gzip compression is working correctly on your web server.

Focus on tools and headers that show compression status.