Newbe Dev Stack

Answer : You can use Python as a quick way to host static content. On Windows, there are many options for running Python, I've personally used CygWin and ActivePython. To use Python as a simple HTTP server just change your working directory to the folder with your static content and type python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000 , everything in the directory will be available at http:/localhost:8000/ Python 3 To do this with Python, 3.4.1 (and probably other versions of Python 3), use the http.server module: python -m http.server <PORT> # or possibly: python3 -m http.server <PORT> # example: python -m http.server 8080 On Windows: py -m http.server <PORT> Have a look at mongoose: single executable very small memory footprint allows multiple worker threads easy to install as service configurable with a configuration file if required The smallest one I know is lighttpd. Security, speed, compliance, and flexibility -- all of these describe ligh...

Answer : Nginx as an HTTP server cannot do memory-caching of static files or pages. Nginx is a capable and mature HTTP and proxy server. But there seems to be some confusion about its capabilities with respect to caching. Nginx server cannot memory-cache files when running as a pure Web server. And…wait what!? Let me rephrase: Nginx HTTP server cannot memory-cache files or pages. Possible Workaround The Nginx community’s answer is: no problem, let the OS do memory caching for you! The OS is written by smart people (true) and knows the what, when, where, and how of caching (a mere opinion). So, they say, cat your static files to /dev/null periodically and just trust it to cache your stuff for you! For those who are wondering and pondering, what’s the cat /dev/null reference has to do with caching? Read on to find out more (hint: don’t do it!). How does it work? It turns out that Linux is a fine-tuned beast that’s hawk-eyed about what goes in and out of its cache thingy. Th...