What type of server functions as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy, and HTTP cache?

NGINX is a highly versatile server that can perform multiple roles, making it an excellent choice for various server functions. As a reverse proxy, NGINX can receive client requests and forward them to backend servers, helping to improve load distribution and manage web traffic more effectively. This capability allows it to serve as a load balancer, distributing incoming requests across different servers to enhance performance and reliability.

Additionally, NGINX often acts as a mail proxy, handling email traffic for both incoming and outgoing mail, and can also cache HTTP responses, which helps in reducing the load on servers and speeding up content delivery to users. This caching function improves response times for frequently requested resources, making NGINX a crucial element in high-traffic environments.

While a web server primarily serves web content, and an application server runs applications, NGINX specifically integrates functions that go beyond traditional web and application servers, allowing for significant scalability and optimization in web architecture. An email server, on the other hand, focuses solely on handling email services, which is a more limited scope compared to the multifunctional capabilities of NGINX.