gzip_buffers

The gzip_buffers directive specifies the number and size of buffers allocated for storing the compressed data when using gzip compression on responses sent by NGINX. This directive takes two parameters: the first specifies the number of buffers, and the second specifies the size of each buffer. For example, the configuration gzip_buffers 16 8k; indicates that 16 buffers of 8 kilobytes each will be allocated.

These buffers are used to hold compressed output before sending it to the client, and optimizing these values can significantly affect performance, especially under load. Selecting a larger buffer size could reduce the number of writes to the output, thus improving throughput at the cost of increased memory usage. Conversely, smaller buffer sizes might lead to more frequent writes but lower memory use.

It is important to note that the total size of the buffers is also determined by the total allocated memory, which may be constrained by system settings or the application's memory footprint. Misconfiguring these values may lead to inefficient memory usage or performance bottlenecks, especially when dealing with large responses or high traffic volumes.