Use cache to accelerate static file serving with nginx

This lets whitenoise handle the headers, and nginx serves them quickly from the cache

etc/gunicorn.conf.py

@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ max_requests = 1200
 max_requests_jitter = 50
 forwarded_allow_ips = "*"
 
-# Run an additional thread so the GIL isn't sitting completely idle
-threads = 2
+# Run additional threads so the GIL isn't sitting completely idle
+threads = 4

etc/nginx.conf

@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+proxy_cache_path /tmp/nginx_cache levels=1:2 keys_zone=nginxcache:10m max_size=150m;
+
 server {
   listen 8000;
 
   access_log /dev/stdout;
+  error_log /dev/stderr;
 
   gzip_static on;
 
@@ -12,30 +15,36 @@ server {
   more_set_headers "Server: Wouldn't you like to know";
   server_tokens off;
 
+  proxy_buffers 32 4k;
+  proxy_connect_timeout 240;
+  proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size 128;
+  proxy_headers_hash_max_size 1024;
+  proxy_http_version 1.1;
+  proxy_read_timeout 240;
+  proxy_send_timeout 240;
+
+  proxy_set_header Host $host;
+  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
+  proxy_set_header Proxy "";
+
+  proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504;
+  proxy_cache_lock on;
+  proxy_cache_valid 404 1m;
+
   location / {
-    proxy_buffers 32 4k;
-    proxy_connect_timeout 240;
-    proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size 128;
-    proxy_headers_hash_max_size 1024;
-    proxy_http_version 1.1;
-    proxy_read_timeout 240;
-    proxy_send_timeout 240;
-
-    proxy_set_header Host $host;
-    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
-    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
-    proxy_set_header Proxy "";
-
     proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
   }
 
   location /static {
-    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable, max-age=31536000";
-    alias /app/collected-static;
+    proxy_cache nginxcache;
+    add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
+    proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
   }
 
   location /media {
-    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable, max-age=3600";
-    alias /app/media;
+    proxy_cache nginxcache;
+    add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
+    proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
   }
 }

website/urls.py

@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ urlpatterns = [
     ),
     path("favicon.ico", FaviconView.as_view()),
     path("", include(favicon_urls)),
+    re_path(
+        r"^%s(?P<path>.*)$" % re.escape(settings.MEDIA_URL.lstrip("/")),
+        cache_control(max_age=60 * 60)(serve),
+        {"document_root": settings.MEDIA_ROOT},
+    ),
 ]
 
 
@@ -72,15 +77,6 @@ if settings.DEBUG:
     # Add django-debug-toolbar
     urlpatterns.append(path("__debug__/", include("debug_toolbar.urls")))
 
-    urlpatterns.append(
-        # Media is served by nginx in production
-        re_path(
-            r"^%s(?P<path>.*)$" % re.escape(settings.MEDIA_URL.lstrip("/")),
-            cache_control(max_age=60 * 60)(serve),
-            {"document_root": settings.MEDIA_ROOT},
-        )
-    )
-
 
 if settings.DEBUG or settings.TEST:
     urlpatterns.extend(