TLS and Security

How Nginx, Apache, Caddy, HAProxy, Traefik, IIS, Node.js, Envoy, LiteSpeed, and Tomcat handle TLS termination and security features.

Nginx

Terminates TLS efficiently via OpenSSL, supporting modern protocols, OCSP stapling, and session resumption, but certificate acquisition/renewal (e.g., Let’s Encrypt) is handled externally via tools like Certbot rather than natively. Security hardening (headers, rate limiting, ModSecurity via a module) is achievable but must be configured explicitly.

Apache HTTP Server

TLS is handled by mod_ssl on top of OpenSSL, with broad protocol and cipher configurability, and certificate renewal typically managed externally (e.g., Certbot’s Apache plugin). Security modules like mod_security (WAF) and mod_evasive are mature and widely deployed alongside it.

Caddy

Automatic HTTPS is a headline feature: Caddy provisions and renews certificates from Let’s Encrypt/ZeroSSL by default with zero configuration, including OCSP stapling and modern TLS defaults out of the box. This removes a whole class of manual certificate-management errors compared to most other servers.

HAProxy

Terminates TLS via OpenSSL with fine-grained control over ciphers, protocol versions, and SNI-based certificate selection, and supports client certificate verification for mutual TLS. Certificate provisioning/renewal is external, but HAProxy is frequently used as the mTLS termination point in security-sensitive architectures.

Traefik

Also provides automatic HTTPS via ACME (Let’s Encrypt) with certificate resolvers configured declaratively, similar in spirit to Caddy, making it well suited to dynamic container/orchestrator environments. It also supports middleware for security headers, rate limiting, and mutual TLS between services.

IIS

TLS is managed through Windows’ certificate store and Server Certificates feature in IIS Manager, integrating with Windows-native tooling (and Central Certificate Store for server farms) rather than an ACME-first workflow, though ACME clients/extensions exist. Security integrates tightly with Windows features like Windows Authentication and URL Authorization.

Node.js

TLS termination can be done directly in application code via the built-in tls/https modules, but in production it’s most often delegated to a reverse proxy (Nginx, a cloud load balancer) that terminates TLS in front of the Node process. Security is otherwise the application’s responsibility, managed through middleware (e.g., helmet) and dependency hygiene.

Envoy

Provides strong native TLS support including mutual TLS, SNI, and dynamic certificate rotation via SDS (Secret Discovery Service), which is central to its role as the security-enforcing sidecar in service meshes. This makes Envoy well suited for zero-trust, mTLS-everywhere network architectures.

LiteSpeed

Supports modern TLS (including QUIC/HTTP/3) with built-in Let’s Encrypt integration for automatic certificate issuance and renewal through its admin console. It also includes a built-in anti-DDoS layer and WAF-like security features aimed at protecting web applications directly at the server level.

Tomcat

TLS can be configured directly on a Tomcat Connector using a keystore/JSSE (or OpenSSL via APR), though in production it’s commonly terminated upstream by Apache/Nginx and proxied to Tomcat over plain HTTP/AJP. Application-level security (authentication, authorization, realms) is handled through the Java Servlet security model.