my basic configuration file for nginx source: http://calendar.perfplanet.com/2012/using-nginx-php-fpmapc-and-varnish-to-make-wordpress-websites-fly/

nginx.conf

user www-data;
worker_processes 2;
pid /run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections 768;
    multi_accept on;
}

http {
    # Let NGINX get the real client IP for its access logs
    set_real_ip_from 127.0.0.1;
    real_ip_header X-Forwarded-For;

    ##
    # Basic Settings
    ##

    sendfile on;
    tcp_nopush on;
    tcp_nodelay on;
    keepalive_timeout 20;
    client_max_body_size 15m;
    client_body_timeout 60;
    client_header_timeout 60;
    client_body_buffer_size  1K;
    client_header_buffer_size 1k;
    large_client_header_buffers 4 8k;
    send_timeout 60;
    reset_timedout_connection on;
    types_hash_max_size 2048;
    server_tokens off;
    # server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;
    # server_name_in_redirect off;

    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type application/octet-stream;

    ##
    # Logging Settings
    ##
    access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;


    # Log Format

    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
    '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

    ##
    # Gzip Settings
    ##

    gzip on;
    gzip_static on;
    gzip_disable "msie6";
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_proxied any;
    gzip_comp_level 6;
    gzip_min_length 512;
    gzip_buffers 16 8k;
    gzip_http_version 1.1;
    gzip_types text/css text/javascript text/xml text/plain text/x-component.
    application/javascript application/x-javascript application/json.
    application/xml  application/rss+xml font/truetype application/x-font-ttf.
    font/opentype application/vnd.ms-fontobject image/svg+xml;

    # gzip_vary on;
    # gzip_proxied any;
    # gzip_comp_level 6;
    # gzip_buffers 16 8k;
    # gzip_http_version 1.1;
    # gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/x-javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;

    ##
    # nginx-naxsi config
    ##
    # Uncomment it if you installed nginx-naxsi
    ##

    #include /etc/nginx/naxsi_core.rules;

    ##
    # Virtual Host Configs
    ##

    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}