HTTP Graceful Shutdown | The Backend Engineering Show

In this episode, Hussein walks us through why and how to close HTTP connections gracefully—avoiding nasty surprises, fending off bad actors, and freeing up resources without dropping ongoing requests. You’ll get the lowdown on HTTP/1.1’s Connection header approach and compare the costs before diving into HTTP/2’s GOAWAY frame for a smoother teardown.

The show’s neatly timestamped chapters take you from the intro (0:00) to “Why shut down?” (4:58), into HTTP/1.1 (6:46), a look at HTTP/2’s overhead (12:26), the GoAWAY deep dive (17:40), and a wrap-up at 23:40—perfect for quick reference or binge learning.

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