Difference between /var/www and /srv/www in nginx

Question

Recently i installed Nginx and want to change the root directory of that but i don't know what the difference is between /var/www and /srv/www and when i should use /var/www or /srv/www ?

Answer 1

The difference is: different file structure. Different servers implement slightly different file structures.

Here is a good link that describes common file structures in Linux: Linux Directory Structure (File System Structure) Explained with Examples

From this:

/var – Variable Files

- var stands for variable files.
- Content of the files that are expected to grow can be found under this directory.
- This includes — system log files (/var/log); packages and database files (/var/lib);  
  emails (/var/mail); print queues (/var/spool); lock files (/var/lock);
  temp files needed across reboots (/var/tmp);

/srv – Service Data

- srv stands for service.
- Contains server specific services related data.
- For example, /srv/cvs contains CVS related data.

Based on that, /srv would seem more appropriate. However, the Ubuntu flavor of Linux for example does not generally use a /srv file structure and rather uses the var directory for www. So I think the key is being consistent with the OS you use.