Final answer:
To set up gzip compression, configure the .htaccess or main server configuration file for Apache, or nginx.conf for Nginx, and enable the relevant modules or directives. On the backend, use application-specific methods such as compression middleware in Node.js or ob_start('ob_gzhandler') in PHP.
Step-by-step explanation:
To setup gzip compression on the front and backend of a website, you need to configure your web server. For Apache, this can be done by modifying the .htaccess file or the main configuration file, usually httpd.conf or apache2.conf. You need to enable the mod_deflate module, which handles the gzip compression.
For Nginx, gzip settings are specified in the nginx.conf file. You have to ensure that the gzip directive is set to on, and configure gzip_types to include the MIME types of the resources you want to compress. In the backend, enabling compression can be done within your application code. For example, in Node.js, you can use the compression middleware with Express to gzip responses. In PHP, you can use ob_start('ob_gzhandler') at the beginning of your script.