Hosting: Kestrel, IIS, reverse proxy scenarios?

Short answer: Kestrel is the default cross-platform web server for ASP.NET Core, lightweight and fast. IIS acts as a reverse proxy on Windows, forwarding requests to Kestrel. Reverse proxies improve security, manage SSL, handle load balancing. On Linux, Nginx or Apache often act as reverse proxies to Kestrel.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

A ShopNest checkout request flows through middleware, hits a minimal API or controller, uses scoped services, and returns ProblemDetails on errors.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.