From http://blog.donaldderek.com/2013/08/cf-i-configure-your-staging-machine-with-node-js-and-nginx/?utm_source=nodeweekly&utm_medium=email

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# Node Express Staging on Port 3000
upstream staging{
    server 127.0.0.1:3000;
}

# NGINX Server Instance
server {
    listen 0.0.0.0:80;
    server_name staging.example.com;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/staging.example.log;

    # Gzip Compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_comp_level 6;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_min_length  1000;
    gzip_proxied any;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/x-javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;
    gzip_buffers 16 8k;

    # Proxy to the Node instance
    location / {
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
      proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
      proxy_pass http://staging.example.com;
      proxy_redirect off;
    }
 }