It's a proxy or proxy server. It's a software that serves in the role of a intermediary between a client and server over the internet. Without a proxy, a user could send requests for or resource to the server directly, and the server would deliver the resource directly for the client. While this approach is straightforward to understand and implement, the addition of proxies could offer advantages in terms of increased performance as well as privacy, security and many more. As a layer of pass-through, a proxy serves as a security guardian of the internet between servers and clients.




There is a general consensus that the combination of server hardware as well as software to install proxy servers is usually referred to as proxy servers. However, this article will concentrate on proxy servers that are typically classified as software and also within the context of web servers. We will discuss of the two main types that are forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Every one has its unique usage scenario, which is often misunderstood because of the similar terminology.




This article will provide you with an understanding of the types of proxies and what subtypes they are and how they function in the common configurations. After reading this article, it will be able determine the situations in which you can benefit by a proxy, and select the most appropriate forward and reverse proxy in every scenario.



Understanding Forward Proxies



The forward proxy, also known by the name of the open proxy serves as the representative of a customer who wants to make a request through the internet to an source server. In this scenario, the entire attempt to send requests by the user will be transferred to the forward proxy. This forward proxy acting on behalf of the client will scrutinize the request. The first process is to determine if the client is allowed to accept requests via this particular forward proxy. It then decides whether to reject an request and forward it to its original server. The client isn't capable of having an internet connection directly. It is only able to access what forward proxy permits for it to be connected to.




A common use of forward proxies is to gain more privacy or protection on the internet. Forward proxy can be used to access the internet in instead of a client and, in this way it could make use of an alternative IP address to that of the client's initial IP address.




Depending on how it's been set up the forward proxy can provide a variety of functions depending on the configuration that allows you to:




Stay clear of tracking ads.


Circumvent surveillance.


Find restrictions based on your location.




Forward proxies are also utilized to secure systems that are centralized and based on permission access such as in a workplace. All internet traffic can pass by an open forward proxy, administrators can allow just a few users connection to internet using an ordinary firewall. Instead of creating firewalls at the layer of clients, that could include a variety of machines that have different settings and users. A firewall could be set up on top of an forward proxy layer.




It is important to remember that forward proxies must be set up manually to use, however reverse proxy servers will remain undetected by the clients. Depending on the type of IP address of a user is sent to the server from which it originated by the forward proxy privacy and anonymity could be granted, or left unnoticed.




There are many options to consider for forward proxy options:




Apache: A popular open-source web server that provides forward proxy features.


Nginx is a different well-known open-source web server that has forward proxy functions.


Squid is an open source forward proxy that utilizes the HTTP protocol. It isn't an complete website server program. Check out our guide on how to install Squid proxy for private connections on Ubuntu 20.04.


Dante Forward Proxy that utilizes the SOCKS protocol instead of HTTP which makes it better suitable for situations such as peer-to-peer communication. It is also possible to examine how you can setup the Dante proxy to connect privately in Ubuntu 20.04



Understanding Reverse Proxies



A reverse proxy serves as a webserver, which takes care of requests from clients in its place. The web server may serve as a one server or as a set of servers. It can also serve as an app server, such as Gunicorn. In either of these scenarios the request comes from a customer via the internet. The request is typically directly sent to the server that has the resources that the user wants. In contrast, a reverse proxy acts as an intermediary and shields it from direct contact with the open internet.




From the point of view of the client, interacting with reverse proxy is not distinct from communicating with your website server direct. It's essentially the same, and the user doesn't see the distinction. The client makes a request for a resource, which is followed by receiving it, without any further configuration by the user.




Reverse proxies can provide features such as:




Centralized security for the web server layer.


The sending of traffic according to rules that you define.


Additional features for caching.




Although centralized security is a benefit of both reverse and forward proxy servers. However, reverse proxy servers provide this benefit only to that layer of the internet server, but not to the layer that clients use. Instead of maintaining firewalls at the web server layer, which could contain several servers that have different configurations, the bulk of the firewall security can be concentrated at the reverse proxy layer. In addition eliminating the burden of interacting with a firewall and interacting with clients who request information from web servers allows them to concentrate on serving resources.




If there are multiple servers running behind a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy also takes care of how requests are routed to the server. There may be several web servers offering the same service, each providing different kinds of resources, or a mix of the two. They can utilize the HTTP protocol as a conventional web server, but they might also include protocols for application servers like FastCGI. You can set up a reverse proxy to route customers to specific servers depending on the resource they request or to follow certain guidelines regarding traffic load.




Reverse proxies can also benefit from their placement on top of web servers, by providing caching capabilities. The large static files can be set up using caching rules to prevent hitting web servers with each request. Certain solutions providing the option to deliver static files without having to connect to a web server even once. In addition, the reverse proxy can manage compression of these files.




The popular Nginx website server also an extremely popular reverse proxy service. Although Apache can also be a reverse proxy option however, it is not a reverse proxy solution. Apache web server has reverse proxy functions as an additional option to Apache and Nginx was originally designed for and was designed with a focus on reverse proxy capabilities.



Differentiating Forward Proxy and reverse Proxy Use Differentiating Forward Proxy and Reverse Proxy Utilization



Since "forward" along with "reverse" have connotations of directionality and false comparisons to "incoming" and "outgoing" traffic, these labels can confuse because both types of proxies deal with requests and responses. Better yet, the best method to distinguish between forward and reverse proxy is to examine the specifications of the application that you're developing.




Reverse proxy is an essential feature when you are developing a solution to serve web-based applications via the internet. They serve as your web servers during any interaction via the internet.




Forward proxy can be useful for use in front of customers for your own usage, or in a work environment. They are your client's proxy for any interaction on the internet.




The use case-based differentiation instead of focusing on the common names will help avoid confusion.



Conclusion



The article clarified the definition of a proxy with two types of proxy, the forward proxy and reverse proxy. Practical scenarios for using them as well as a discussion of most beneficial features were used to differentiate forward proxies from reverse proxy. If you're keen to learn more about the benefits of proxies then you should check out our guide on how to set up Nginx as an reverse proxy and an internet server using Apache on an Ubuntu 20.04 Server.



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