It's also known as an proxy or proxy server. It is a server software program which serves as an intermediary between a the server and the client via the internet. In the absence of an intermediary the user can send a request or resource to the server directly, and the server would then serve any requested resources directly to user. Although this is a simple process to understand and apply using proxy servers, it does offer advantages such as greater performance, privacy, security, and more. As a pass-through layer the proxy serves as a intermediary between the servers and clients.




In general, the combination of server hardware and the software used to set up proxy installations is often referred in the context of proxy servers. In this article, we'll examine proxies commonly referred to as software, as well as the ones used to complement web servers. You will get a breakdown of two kinds of proxies: a forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Each kind of proxy has its own specific usage scenario, which is often misunderstood due the naming conventions that are similar.




This article will provide you with some understanding about what proxy servers and their subtypes are as well as what they can do for common setups. Through this article, you can identify the scenarios in which an effective proxy could be advantageous, and then choose the correct solution in between reverse and forward proxy for any particular scenario.



Understanding Forward Proxies



In other words forward proxy, also known as an open proxy is the client's representative who is trying to transmit requests via the internet to a server that originated. In this case, all request to send it from the client will be handled by the forward proxy. In this case, this forward-proxy acting place of the client will examine the request. It is the first thing to establish what authorization the user has to make requests via this particular forward proxy. It will then reject this request, and then transfer it over to the server that originally sent it. The client isn't able to establish a direct connection to the internet; it can only reach what forward proxy grants the client access.




A very common uses for forward proxies is greater privacy or anonymity online. Forward proxy can be used to connect to the internet place of a client and could use an alternate IP address in place of the IP address that was originally assigned to the client.




Depending on how they were set up in the past, forward proxy servers can provide a variety of functions and allow you to:




Avoid ad tracking.


Circumvent surveillance.


You can identify limitations based on your location.




Forward proxies are also used to secure systems that are centralized and permission based access, such as in a workplace. If all internet traffic flows through an open forward proxy, an administrator is able to allow access only to specific individuals to access the web, and this is filtered by an common firewall. Instead of keeping firewalls in place for the client layer, that could be comprised of a variety of computers with different user and environment, a firewall can be placed in an forward proxy layer.




Be aware that forward proxy servers have to be manually configured for use, but reverse proxies are ignored in the eyes of the customer. Based on whether the address IP of a customer is transmitted to the origin server via this forward proxy, security and security could be granted or ignored.




There are a variety of options to investigate for forward proxies:




Apache is a well-known open source web server that provides forward proxy capabilities.


Nginx: Another well-known open-source server used for web hosting that has forward proxy functions.


Squid is an open source forward proxy that uses an HTTP protocol. This does not include the entire web server. We have a tutorial on how you can set up Squid proxy to allow private connections in Ubuntu 20.04.


Dante Forward Proxy that utilizes the SOCKS protocol instead of HTTP, making it more appropriate for scenarios like peer-to-peer connections. It is also possible to examine how you can create a Dante proxy to connect privately using Ubuntu 20.04



Understanding Reverse Proxies



Reverse proxy is an agent on behalf of web servers, which handles incoming requests by clients on behalf of. The web server could comprise one server or a number of servers. It could also serve in the role of an application server such as Gunicorn. In any of these situations it is possible to get a request from a client on the internet. The majority of the time it will be routed directly to the server that hosts the services the customer requires. Reverse proxy acts as an intermediary, separating Web servers from direct interaction with the open internet.




From a user's perspective, which is a user's viewpoint connecting to reverse proxy isn't different from connecting to your webserver directly. It's the same thing but the client isn't able to discern the difference. The client requests an item and is given it without any additional configuration needed to be performed by the customer.




Reverse proxy proxies may offer some features, including:




A central layer of security to protect the server.


Controlling traffic inbound based on rules that you set up.


A new feature for caching has been added.




Central security is an advantage of both reverse and forward proxy services, reverse proxy providers provide this benefit to the level of an internet server, rather than clients. instead of the maintenance of firewalls in the layer of web servers that may contain multiple servers with various configurations, the bulk of firewall security could be directed at the reverse proxy layer. In addition, the absence to interface with firewalls and also interacting with clients' requests through web servers lets them concentrate solely on meeting the needs of their customers.




If multiple servers are using a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy also handles the way requests are routed to which server. Many web servers may be offering the same content but each serving different types of resources, or some combination of both. They may be using the HTTP protocol like a traditional web server, however they may include applications server protocols such as FastCGI. You can also configure a reverse proxy to redirect the clients towards specific servers based on the resource requested or to follow certain rules for traffic load.




Reverse proxies also can benefit from their positioning on top of web servers by providing caching functionality. Large static files may be managed by using caching rules that prevent the server from getting hit every time a request is made and some solutions even offer the option of providing static files directly, without involving the server at all. In addition, the reverse proxy could handle the compressing these assets.




The well-known Nginx webserver is a wildly popular reverse proxy option. Although the Apache website server also equipped with reverse proxy functionality, it is an additional option for Apache and is in contrast to Nginx was initially designed for and focused on reverse proxy functionality.



Distinguishing Forward Proxy from reverse Proxy Use Cases



Because "forward" along with "reverse" are associated with an impression of directionality and a false comparison with "incoming" or "outgoing" traffic These labels are confusing because both types of proxies handle both responses and requests. The best way to differentiate between forward and reverse proxy services is to think about the needs of the application you're developing.




A reverse proxy is useful in designing a solution that can provide web-based applications on the internet. They represent your web servers in all interactions with the internet.




Forward proxy can be useful when it is placed on the internet in front of traffic from clients to your personal use, or in a work environment. They represent the traffic of your clients every time you connect to the internet.




The use case distinction instead of focusing on the common naming conventions will help you in eliminating confusion.



Conclusion



This article describes what a proxy is, with the two major kinds being forward proxy and reverse proxy. Application scenarios that are practical as well as an examination of useful characteristics were used to establish forward proxies and reverse proxies. If you're interested to learn more about how to implement proxy servers, check out our tutorial on how to install Nginx as a web server and reverse proxy on Apache using one Ubuntu 20.04 server.



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