Summary
Proxy: Protects and controls the user by controlling the user’s requests to the internet.
Reverse Proxy: Protects and optimizes the server by redirecting requests from the Internet to the server.
Proxy Server
A proxy server is an intermediary server placed between the client and the server. As in the image below, a client forwards the request to the Proxy, the proxy forwards the request to the server and forwards the incoming response to the client.
Proxy prevents client and server from communicating directly, thus providing security and access control.
Example: When a company employee wants to search for something on the web, the request goes directly to the company’s proxy server, not to the target website. The proxy server evaluates the request, filters it according to certain rules, and sends the request to the target website. It transmits the response from the target website to the client. In this way, the company controls which websites employees can access.
Reverse Proxy Server
Reverse proxy represents its name as its working principle. It is an intermediary between clients and one or more servers. When a request comes from a client, it determines to which server on the network it will be directed.
Example: Imagine a website has many servers behind it. When users visit this site and make a request, these requests reach the Reverse Proxy first, and Reverse Proxy directs them to whichever server will respond best to this request.
Real World Examples
Privacy and Anonymity: Many people today use anonymous proxy servers to keep their identities private or bypass geo-blocks on the internet. These proxies provide anonymity by hiding the real IP address of the user.
Internet Access Control: Internet access in schools and workplaces can be done with a proxy server. You can forward requests from the browser to another server with a proxy.
Content Filtering: With the proxy, unwanted content can be filtered, so families can provide safe access to the internet for their children.
Firewall: We can think of a firewall as a reverse proxy that monitors and filters all traffic on the network. Because the firewall analyzes incoming requests and blocks harmful content.
Caching: Think of a news site, tens of thousands of requests can be made to the home page every minute. This news site may be cached with a reverse proxy to quickly deliver frequently requested content. A reverse proxy can cache this page and serve it faster instead of fetching it from the server each time.
SSL Encryption: Websites use SSL/TLS encryption to enable users to establish a secure connection. Reverse proxy can manage this encryption, thus saving servers from overhead.
Also, to better understand the proxy concept, it is useful to know what the following terms are for:
VPN (Virtual Private Network),
IP Address,
port,
DNS (Domain Name System),
Firewall,
NAT (Network Address Translation),
Bandwidth,
Latency,
SSL/ TLS,
Authentication,
Authorization,
Load Balancing
Thank you for reading this article, see you in the next article. ✌️
