It's a proxy or proxy server. It is software that acts to act as mediator between a client and server on the internet. Without the use of a proxy, clients can send a request or resource to the server directly, and the server would provide the resource directly to the user. While this is a simple method to grasp and implement, the addition of proxy servers can provide advantages in the form of enhanced performance as well as privacy, security and many other benefits. As a pass-through layer a proxy acts as an additional security layer on the internet between servers and clients.




The consensus is this: the mix of servers hardware and the software used to set up proxy installations is commonly referred to by the name of proxy servers. However, this article will focus on proxy servers that are typically considered to be software, and also within the context of web servers. There will be a discussion of the two principal kinds of proxy servers, which include a forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. They each have their own usage scenario, which is often confused due to the same terms.




This article will give you some knowledge about the types of proxies and what subtypes they are and how they operate in the common configurations. After reading this article, it will be able to determine the circumstances that you can gain from a proxy. You'll then decide which is the best choice between forward and reverse proxy for each circumstance.



Understanding Forward Proxies



The forward proxy, also known by the name of the open proxy is the agent of a customer who wants to make a request through the internet to an source server. In this case the entire attempt to send requests by the user will instead be transferred to the forward proxy. The forward proxy, acting on behalf of the client will scrutinize the request. The first step is to determine if the client is allowed to accept requests from this specific forward proxy. It then decides whether to deny a request or forward it to its original server. The client is not able to have direct access to the internet. It is only able to access what forward proxy allows for it to be connected to.




A popular use for forward proxy servers is to obtain greater privacy or security online. A forward proxy is able to access the internet in instead of a client and in this manner, it may make use of a different IP address than that of the client's initial IP address.




Depending on how it has been configured, the forward proxy can provide a variety of functions depending upon the way it has been configured and lets you:




Avoid tracking ads.


Circumvent surveillance.


Find restrictions that are based on the location you are in.




Forward proxies can also be used to secure systems which are centralised and have permission-based access, such as at work. All internet traffic can pass through the open forward proxy. an administrator can grant only a handful of clients connection to internet using a common firewall. Instead of establishing firewalls for the client layer which may comprise a variety of computers with different configurations and users, a firewall can be installed on top of an intermediate layer of forward proxy.




It is crucial to keep in mind that forward proxy servers must be manually set up to be used, however reverse proxies remain unnoticed by clients. Based on the fact that the IP address of a user is sent to the server that originated it from the forward proxy privacy and anonymity may be granted, or if it is left unnoticed.




There are a myriad of possibilities to look into for forward proxy options:




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


Nginx is another popular open-source web server with forward proxy capabilities.


Squid is an open-source forward proxy that utilizes the HTTP protocol. It isn't an complete Web server software. 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 more to handle peer-to-peer connections. It's also worth taking a look explore how you can set up the Dante proxy for private connections in Ubuntu 20.04



Understanding Reverse Proxies



Reverse proxy is the web server, which takes care of requests from clients in its place. Web servers can function as a one server or a number of servers. In addition, it could serve like an app server such as Gunicorn. In either of these scenarios the request comes from an internet-connected user. In most cases, the request will be directly sent to the server that contains the resources the user wants. A reverse proxy acts as an intermediary, shielding it from any direct contact with the internet's open.




From the viewpoint of the client, interfacing via reverse proxy isn't distinct from communicating with your website server direct. It's functionally identical and the user is unable to tell the difference. The client sends an request for a resource, which is followed by receiving it without any additional configuration needed by the user.




Reverse proxies can provide features such as:




Centralized security for the web server layer.


Directing traffic according to rules that you decide to define.


Additional features to cache data.




Although centralized security is a benefit of both forward and reverse proxy servers, reverse proxies offer this benefit to those who use the server layer but not the client layer. Instead of the maintenance of firewalls at the layer of web servers, which can contain multiple servers with different configurations, most of firewall security may be concentrated at the reverse proxy layer. In addition, getting rid of the responsibility of communicating with firewalls and interfacing with requests coming from clients far from web servers lets them focus on serving the resources.




If there are multiple servers operating behind a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy handles how requests are routed to which server. There could be multiple web servers offering the same service, all offering various kinds of resources or a mix of both. They may use the HTTP protocol for a traditional web server, but they could also incorporate protocols for application servers like FastCGI. You can create a reverse proxy to route clients to specific servers based on the resource they request or to observe specific rules for traffic volume.




Reverse proxies also profit from their positioning on top of web servers by offering the ability to cache data. Massive static resources can be set up by using caching rules to stop the web server from being hit with every request, with some solutions providing the option to upload static files directly without connecting to the web server even once. In addition, the reverse proxy is able to handle the compression of these assets.




The popular Nginx webserver is also a highly popular reverse proxy solution. Although Apache has a reverse proxy service but this Apache web server also has a reverse proxy functionality as an additional option to Apache and Nginx was designed originally for and focused on reverse proxy functionality.



Differentiating Forward and Reverse Proxy Use Differentiating Forward Proxy and Reverse Proxy Use



Because "forward" and "reverse" are associated with the notion of directionality, and false comparisons to "incoming" in addition to "outgoing" traffic These labels are prone to confusion because both types of proxies are able to handle requests and responses. In addition, the most effective method to distinguish between forward and reverse proxy is to examine the requirements of the app you're creating.




Reverse proxy is a crucial aspect when creating a solution for serving web-based applications via the internet. They serve as your web servers in any interaction with the internet.




Forward proxy can be useful when used in front of customers for your own use or in a work environment. They serve as the proxy for your client for any interaction on the internet.




Differentiating by use case rather than focusing solely on standard naming conventions makes it easier to avoid confusion.



Conclusion



The article explained the meaning of a proxy and the two main types being the reverse proxy and forward proxy. Practical scenarios to use them and a review of the most useful features were utilized to differentiate between forward proxies and reverse proxy. If you're keen to learn more about the advantages of proxies, then you can check out our guide on how to install Nginx as an reverse proxy and internet server with Apache in the Ubuntu 20.04 server.



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