A proxy, also known as a proxy is also known for its role as a proxy, is software that acts as an intermediary between a client and server over the internet. In the absence of a proxy server, a user would send a request for anything directly to the server, and servers would deliver the requested resource directly to the user. This is a simple method to comprehend and use the addition of proxy servers may provide benefits like increased speed, privacy and security, among others. In addition to providing a layer of security, proxies act as a security guard for the internet, separating clients from servers.

There is a general consensus that the server hardware coupled with installed proxy software is also often referred as proxy servers. But, this article will concentrate on proxies that are traditionally referred to as software, specifically with respect with web server. We will give a synopsis of the two major types of proxy: a forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Each kind has a distinct use, and can be confusing due to the same namestamp.

This article will give you an understanding of different types of proxy and subtypes are, as well as their importance for common setups. By reading this article you'll understand the situations when you may benefit from a proxy, and make the right alternative between reverse proxy or forward proxy depending on the scenario.

Understanding Forward Proxies

Forward proxy also referred to as an open proxy serves as an agent for users who wish to make a request over the internet to a source server. In this case every attempt to send requests made by the client will be sent through this forward proxy. A forward proxy in the place of the client will review the request. It will first determine whether the client is legally authorized to accept requests from this specific forward proxy. It will then either reject the request or forward it to the server from which it originated. The client will not be capable of having direct access to the internet. it is only capable of accessing the information that forward proxy grants it access to.

A very frequent uses for forward proxies is greater security or privacy on the internet. A forward proxy accesses the internet in lieu of a specific client and during that process it may use a different IP address, in contrast to the original IP address of the user.

Depending on how it's been set up, and how it's configured forward proxy could provide a range of options and let you:

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  Beware of tracking ads.
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
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  Find restrictions based on the your location.
  
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Forward proxies are also employed in systems to offer central security and permission based access, such as at a workplace. If all internet traffic passes through a common forward proxy layer an administrator is able to restrict access to only certain clients to the internet. The web is blocked by a common firewall. Instead of having firewalls in place for the client layer which may involve many machines with varying user configurations, firewalls could be placed at on the proxy layer that is in front.

Remember that forward proxies must be set up manually for be used, while reverse proxies can be disregarded in the eyes of the user. Based on the type of IP address of a client is sent to the server that originated it via the forward proxy security and privacy can be made clear.

There are a myriad of possibilities to consider for forward proxy:

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  Apache is an well-known open-source web server which provides forward proxy capability.
  
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  Nginx is another well-known open-source webserver, which comes with forward proxy capabilities.
  
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  Squid: An open source forward proxy that makes use of the HTTP protocol. The option does not include the whole web server. It is possible to refer to our article on how for installing Squid proxy to enable private connections in Ubuntu 20.04.
  
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  Dante is a forward proxy which uses the SOCKS protocol instead of HTTP this makes it more suitable for scenarios such as peer-to-peer communication. You can also learn how to set up the Dante proxy for connection to private networks in Ubuntu 20.04
  
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Understanding Reverse Proxies

Reverse proxy acts as the web server, which takes care of the requests of customers on behalf of the server. It can be used as a one server, or a number of servers. It could also contain an application server such as Gunicorn. In any of these instances it is possible to send a request via the web in general. Most of the time the request will be sent directly to the server, along with the resources the user requires. Reverse proxy acts as an intermediary and separates your website server from communicating with the internet's users.

From a consumer's point of viewpoint from the perspective of a client, using reverse proxy is not different from connecting to an internet server direct. It's functionally identical, however the client isn't able to discern the difference. The client makes a request for the resource and receives it, with no additional configuration required on the part of the client.

Reverse proxies provide options like:

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  A central layer of security that protects the server.
  
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  Controlling traffic inbound according to rules you can set up.
  
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  A new feature for caching is now available.
  
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While central security is a benefit of both reverse and forward proxy solutions, reverse proxies give this feature to the server layer and not the client layer. In lieu of maintaining firewalls at the server level which might contain many servers with different configurations, the majority of firewall security is focused at the reverse proxy layer. Additionally, removing the burden of interacting with firewalls as well as interacting with requests from clients that are not on web servers allows them to concentrate solely on delivering the requirements of their clients.

If there are multiple servers hosted by a reverse proxy it also handles the routing of requests towards the servers. Multiple servers may be operating on the same server, or serving different kinds of resources or a combination of both. They may use their HTTP protocol as a standard web server, however they can additionally include protocols for application servers like FastCGI. You can set up reverse proxy servers to direct clients to particular servers according to the requested source, and to observe specific rules regarding traffic load.

Reverse proxies may also utilize their position before web servers by providing the ability to cache. Large static assets can be set by caching rules to avoid from reaching web servers with each time a request is made. There are solutions that offer the possibility of serving static content without needing to connect with the webserver at all. Additionally, reverse proxy can handle compressing these assets.

The renowned Nginx webserver is known as a wildly popular reverse proxy choice. While it is true that it is true that the Apache web server has a reverse proxy capabilities as an added feature for Apache however Nginx was initially designed and focuses on the reverse proxy feature.

Differentiating Forward Proxy and reverse Proxy Use Examples

Since "forward" and "reverse" are associated with a sense of directionality and misleading comparisons with "incoming" as well as "outgoing" traffic can be confusing since both kinds of proxy servers process requests and response. A better approach to distinguish between forward and reverse proxy servers would be to study the requirements of the app you're creating.

Reverse proxy is a crucial element in the creation of a solution to serve web-based applications via the internet. They function as your servers when you interact with the Internet.

Forward proxy can be helpful to display customers' information to your personal use or even in a workplace. They represent the client's information whenever you interact on the internet.

A distinction based upon use cases instead of focusing on similar naming conventions can help avoid confusion.

Conclusion

In this article, we clarified the definition of a proxy with two types of them being the forward and the reverse proxy. Practical applications as well as an exploration of beneficial attributes were used to identify forward proxies and reverse proxy. If you're interested in the role of proxy servers, you can follow our tutorial on how you can configure Nginx as web server as well as reverse proxy on Apache in the Ubuntu 20.04 server.

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