It is proxy is proxy is also referred to as a proxy server is software that acts in the middle between a client and server over the internet. Without proxy, a user would make a request an item directly to a server, and it would serve that resource to its user directly. Although this method is easy to understand and implement but the addition of proxies can provide benefits in terms of greater performance, privacy, security, and more. As an additional layer of being able to pass between, it acts as a security guard for the internet, separating clients and servers.

The majority of people agree that the combination of server hardware and installed proxy software is often referred too as proxy servers. In this article, we will focus on proxies typically described as software, as well as those employed in conjunction to web server. This article will provide the full description of two types of proxies such as the forward proxy and one called a reverse proxy. Each type comes with its own specific use case, often confused because of the same name convention.

This article will provide some understanding about what proxy services are, and their subtypes, and the ways in which they can be beneficial for common setups. After reading this article you'll be able identify the circumstances in which a proxy is beneficial, and decide on the most appropriate forward proxy or reverse proxy in any given situation.

Understanding Forward Proxies

The forward proxy, also known in the form of the open proxy is the representative of a user who attempts to transmit an internet request to an origin server. In this case, it's the situation that all requests coming from the client will rather be directed to the forward proxy. In this scenario the forward proxy, in lieu of the client, will examine the request. At the beginning, it decides if the client is permitted to transmit requests through this specific forward proxy. It will then decide whether to deny this request and send it back to its original server. It's not able directly connect to the internet. It can only access what the forward proxy allows it to access.

A common reason for using forward proxy is to achieve more privacy or protection online. Forward proxy utilizes the internet as a separate client, and during this process, it can make use of a different IP address contrast to the IP address that is used by the client.

Depending on how it's been set up in the past, forward proxy servers can provide a range of options, allowing you to:

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  Stay clear of tracking ads.
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
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  Determine restrictions based on location of residence.
  
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Forward proxies are also employed in systems to provide central security and permit-based access, such as at work. In the event that all internet traffic passes through an open forward proxy layer an administrator is able to grant only a few clients access to the internet, which is filtered by a common firewall. Instead of ensuring firewalls are in place for the client layer which could include multiple computers that are different in terms of user and environment the firewall could be installed at the layer which is responsible for forwarding proxy data.

Keep in mind that forward proxy servers have to be set up manually for use, whereas reverse proxies are often ignored by clients. Depending on whether clients' IP addresses are transmitted to the server that originated it via the forward proxy Privacy and anonymity could be made more transparent.

There are many possibilities to consider in the case of forward proxies:

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  Apache A well-known, open-source web server that provides forward proxy capabilities.
  
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  Nginx: Another renowned open-source web server that has forward proxy features.
  
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  Squid is an open source forward proxy that utilizes it's HTTP protocol. It does not include an entire web server service. Check out our article on the most efficient method to set up Squid proxy to allow secure connections on Ubuntu 20.04.
  
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  Dante forward proxy that utilizes the SOCKS protocol rather than HTTP, making it more suitable for scenarios like peer-to-peer communication. You might also want to learn how to setup a Dante proxy to allow private connections in Ubuntu 20.04
  
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Understanding Reverse Proxies

Reverse proxy acts as a representative of a web server which manages requests from customers on behalf of. The web server may represent a single or several servers. Additionally, it could serve as an app server, such as Gunicorn. For any one of these cases, the request may come from a client through the internet at large. In most cases the request is delivered directly to the server along with the data the user wants. Reverse proxy, however, acts as an intermediary, and blocks your server from interactions with the open internet.

From the perspective of a customer from the perspective of a customer, using a reverse proxy is not different than communicating with the webserver in direct communication. It's basically the same and the client can't tell the difference. The client requests a resource which is followed by receiving it, without any additional configurations required for the end user.

Reverse proxy proxies are able to provide features, like:

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  Centrally secured for Web Server Layer.
  
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  Directing traffic according to rules that you can set up.
  
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  Additional functionality to cache data.
  
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Although central security is a benefit of both reverse and forward proxy service, reverse proxies give this benefit only to the server layer, not to the client layer. Instead of the need to maintain firewalls on the web server layer that may contain multiple servers with different configurations, the majority of firewall security is concentrated on the reverse proxy layer. Additionally, getting rid of the necessity of interfacing with firewalls and connecting with requests from clients who aren't connected to web servers allows firewalls to focus on meeting the needs of their clients.

If there are multiple servers connected to a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy is also in charge of the way requests are handled on the server. Multiple web servers may be operating from the exact same computer, serving different kinds of resources or a mix of both. These servers can use the HTTP protocol as a conventional web server. They can include applications server protocols such as FastCGI. You can set up reverse proxy that directs clients to specific servers based on the type of resource they're looking for, or to comply with certain rules regarding traffic load.

Reverse proxies can also benefit from their positioning before web servers by delivering the capacity of caching. Large static assets are able to be configured with caching policies to avoid the web server from being hit on every request, with certain solutions offering the possibility to directly serve static resources without connecting to the internet server for even one time. Additionally reverse proxy can be able to handle compression of these assets.

The famous Nginx web server also functions as known as a reverse proxy feature. You can also use it, Apache web server is also equipped with a reverse proxy features however, it's a separate feature available only for Apache while Nginx was initially designed for and specifically designed for the reverse proxy function.

Differentiating Forward and reverse proxy Utilizing Differentiation of Forward Proxy and Reverse Use

Because "forward" and "reverse" have connotations of directionality, and false connections to "incoming" in addition to "outgoing" traffic These labels are confusing because both kinds of proxies can be used to manage requests and responses. A better approach to distinguish between reverse and forward proxies is to examine the specifications of the application you're creating.

A reverse proxy can be beneficial in the development of a system to deliver web-based applications on the internet. They act as your servers during any interaction with the internet.

Forward proxy can be helpful when you are before a client for personal use or in a workplace setting. They are a representation of your traffic when you interact with the internet.

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

Conclusion

This article explains the definition of a proxy that includes two major types of proxy: the forward one and the reverse proxy. Practical scenarios for application and a review of the beneficial features was utilized to distinguish forward proxies and reverse proxies. If you're interested in learning more about the possibilities of proxy services, then you can check out our tutorial on how to configure Nginx as reverse proxy and webserver proxy using Apache on an Ubuntu 20.04 server.

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