A proxy often referred to as a proxy server is software that acts as an intermediary between client and a server on the internet. Without proxy servers, users can send a request for an item directly to a server and the server will deliver the resource directly to the user. While this is a simple method to grasp and implement, the addition of proxies could offer advantages in terms improved performance security, privacy, and much more. Apart from adding a layer of security, proxies act as a security safeguard for the internet between clients and servers.

There is a general consensus that the collection of server hardware along with installed proxy software is often referred to proxy servers. But, this article will be focusing on proxies which are usually classified as software and within the context of web servers. This article will give a synopsis of the two main types of proxies, which include a forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Each has its own specific usage, which can be confusing due to a similar naming convention.

This article will provide you with an idea of the proxy's purpose and what subtypes they are and how they work in the typical setups. Through in this post, you'll discover how to recognize the circumstances that are the best to utilize a proxy and choose the best option between forward proxy and reverse proxy for any scenario.

Understanding Forward Proxies

In other words, a forward proxy sometimes known as or an open proxy acts as a representative of a client who wants to send an internet request to an the server that originated it. In this situation, any request from the client's side will be routed direct through the forward proxy. Forward proxy acting on in the place of the customer will examine the request. The first step is to determine if the client is authorized to receive requests from this specific forward proxy. It then decides whether to reject an request and forward it to the server that originally received it. The client isn't able to have direct access to the internet. It is only able to access the internet that the forward proxy grants the client access.

The most popular reason to use forward proxies is to improve privacy or security when surfing the internet. A forward proxy is able to access the internet in instead of a client and in this manner it could employ a different IP address than the IP address originally used by the client.

Depending on how they've been configured in the past, forward proxy servers can provide a range of choices and permit you to:

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  Do not be a victim of ad tracking.
  
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
  
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  You can determine restrictions based upon your geographic location.
  
  

Forward proxies are also used in systems that provide central security and authorization based access, such as at work. When all traffic on the internet passes through an open forward proxy layer, administrators can restrict access to only specific clients on the internet filtered through an common firewall. Instead of having firewalls to protect the client layer, which could include a variety of machines that have different user and operating environments, the firewall can be placed in the forward proxy layer.

Be aware that forward proxy settings must be manually configured for use to use in reverse proxies, whereas forward proxies are able to be ignored by clients. Based on whether the IP address of a client is sent to the origin server through the forward proxy privacy and anonymity could be granted or not.

There are several options to take into consideration when it comes to forward proxy options:

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  Apache is a well-known open-source web server that has forward proxy capabilities.
  
  
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  Nginx: Another popular open-source webserver that has forward proxy features.
  
  
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  Squid: A free forward proxy that uses an HTTP protocol. It doesn't provide a complete internet server. Check out our step-by-step guide to install Squid proxy to permit private connections within Ubuntu 20.04.
  
  
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  Dante forward proxy, which uses using the SOCKS protocol instead of HTTP this makes it more suited to situations such as peer-topeer traffic. You can also look into the steps to install an Dante proxy to connect privately in Ubuntu 20.04
  
  

Understanding Reverse Proxies

A reverse proxy serves as a proxy for a web server that handles the incoming requests of clients. The web server may include a server or multiple servers. Also, it could serve as an application server like Gunicorn. In any of these situations, an application request comes by a user on the internet in general. In the majority of cases the request is directed directly to the web server along with the data the user is seeking. Instead, a reverse proxy acts as an intermediary, protecting Web server from any direct contact with the web's public.

From a consumer's point of perspective, which is also a user's viewpoint, interfacing via a reverse proxy identical to working with direct connections to an internet server. It's the same, but the user is unable to see the differences. The client requests the resource, and is then provided with it, with no additional configuration needed on the part of the client.

Reverse proxies provide features such as:

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  Secured centrally for Web Server Layer.
  
  
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  Controlling traffic inbound based on rules you can create.
  
  
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  The caching function was added to the application.
  
  

While centralized security is an advantage of both reverse and forward proxy servers, reverse proxy providers offer this feature to only the server layer, and it is not available to the client layer. Instead of having firewalls running on Web server layers that may contain many servers and different configurations, the bulk of the firewall security is targeted at reverse proxy layers. Furthermore, the elimination of the responsibility of interacting with firewalls as well as dealing with client requests outside of web servers permits them to concentrate on serving the requirements of their customers.

In the event that there's multiple servers being hosted by a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy is responsible for directing which requests go at the server. There may be several web servers offering the same content, offering different types of resource or a mix of both. They can use the HTTP protocol exactly the same way as a traditional web server, but they can include additional protocols for application servers such as FastCGI. It is also possible to set up reverse proxy servers to redirect the clients towards specific servers based on the resource requested or to comply with specific rules pertaining to traffic load.

Reverse proxies also can make use of their position ahead of web servers, by providing caching capabilities. Large static assets can be set up by using caching rules in order to avoid hitting web servers with every request. There are even solutions that allow users to serve static files directly without having to connect to the web server even once. Furthermore, the reverse proxy can control compression of these files.

The popular Nginx web server also functions as a well-known reverse proxy solution. Although Apache can also be a reverse proxy service, it is not a reverse proxy solution. Apache web server is also equipped complete with the reverse proxy functionality, it is an additional attribute of Apache however Nginx was designed initially to focus on the reverse proxy feature.

Differentiating Forward Proxy and Reverse Proxy Examples

Because "forward" or "reverse" are associated with directionality, as well as false comparisons with "incoming" or "outgoing" traffic the labels could be confusing as both types of proxies are able to handle requests and responses. An alternative method to differentiate between forward and reverse proxy is to examine the requirements of the program you're creating.

Reverse proxy is helpful when building an application that runs web-based services over the internet. They serve as your web servers whenever you connect to the web.

Forward proxy can be useful when it is placed before clients to use for personal reasons or in a corporate environment. They are your client's representative when you connect to the internet.

A case-based distinction instead of focusing on common naming conventions can aid in avoidance of confusion.

Conclusion

This article defined the meaning of a proxy, which includes two kinds of proxy: the forward one and reverse proxy. Practical applications and a discussion of the beneficial features were used to distinguish between forward and reverse proxies. If you're interested to learn more about how to set up proxies you can check out our guide on how to set up Nginx as an internet server and reverse proxy with Apache on the Ubuntu 20.04 server.

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