It is a proxy is often referred to as an application for a proxy server that serves in the role of an intermediary two parties: a server and a user via the internet. Without the proxy, the client could send a request a request directly to the server and the server would deliver the resource directly back to the client. This is not difficult to understand and implement, however it is possible that the use of proxy servers could provide advantages such as improved security, performance, privacy, and so on. As a further layer of pass-through proxy servers serve as a security layer for the internet between clients and servers.

In general the case of server hardware and installed proxy software is also often called a proxy server. This article we'll focus on proxies typically considered to be software, specifically in relation to servers on the internet. The article will provide a detailed discussion of the two main types of proxies: a forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Each has its own specific usage scenario, but they can be confused due to a similar namesake convention.

This article will provide you with an understanding of what proxies and subtypes of them are, as well as how they are useful for common setups. In this article, you'll understand how to recognize the situations where you could benefit from a proxy, and pick the best choice between forward and reverse proxy in each situation.

Understanding Forward Proxies

The forward proxy often referred to as the open proxy is an agent for the user trying to send a request via the internet to a source server. In this case any attempts to send requests from the client will instead be sent through an forward proxy. In this situation, the forward proxy acting in the place of the client will look into the request. The first step is to check if the client is able to submit requests via this particular forward proxy. The forward proxy will then deny any request, or send it to the original server. The client has no access to internet in any way, it can only access what the forward proxy allows it access to.

The primary reason for people to utilize forward proxy is the need for increased privacy or anonymity online. Forward proxy utilizes the internet as a client and during this process, it uses an alternative IP address in addition to the IP address of your client.

Depending on how it's been established in the past forward proxy servers could offer a range of features, allowing you to:

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  Avoid ad tracking.
  
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
  
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  Find restrictions based on the geolocation of your home.
  
  

Forward proxies can also be employed in systems that provide central security and permission-based access like in workplaces. If all internet traffic goes via an open forward proxy, the administrators can permit only a few clients access to the internet via an common firewall. Instead of establishing firewalls for the client layer that could comprise a variety of machines with different settings and users, a firewall can be installed at an forward proxy layer.

Be aware the forward proxy configurations have to be manually setup prior to their use in order to be used and reverse proxies are able to not be observed by the user. Based on the type of IP address of a user is relayed to the server where it originated through the forward proxy privacy and anonymity could be granted, or unnoticed.

There are many possibilities to consider for forward proxy options:

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  Apache The Apache is a popular open-source web server that provides forward proxy features.
  
  
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  Nginx: Another well-known open-source server for web hosting that has the ability to forward-proxy.
  
  
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  Squid is an open source forward proxy that uses the HTTP protocol. It's not the entire webserver system. It is possible to refer to our guide on how you can create Squid proxy for private connections on Ubuntu 20.04.
  
  
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  Dante forward proxy that runs using the SOCKS protocol rather than HTTP which makes it more suitable for situations such as peer-to-peer communication. You can also look into how to set up an Dante proxy that allows private connections in Ubuntu 20.04
  
  

Understanding Reverse Proxies

Reverse proxy acts as an intermediary between the web server, and takes the care of requests coming in from clients for the benefit of. This web server may serve as a single server or multiple servers. It could also be an application-server like Gunicorn. In either case the request will be made by a client via the internet generally. In most cases, the request will be sent directly to the webserver that has all the resources that the client is seeks. A reverse proxy is a intermediary that shields the webserver from direct communication with the internet.

From a perspective of the client's view of the user reverse proxy use is not different from interacting with the server in its own. It's basically identical, however the client is unable to tell the difference. The client requests a resource, and then receives it without any extra configuration needed by the client.

Reverse proxy providers provide features like:

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  The web server is protected centrally.
  
  
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  The direction of traffic coming in is by rules that you set up.
  
  
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  The caching feature is now available to users.
  
  

Although centralized security is an advantage of both forward and reverse proxy systems, reverse proxy providers apply this feature to this web server layer, and not to the client layer. Instead of having firewalls on Web server layers that could include many servers and different configurations, the majority of firewall security can be concentrated at the reverse proxy layer. In addition, getting rid of the responsibility of interacting with firewalls and interacting with requests from clients outside of web servers allows firewalls to concentrate on providing the necessary resources.

If there are multiple servers that are operating as a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy also determines the method by which requests are routed to which server. A number of web servers could be running on one server each offering different types of resource or a mixture of the two. These servers use the HTTP protocol just like a standard web server, but they can additionally include application server protocols such as FastCGI. You can configure a reverse proxy to route users to particular servers according to the kind of resource they are seeking, or to observe certain guidelines regarding the load of traffic.

Reverse proxies benefit from their position over web servers through the capability of caching. Large static assets can be arranged with caching rules in order to avoid hitting web servers with each request. Certain options allow users to serve directly static assets, without connecting directly to web servers at all. Furthermore, the reverse proxy can be able to compress these assets.

The well-known Nginx web server is a popular reverse proxy solution. While it's true that the Apache webserver is equipped with reverse proxy features but it's a option that's available to Apache however Nginx was designed originally for and is specifically designed for reverse proxy functions.

Differentiating Forward and Reverse Proxy Utilizing Distinguishing Forward and Reverse Proxy Use

Since "forward" along with "reverse" have connotations of directionality as well as misleading comparisons to "incoming" and "outgoing" traffic, these labels can confuse since both types of proxy respond to requests and receive responses. Better yet, the best method to differentiate between reverse and forward proxy is to look at the requirements of the application that you're working on.

Reverse proxy is a useful tool to use when designing a solution to deliver applications on the web via the internet. They represent your web servers whenever you interact on the web.

Forward proxy is a great tool for showing clients to show to use for personal purposes, or in a work environment. They represent the client's information whenever you interact on the internet.

The practice of separating by use case rather than focussing on similar name conventions will ensure you won't be confused.

Conclusion

This article explains what a proxy is and compares the two major types that are forward proxy and reverse proxy. Examples of how to use them and a discussion of most useful attributes were used to determine the distinction between forward and reverse proxy. If you're interested in exploring the possibilities of proxy servers, you must read our guide on how to configure Nginx as a reverse proxy to Apache on an Ubuntu 20.04 server.

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