Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy

Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy Sound Quite Closer to Common Man. Here we have discussed these Two Different Communication interfaces in a Network. Practically these are from core Networking, normally we need not to know about Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy. Some adds forward and makes them Forward Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy Server to explain in easy way. Understanding in this way is flawed, because when people talk about a proxy server (or just “proxy”), more often they are not they are referring to a forward proxy server.

Web forward and reverse proxies all have the same underlying features, they accept requests for HTTP in various formats and provide a response, usually by accessing the origin server. There are many types of Proxy Servers. Forward proxies are proxies where the client server names the target server to connect to.

Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy : Understanding Proxy Server

You can read basics of Proxy and Proxy Server here. We have articles like SOCKS Protocol and Proxy. You will find more confusing terminologies like Transparent Proxy. If you understand the topics with Forward Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy Server duo Model (which often is used to explain on various internet forums), you will get more fatigued to understand more complex stuffs later.

A proxy (from Latin proximus, means Next) is a communication interface in a network. It works as a mediator who receives requests on one side, then connect to the other side via its own address. If the proxy used as a network component  (on the one hand the actual address of a communication partner remains hidden from the other) it creates a certain anonymity. As (potential) connection link took place between different networks, it can on the other hand even realize a connection between communication partners, if the addresses are incompatible with each other and a direct connection is not possible.

Technically speaking, a typical proxy works as an engaging on the communication market on the OSI layer 7. There are different types of Proxy and Forward Proxy is one type of Proxy. Forward proxies are able to retrieve from a wide range of sources (in most cases anywhere on the Internet).

Proxy Server and Reverse Proxy : Reverse Proxy is a Type of Proxy Server

Like we wrote in the article Reverse Proxying with Nginx, the reverse proxy is a proxy, where the resources for a client of one or more servers are obsolete. The address translation is performed in the opposite direction, whereby the true address of the target system is hidden from the client.

During a typical proxy can be used for multiple clients to an internal (private – self-contained) to grant access to an external power grid, a reverse proxy works the other way around. The reverse proxy can work as a firewall and offer the same functionality for port forwarding.