A proxy, also known as a proxy can also be referred to as a proxy server, is a program that acts to act as an intermediary for a client and server via the internet. In the absence of a proxy server, a client could send a request for any resource directly to the server, and servers would deliver the requested resource directly to the user. While this approach is straightforward to comprehend and use using proxy servers could provide advantages such as more performance, privacy and security, among others. In addition to providing a layer of security, proxies act as a security guard for the internet between servers and clients.

The consensus is that the servers that are equipped with proxy software is also often known as proxy servers. However, this article will concentrate on proxy servers that are typically categorized as software, and more specifically with respect with web server. This article will provide a brief overview of the two major types of proxies which are forward proxy and a reverse proxy. Each kind has a distinct usage, which can be confusing because of the same name convention.

This article will provide you with an idea of the different types of proxy and subtypes, and their value for the most common setups. Through this article, you'll be able to understand the situations when you may benefit by a proxy and decide on the appropriate option between reverse proxy and forward proxy depending on the circumstance.

Understanding Forward Proxies

Forward proxy also referred to as an open proxy acts as an agent for users who wish to transmit a request through the internet to an source server. In this case every request made by the client will rather be handled by this forward proxy. A forward proxy that is in place of the client will examine the request. It first will determine if the client is legally authorized to accept requests from this specific forward proxy. It will then either refuse any request, or redirect it to the source server. The client will not be allowed direct access to the internet. it is only capable of accessing the information that the forward proxy gives it access to.

One of the most common reasons for forward proxy is to provide greater privacy or security on the internet. A forward proxy accesses the internet instead of an individual client, and in the process, it could use an alternative IP address, in contrast to the IP address used by the user.

Depending on how it's been set up, and how it's set up forward proxy can provide various options and let you:

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  Beware of tracking ads.
  
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
  
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  Establish restrictions based upon your location.
  
  

Forward proxies can also be used in systems to provide central security as well as permission-based access, like at a workplace. In the event that all internet traffic flows through an open forward proxy layer, administrator can restrict access to only certain clients to the internet, which is filtered by an common firewall. Instead of putting firewalls for the client layer that could include multiple machines with different configurations and users, a firewall may be placed at the proxy layer that is in front.

Remember that forward proxies must be set up manually for use while reverse proxies could be not recognized in the eyes of the user. Depending on the type of IP address of a client is sent to the server that generated it through the forward proxy, privacy and security may be granted or made more transparent.

There are a variety of options to take into consideration for forward proxy:

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  Apache is a well-known open source web server that provides forward proxy capabilities.
  
  
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  Nginx is a popular open-source webserver which has forward proxy functionality.
  
  
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  Squid is an open forward proxy open source that uses the HTTP protocol. This option doesn't include the whole web server. It is possible to refer to our article about the best way for installing Squid proxy to permit private connections in Ubuntu 20.04.
  
  
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  Dante is a forward proxy which uses the SOCKS protocol instead of HTTP this allows it to be more suitable for scenarios like peer-to-peer communication. It is also possible to learn how to configure a Dante proxy to allow connection to private networks in Ubuntu 20.04
  
  

Understanding Reverse Proxies

Reverse proxy is a web server that handles requests from customers on behalf of the server. This server can serve as a single server or multiple servers. Additionally, it can comprise an application server, such as Gunicorn. In all of these scenarios it is possible to send a request via the web at large. In most cases, the request is sent directly to the web server, along with the resources the client requires. A reverse proxy functions as an intermediary and separates your website server from communicating with the internet's users.

From the point of viewpoint from the perspective of a client reverse proxy use is not any different than connecting directly to an internet server. It's basically the same, but the client isn't able to discern the distinction. The client requests the resource, and receives it, with no additional configuration required on the part of the client.

Reverse proxy providers offer options like:

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  A centralized layer of security to protect the server.
  
  
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  Controlling traffic inbound based on rules that you can establish.
  
  
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  A new feature for caching has been added.
  
  

While central security is a benefit of both reverse and forward proxy solutions, reverse proxies provide this feature to the server layer, not the client layer. Instead of focusing on the maintenance of firewalls on the server level that could contain multiple servers and various configurations, the majority of firewall security is concentrated on the reverse proxy layer. In addition, eliminating the responsibility of dealing with firewalls and interacting with requests from clients outside of web servers permits them to focus solely on meeting the needs of their customers.

If there are multiple servers hosting through reverse proxy, the reverse proxy also handles the routing of requests towards the servers. There could be multiple web servers serving the same resource, or serving different kinds of resources or a mixture of the two. They may utilize the HTTP protocol as a normal web server, but they may also include application server protocols such as FastCGI. You can set up reverse proxy servers to direct clients to specific servers based on the requested source, and to observe specific rules regarding traffic load.

Reverse proxies can also utilize their position prior to web servers, by providing caching capabilities. Large static assets can be set with caching rules that prevent reaching web servers every request. There are solutions that offer the possibility of serving static content directly, without having to interact with the webserver in any way. Additionally, reverse proxy can help compress these assets.

The well-known Nginx web server has become a wildly popular reverse proxy choice. Although it is true that the Apache web server is able to use the ability to reverse proxy as an added feature available to Apache but Nginx was originally designed to and focuses on reverse proxy functionality.

Differentiating Forward Proxy and Reverse Proxy Use Examples

Since "forward" as well as "reverse" are both associated with the perception of directionality, they can lead to misleading comparisons with "incoming" as well as "outgoing" traffic and could be confusing because both kinds of proxies handle requests and respond. A better approach to differentiate between reverse and forward proxy servers is to look at the requirements of the app that you are building.

Reverse proxy is a vital feature in the development of a system to support web-based applications via the internet. They function as your servers whenever you connect to the Internet.

Forward proxy can be helpful to display customers' information for your own use, or in a work environment. They are a way to display the information of your client when you connect to the internet.

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

Conclusion

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

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