Any kind of requests through the internet or local can be handled in many efficient ways. Basically, a Reverse Proxy Server is an intermediate proxy server that runs behind a private network firewall. It establishes the connection between the client and the server smoothly with the help of Reverse Proxy.
Without any difficult words, Let’s understand step by step. So, Let’s dive right in!
Topics Are Explained :
- The meaning of Proxy
- How many types of Proxies are there?
- What is a Reverse Proxy?
- What is a Proxy Server?
- How Reverse Proxy Servers work?
The meaning of Proxy
First, we need to understand what is the meaning of proxy in our technology world. Nothing special from the English meaning of the word “proxy“.
In short, a Proxy is, giving the full authority of connections to a layer of intermediate control instead of directly to the receivers. All the connection requests should go through this controlled medium before reaching its destination.
Again difficult words? Don’t worry, It will be more clear in a min. Read on…
How many types of Proxies are there?
In general, there are two types of proxies:
- A Forward Proxy
- A Reverse Proxy
Forward Proxy
Forward Proxy is a type of proxy which sits in front of the client’s device. Basically, when a client device requests to the internet it goes through forwarding proxy middleware before hits the requested web server.
Now, Why bother about Proxy Servers?
A Proxy Server does many other things along with handling the request.
Such as:
- Hardening Web Security
- Network Performance
- Identity Protection
A Proxy Server includes “Forward Proxy” or “Reverse Proxy” functionality to handle incoming and outgoing requests between clients and web servers.
How Reverse Proxy Servers Work?
First and foremost, we need to understand the design of a Reverse Proxy Server. In Reverse Proxy Server, the proxy typically sits behind a firewall in a private network. Then, it directs the client requests to the pre-configured appropriate web servers. In this case, a Reverse Proxy adds an additional abstraction layer to control every aspect of a request. It also ensures a smooth flow of requests between clients and servers.
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For example, some popular practices to implement reverse proxy servers is to use Cloudflare or NGINX.
Some Common Benefits of Reverse Proxy Server:
- Accelerated Web Requests – A reverse proxy can implement functions to compress inbound and outbound data. Thus, it reduces the workload for clients and servers. In addition, it can cache the requested data when needed. So, it can greatly increase the speed of traffic flow. There are many features it can give to boost traffic performance.
- Load Balancing – A popular term for highly available web servers. As a reverse proxy sits in front of a web server, it has the control of requests. Therefore, it can direct the incoming requests across multiple servers according to server definition, server capacity, and network utilization. That is simply called load balancing. It ensures server high availability and high performance by reducing server load efficiently.
- Security & Privacy – Firstly, a reverse proxy server protects the backend web server’s identification (ex: IP Addresses) from potential attackers. It reduces the chance of targeted attacks such as DDoS attacks. Moreover, it can perform additional security tasks such as SSL Encryption to take a load off of the origin web server.
To conclude, A Reverse Proxy Server is commonly used in modern web architectures due to its rewarding benefits. It is a hot topic on the internet from the beginning of its invention. Every web server should have a Reverse Proxy Server as a gateway to boost their web performance and security enhancements.
How to implement reverse proxy? – Coming Soon!
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