Forward proxy and Reserve proxy

1. Overview

Let's distribute forward and reverse proxy used in Nginx and Apache.

 

2. Forward Proxy

Acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some services, such as files, connection, web page, or other resources available from a different server and the proxy server evaluates the request as a way to simplify and control its complexity.

 

2.1 Usages

2.1.1 Monitoring and filtering

• User authentication
• Producing logs either to give detailed information about the URLs accessed by specific uses, or to monitor bandwidth usage statistics
• Providing security using daemon-based and/or ICAP-based antivirus software against virus and other malware by scanning incoming content in real-time before it enters the network
• Content filter
• Filtering of encrypted data
• Bypassing filters and censorship
• Logging and eavesdropping

2.1.2 Improving performance

• Caching proxy
• Translation
• Repairing errors
• Accessing services anonymously

2.1.3 Security

• Keep the internal network structure of a company secret by using a network address translation(NAT)
  • Make requests from local network anonymous
• Combined with firewalls
• Cross-domain resources

3. Reserve Proxy

A type of proxy server that retrieves resources on behalf of a client from one or more servers. These resources are then returned to the client, appearing as if they originated from the proxy server itself. A reserve proxy is an intermediary for its associated servers to be contacted by any client.

 

 

3.1 Usages

• Encryption / SSL acceleration
• Load balancing
• Serve/cache static content
• Compression
• Spoon feeding
• Security
• Extranet Publishing

 

4. References

https://smartproxy.com/blog/the-difference-between-a-reverse-proxy-and-a-forward-proxy

https://www.imperva.com/learn/performance/reverse-proxy/

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/224664/whats-the-difference-between-proxy-server-and-reverse-proxy-server?noredirect=1

https://www.linuxbabe.com/it-knowledge/differences-between-forward-proxy-and-reverse-proxy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_proxy