One hears about proxy and reverse proxy in the context of web servers. What are they, and why are they used?
The following is by my understanding.
A forward proxy server, or just proxy server, is a middleman: a request comes to it from a client, then the proxy sends along said request to the site that can fulfill it. The fulfillment site then sends its response back to the proxy, which forwards the response to the client.
In the case of the proxy server, the fulfillment site thinks it’s interacting with the proxy; it doesn’t know about the client on the other side. Hence, the proxy can offer anonymity to the client, although the proxy itself knows all.
A reverse proxy server is similar to a proxy server, but the client in this case is the fulfillment site. A web surfer sends a request to, they think, the fulfillment site. However, the request arrives to the fulfillment site’s proxy. Said proxy decides whether to pass the request along, and if so, to which specific port of the fulfillment site’s architecture.
The requester, aka the web surfer, doesn’t know their request was processed by the reverse proxy.
To its sponsor, the reverse proxy offers filtration of the incoming web requests. It sends each request to its appropriate destination, perhaps eliminating the bogus or dangerous requests.
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