Proxy vs Reverse Proxy

Proxy Server

• Forward Proxy:

  • Acts on behalf of clients and forwards their requests to servers.

  • Sits between client devices (e.g., web browsers) and the internet.

  • Responsible for handling client requests, forwarding them to target servers, and sending back responses.

  • Common use cases include content filtering, access control, and anonymizing client requests.

• Client Perspective:

  • Appears as a gateway to clients, intercepting outgoing requests and forwarding them to the target server.

• Server Perspective:

  • From the server's perspective, the proxy server is the client making the requests.

Reverse Proxy

• Reverse Proxy:

  • Operates on behalf of servers and handles incoming client requests.

  • Sits between client devices and a server or group of servers (backend servers).

  • Responsible for load balancing, SSL termination, caching, compression, and other tasks before forwarding requests to backend servers.

  • Helps distribute client requests across multiple backend servers for improved performance and fault tolerance.

• Client Perspective:

  • Appears as the endpoint for the requested service from the client's perspective.

• Server Perspective:

  • From the server's perspective, the reverse proxy acts as the gateway receiving incoming requests.

Key Differences

• Direction:

  • Proxy: Forward direction, handling outgoing client requests.

  • Reverse Proxy: Reverse direction, managing incoming client requests and directing them to backend servers.

• Perspective:

  • Proxy: Gateway for clients to access external services.

  • Reverse Proxy: Endpoint for the requested service from the client's perspective.

• Use Cases:

  • Proxy: Content filtering, access control, anonymizing client requests.

  • Reverse Proxy: Load balancing, SSL termination, caching, compression, improving server performance, and reliability.