What is a Proxy?

A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a client and a server. When a client makes a request to the internet, the request first goes to the proxy server. The proxy server then forwards the request to the target server, fetches the response, and sends it back to the client.

Use Cases:

Anonymity: Hides client’s IP address.

Access Control: Filters requests to restrict access to certain sites.

Caching: Stores responses to reduce load times and bandwidth usage.

Example Scenario:

A corporate network uses a proxy server to filter and log all web requests from employees, ensuring compliance with internet usage policies.

What is a Reverse Proxy?

A reverse proxy also sits between clients and servers, but it acts on behalf of the servers. Clients send requests to the reverse proxy, which forwards them to the appropriate server. The server sends the response back to the reverse proxy, which then passes it to the client.

Use Cases:

Load Balancing: Distributes incoming requests across multiple servers.

SSL Termination: Manages SSL encryption and decryption, offloading this task from web servers.

Caching: Stores responses to improve load times for frequently accessed content.

Security: Acts as a barrier to protect the backend servers from direct exposure to the internet.

Example Scenario:

A high-traffic e-commerce website uses a reverse proxy to balance the load across multiple servers, ensuring availability and reliability during peak shopping times.