6 Habits Of Extremely Efficient Proxy Sites

An proxy also referred to proxy servers is software that functions as an intermediary between client and a server on the internet. Without proxy servers, users can send a request for something directly through a server and the server will deliver the item directly to the user. Although this method is easy to understand and implement, the addition of proxies could bring advantages in terms of increased performance security, privacy, and more. Alongside adding a layer of security they also serve as a security safeguard for the internet between servers and clients.




The consensus is that the collection of server hardware and proxy software are also known as proxy servers. However, this article will concentrate on the proxies that are typically categorized as software, and in the case of web servers. This article will give a synopsis of the two principal kinds that are forward proxy and a reverse proxy. Each has its own usage that can cause confusion due to a similar naming convention.




This article will provide you with an idea of the what proxies are and the subtypes of them and how they function in common configurations. By reading this article, you'll discover how to recognize the circumstances in which it is beneficial to utilize a proxy and choose the best option between reverse proxy and forward proxy, in any situation.



Understanding Forward Proxies



In the same way, a forward proxy sometimes called open proxy. In other words, an open proxy serves as the representative of a customer who wishes to forward a request via the internet to an origin server. In this scenario every attempt to send requests from the client is instead routed directly to the forward proxy. This forward proxy in instead of the user, will examine the request. The first step is to decide if the client has the right to accept requests from this specific forward proxy. It then decides whether to refuse a request or transfer it onto the server that originally received it. The client is unable to access directly the internet. It can only access what the forward proxy permits the client access.




The most popular reason to utilize forward proxy servers is to increase privacy or security on the internet. A forward proxy is able to connect to the internet in the place of a client and, in this way it can use an alternative IP address to the original IP address that the client uses.




Depending on how it's been set up in the past, forward proxy servers can provide a range of options. They allow you to:




Beware of ad-tracker.


Circumvent surveillance.


You can identify limitations based on your geographic area.




Forward proxies may also be employed in systems that offer central security and permission-based access, such as at work. When all internet traffic passes through an open forward proxy,, administrators can limit access to those clients who are that are filtered through a common firewall. Instead of having firewalls installed for the client layer that may comprise a range of machines that have different user and operating environments, the firewall could be placed into the forward proxy layer.




Note that the forward proxy setting have to be manually set up to use and reverse proxy settings are ignored by clients. Depending on the type of IP address of a user is sent to the origin server via forward proxy privacy and anonymity may be granted or not.




There are a variety of possibilities to consider for forward proxies




Apache: A popular open-source web server with forward proxy capabilities.


Nginx: Another popular open-source webserver that has forward proxy features.


Squid is a free forward proxy that utilizes the HTTP protocol. It doesn't provide a complete web server solution. Take a look at our step-bystep guide to create Squid proxy to permit private connections within Ubuntu 20.04.


Dante forward proxy that runs on the SOCKS protocol rather than HTTP which makes it better suited to situations such as peer-to-topeer traffic. You can also look into how you can install a Dante proxy for private connections in Ubuntu 20.04



Understanding Reverse Proxies



A reverse proxy functions as a representation of a web server that handles the incoming requests of clients. Web servers can comprise one server or several servers. It could also be used as an application server like Gunicorn. In any of these situations, an application request comes by a user on the internet as a whole. In the majority of cases the request is directly sent to the web server along with the data the user is asking for. Reverse proxy, however, serves as an intermediary securing Web servers from direct interactions with the web's public.




From the point of view that is from a user's perspective, working using a reverse proxy is no any different from using an internet server direct. It's the same, but the user is unable to be able to discern the distinction. The client asks for a resource and then receives it, with no additional configuration required on the part of the client.




Reverse proxies offer features like:




Secured centrally for Web Server Layer.


Controlling traffic coming inbound according to rules you can create.


The caching functionality is now available to users.




While centralized security is an advantage of both forward and reverse proxy servers, reverse proxies offer this benefit only to the server layer, and not the client layer. Instead of managing firewalls on the web server layer, which may contain many servers with different configurations, the bulk of the firewall security is concentrated on reverse proxy layers. Also, the removal of the responsibility of interacting with a firewall as well as interacting with client requests outside of web servers allows them to concentrate on serving the requirements of their clients.




If there are multiple servers being hosted using a reverse-proxy, the reverse proxy is responsible to direct which requests are routed to the server. There could be multiple web servers that provide identical content or offering different types of resource or a combination of both. They can use the HTTP protocol similar to an ordinary web server but they can include different protocols for application servers like FastCGI. It is also possible to set up reverse proxy to redirect clients to specific servers in accordance with the requested resource or follow specific rules regarding traffic load.




Reverse proxies can also make use of their position ahead of web servers, by providing the ability to cache. Massive static resources can be configured with caching rules to avoid from hitting web servers on every request. There are solutions that permit you to serve static assets directly without connecting to a web server even once. Additionally reverse proxy is able to manage compression of these assets.




The well-known Nginx web server is also used as an extremely popular reverse proxy service. Even though Apache is also a reverse proxy service, Apache is a reverse proxy service. Apache web server also comes complete with the reverse proxy feature as an additional characteristic of Apache while Nginx was designed initially to and is focused on the reverse proxy feature.



Differentiating Forward Proxy and Reverse Proxy Examples



Because "forward" and "reverse" are associated with directionality, as well as false comparisons with "incoming" and "outgoing" traffic, the labels can be confusing as both types of proxies are able to handle requests and responses. An alternative method to differentiate between reverse and forward proxy is to study the specifications of the application that you are building.




A reverse proxy could be helpful when building an application that runs web-based applications over the internet. They serve as your web servers whenever you connect to the web.




Forward proxy can be useful when placed in front of customers for personal use, or in an office environment. They represent your clients when you connect to the internet.




The use of case-based differentiation instead of focusing on standard naming conventions could help in avoidance of confusion.



Conclusion



This article clarified the definition of a proxy using two types: the forward proxy and the reverse proxy. Practical applications as well as a summary of the beneficial features were utilized to differentiate between forward and reverse proxy. If you're interested to learn more about how to implement proxy servers, you can refer to our guide on how you can set up Nginx as an internet server and reverse proxy using Apache using Ubuntu 20.04. Ubuntu 20.04 server.



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