Ten Reasons To Love The New Proxy Sites

A proxy is also known as the software that serves as an intermediary between a client and server via the internet. Without proxy servers, a user could send a request to resources directly to a server and servers would provide requests directly for the resource requested by the client. While this is a simple process to grasp and use the addition of proxies can result in benefits like enhanced performance, privacy, security, and more. As a pass-through layer, proxies act as a gatekeeper of the internet between servers and clients.

In general, the integrated combination of server hardware and installed proxy software is often called proxy servers. This article will focus on proxy servers that are generally referred to as software, and as when referring to web servers. The article will offer a description of the two types that are forward proxy and reverse proxy. reverse proxy. Each type has a different use case, often confused due to the similar namesake convention.

This article will give you an idea of the different types of proxy services and what their subtypes are, and how they can be useful for common setups. After reading the article carefully, you'll be able understand the situations when it's advantageous to use a proxy and decide on the best option between forward and reverse proxy in any circumstance.

Understanding Forward Proxies

The forward proxy sometimes known in the context of an open proxy serves as the client's representative trying to send an internet request to an the server that originated it. In this case any attempts to send requests made by the user will be sent direct through the forward proxy. In this situation the forward proxy, instead of the client will scrutinize the request. It will first determine whether the client can make requests via this specific forward proxy. Then, it will either deny requests or redirect it to the server that originally made the request. The client isn't allowed direct access to the internet. It is only able to access what the forward proxy permits the client to access.

The primary reason people make use of forward proxy servers is to improve privacy or anonymity on the internet. Forward proxy makes use of the internet instead of a client on its own, and during this manner, it may utilize an alternate IP address to the original IP address used by the client.

Based on the way it's setup the forward proxy will offer a variety of features and let you:

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  Stay clear of tracking ads.
  
  
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  Circumvent surveillance.
  
  
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  Establish restrictions based upon the your location.
  
  

Forward proxies can also be used in systems that provide central security and access based on permissions, for instance at work. If all internet traffic is routed through an open forward proxy layer, an administrator can grant only a handful of users connection to internet using an ordinary firewall. Instead of maintaining firewalls on the client layer, that could include a variety of machines with varying settings and users there is a way to put a firewall set up at an intermediary layer.

Be aware that forward proxy servers require manual setup in order to permit the use of these proxies and reverse proxies are able to be omitted by clients. Based on the type of IP address of a client is passed to the original server via the forward proxy privacy and security may be granted or left transparent.

There are many alternatives to look into for forward proxy options:

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  Apache is an incredibly well-known open source web server, that offers forward proxy functions.
  
  
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  Nginx: Another popular open-source webserver, which includes forward proxy functions.
  
  
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  Squid is an Open Source Forward Proxy that utilizes an HTTP protocol. It does not come with an an entire Web server software. We have a tutorial on how you can install Squid proxy to permit private connections within Ubuntu 20.04.
  
  
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  Dante is a forward proxy that uses using the SOCKS protocol rather than HTTP in order to be better suited for cases such as with peer-to-peer traffic. You might also wish to know how to build the Dante proxy that allows private connections to Ubuntu 20.04
  
  

Understanding Reverse Proxies

Reverse proxy is a representative of a web server that handles any requests that come in from clients on behalf. This web server may include an individual server or a number of servers. It could also be used as an app server for instance, Gunicorn. In any of these situations the request will be made by a user through the internet at large. In the majority of cases it is transmitted directly to the website server that hosts the information that the client is seeking. A reverse proxy serves as a middleman to separate Web servers from direct communication with the internet's public.

From a consumer's point of the client's point of view, using reverse proxy isn't any different from working with the Web server directly. It's basically the same thing, however the client isn't able to discern the difference. The client requests the resource and then it receives it, with no extra configuration required from the user.

Reverse proxies provide features like:

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  A central layer of security that guards the server.
  
  
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  Controlling traffic coming inbound on rules that you can set up.
  
  
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  New functionality added for caching.
  
  

Central security is a benefit of both forward and reverse proxy servers, reverse proxy providers offer this feature to that layer that is on the webserver, and not the client layer. Instead of coordinating firewalls on the server level which may comprise multiple servers with different configurations, the bulk of firewall security is concentrated in the reverse proxy layer. Also, the removal of the responsibility of interfacing with firewalls as well as interfacing with requests from clients off of web servers enables the firewall to focus on supplying resources.

If there are multiple servers that are within a reverse proxy the reverse proxy also takes care of directing the requests to which server. There may be multiple web servers offering identical content, supplying different types of services or a combination of both. They could use the HTTP protocol similar to a traditional web server. However, they could be equipped with application server protocols such as FastCGI. It is possible to set up a reverse proxy to send users to a specific server based on the service requested, or to adhere to certain rules for traffic load.

Reverse proxies may benefit from being placed prior to web servers through the capability of storing data. The large static files can be set up with caching rules to avoid having to contact web servers on every request. Some solutions allowing you to directly serve static assets without having to connect to the server once. Furthermore reverse proxy is able to manage compression on these resources.

The popular Nginx web server also functions as an effective reverse proxy option. Although Apache has a reverse proxy option, it is a reverse proxy solution. Apache web server is also equipped with a reverse proxy function as an added option for Apache as opposed to Nginx was initially developed for and focuses on reverse proxy functions.

Differentiating Forward Proxy from Reverse Proxy Use Situations

Since "forward" or "reverse" have connotations of directionality, as well as false comparisons to "incoming" and "outgoing" traffic These labels can be confusing because both types of proxies manage requests and responses. The best method to differentiate between reverse and forward proxies is to examine the specifications of the application you're working on.

Reverse proxy is an effective tool to use when developing a solution to serve applications on the web via the internet. They represent your web servers whenever you interact on the internet.

A forward proxy can be helpful when it is placed in front of clients for your personal use and in professional setting. They are a representation of your client's traffic for any online interaction.

The practice of segregating by use case instead of focusing on the similar names will help in avoidance of confusion.

Conclusion

This article explains the meaning of a proxy with two types: the forward proxy and the reverse proxy. Practical application scenarios and the exploration of attributes that are beneficial were used to identify forward proxies and reverse proxy. If you're interested in exploring the use of proxy servers then you should follow our tutorial on how to configure Nginx to act as an Internet server and reverse proxy for Apache using an Ubuntu 20.04 Server.

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