What is a Reverse Proxy?
A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of backend web servers and forwards client requests to those servers. Unlike a forward proxy that acts on behalf of clients, a reverse proxy acts on behalf of servers, providing security, load balancing, and caching.
How Does Reverse Proxy Work?
When a client sends a request to a website using a reverse proxy, the request first reaches the reverse proxy, which then determines which backend server should handle it. The backend server processes the request and sends the response back through the reverse proxy to the client. The client never communicates directly with the backend servers.
Reverse proxies provide several benefits including enhanced security by hiding backend server details, SSL termination to offload encryption work, caching frequently requested content, compressing responses, and distributing traffic across multiple servers. Nginx is one of the most popular reverse proxy solutions, often used to sit in front of application servers like Node.js, Python, or PHP backends.