A reverse proxy is an intermediary connection point situated at the edge of a network. It acts as the actual endpoint and accepts the first HTTP connection requests.
It acts as a gateway between users and your software’s origin server and is your network’s traffic cop. By doing this, it manages all traffic routing and policy management.
What is a reverse proxy used for?
Reverse proxies are most frequently employed to ensure resources are delivered securely through HTTPS. Without exposing them directly to the internet, reverse proxies enable an administrator to host safe web servers in a company intranet.
They offer a little extra capability, which can’t be done using virtual private networks (VPNs). Utilizing a reverse proxy is done chiefly to alleviate the processing burden of connecting clients to online services.
What is the difference between a forward proxy and a reverse proxy?
A reverse proxy stands in front of one or more web servers and intercepts client requests. This is in contrast to a forward proxy placed in front of the clients. When clients use a reverse proxy, the reverse proxy server intercepts those requests at the network edge and forwards them to the website’s origin server. The origin server will then respond to requests sent by the reverse proxy server and send requests back to it.
A forward proxy and a reverse proxy differ slightly yet significantly. To put it simply, a forward proxy sits in front of a client and ensures that no origin server ever communicates directly with that particular client. However, a reverse proxy ensures that no client communicates directly with an origin server by positioning itself in front of it.
What are the benefits of using a reverse proxy?
A reverse proxy could be helpful for any business with many website servers accessible from a single web address. Reverse proxy servers have many additional advantages, like:
Increased safety
You can hide the actual IP address of the servers hosting your website by using a reverse proxy. Your system will be more difficult for hackers to understand, which may reduce the likelihood of severe attacks.
Increased speed
In order to ensure that content loads quickly and readily for the user, a proxy server can compress it while it is in transit.
More effective load balancing
The demands coming from users all across the world will be manageable for one server. The effort will be distributed equally via the proxy server.
More streamlined experiences
Many businesses have numerous domains and subdomains. You might have a primary web address for your website and a secondary address for your blog. You can include such subdomains under your single address using a reverse proxy. This could lead to improved SEO performance.
Get GeoSurf proxies
Some businesses develop their own reverse proxies, necessitating significant hardware investment and expensive software and hardware engineering resources. By enrolling in a proxy plan with GeoSurf, you can take charge of all the advantages of a reverse proxy in the most straightforward and affordable methods possible.
