A reverse proxy server sits in front of backend servers and forwards client requests to those servers. Reverse proxies are often used to improve protection, speed, and reliability. A reverse proxy takes a request from a client, passes the request to other servers, and forwards it back to the relevant client, making it appear as if the initial proxy server was handling the request. Such proxies ensure that users do not go directly to the origin server, thus providing anonymity to such web servers.

Although not particularly useful to the average consumer and the average person, reverse proxy servers are great for service providers and websites that are heavily visited on a daily basis. These proxies protect web servers, enhance website performance and help avoid overloading.

Types of reverse proxies：

Functionally, all reverse proxies are somewhat similar. But we can distinguish the two main types of reverse proxies based on their characteristics: normal reverse proxies and load balancers.

1. Normal reverse proxy. Such proxies can intercept requests from the client, direct the request to the server for processing, and then return it to the client. This proxy is mainly used for security purposes.

2. load balancer. This subtype of reverse proxy can create multiple backend load scenarios, not just one. This distributes traffic among multiple other servers and manages client-server communication between all servers. This type is better for distributing the load evenly among the different servers, improving speed and performance.

What is a reverse proxy for?

Websites and service providers may use reverse proxies for a variety of reasons, some of which are as follows:

• Load balancing. High-traffic websites may sometimes require a reverse proxy server to handle incoming traffic. Instead of handling traffic on its own, a popular site may distribute traffic among multiple backend servers, increasing capacity to handle high volumes of requests. If one of the servers is overloaded and fails, traffic can be redirected to the other online servers to ensure that the web pages work properly. Website engineers can even add more backend servers to this load balancer to increase capacity and meet ever-increasing performance demands.

  
  

• Cache. A reverse proxy can cache frequently requested data. Businesses that need to store large amounts of pictures and videos can also improve website performance by caching these content, reducing the load on their website servers.

• Anonymous letter and security. Since reverse proxies intercept all incoming requests, they bring a higher level of protection to backend servers. It blocks suspicious traffic from specific IP addresses, helping to prevent malicious visitors from abusing web servers. Reverse proxies can also be used for load balancing, caching, and SSL encryption.