Difference between forward proxy and reverse proxy

by ddos · Published March 16, 2020 · Updated December 6, 2021

What is a forward proxy?

Forward proxy, which is the legendary proxy, works as a springboard. simply put, I am a user, I cannot access a website, but I can access a proxy server. What about this proxy server, he can access the website that I can’t access So I first connected to the proxy server and told him I needed the content that could not access the website. The proxy server fetches it back and then returns it to me.

“Change proxy firefox” by Akshay Hallur is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

From the perspective of the website, there is only one record when the proxy server comes to fetch content. Sometimes it is not known that it is the user’s request, and the user’s information is also hidden, depending on whether the agent tells the website.

The conclusion is that the forward proxy is a server located between the client and the origin server. In order to get content from the origin server, the client sends a request to the proxy and specifies the target (origin server), and then the proxy forwards it to the origin server. Request and return the obtained content to the client. The client must make some special settings to use a forward proxy.

What is a reverse proxy?

User access to https://meterpreter.org/info.html. But there is no info.htmlpage on meterpreter.org. He secretly retrieved it from another server and spit it out to the user as his own content. But the user is not informed. The server corresponding to the domain name meterpreter.org mentioned here has a reverse proxy function.
The conclusion is that the reverse proxy is just the opposite, it appears to the client as the original server, and the client does not need to do any special setup. The client sends a normal request to the content in the name-space of the reverse proxy, and then the reverse proxy will determine where (origin server) to forward the request and return the obtained content to the client, like these The content was originally it’s own.So, what is the difference between forward proxy and reverse proxy?

In terms of use:

The typical use of a forward proxy is to provide LAN clients inside the firewall with access to the Internet. The forward proxy can also use the buffering feature to reduce network usage. A typical use of a reverse proxy is to provide servers behind the firewall to Internet users. The reverse proxy can also provide load balancing for multiple servers at the back end, or provide buffering services for slower servers at the back end.

In addition, the reverse proxy can also enable advanced URL policies and management technologies, so that web pages in different web server systems can exist in the same URL space at the same time.

In terms of security:

The forward proxy allows clients to access any website through it and hides the client itself, so you must take security measures to ensure that only authorized clients are served.

The reverse proxy is transparent to the outside, and the visitor does not know that he or she is visiting a proxy.

Difference between forward proxy and reverse proxy

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