Learn what is a Reverse Proxy Server? How does it allow multiple clients to access the same web page from different locations securely?
What Is a Reverse Proxy Server?
A reverse Proxy Server is a server that receives requests from clients, then rewrites the URL and sends it to the requested resource. It is a common way of securing web servers that are deployed in front of web servers. In other words, Reverse Proxy Server is a proxy server that fetches resources on behalf of a client from one or more servers but as if it was from one.
This means that Reverse Proxy Server can be used to access the web server from different locations securely. So, the concept of Reverse Proxy Servers is best explained with an example. Let’s say you have three servers.
One can be accessed directly by anyone who wants to view the content on that server. But the second and third need to be accessed via the first server. Because they are behind a firewall and not directly accessible from outside.
So, what would you do? You would install a reverse proxy server in between your public web server and your internal ones. Clients will connect to your public web server and your reverse proxy will fetch content from your internal web servers depending upon the request made by each client.
Why Use a Reverse Proxy Server?
A reverse proxy can improve the performance by caching static files, compressing data, manage cookies. Also, this includes serving as an accelerator to an application or database. A reverse proxy can also add functionality like load balancing, access control, or caching which are not available in Apache itself.
A reverse proxy sits in front of web servers and allows multiple clients to access the same web page from different locations. This is secure as if it was from one location only. So, this helps to reduce bandwidth usage and increase performance.
Because a single copy of static content is served to multiple clients. This is instead of serving the same content over and over again for each client request for every resource on a site.
Commercial Software Security Feature
There are many free and commercial software that comes with features that range from basic caching features to load balancing. This includes access control lists (ACLs), compression, and security protection. This makes it easier to deploy reverse proxies in production environments.
A few popular open source projects include Apache Traffic Server, Nginx, and Squid. These tools are used in most production environments today. Because they are open source, fast, reliable, and secure.
Reverse Proxy Servers come with the cost of additional hardware and software licenses. But the benefits that it provides to your infrastructure far outweigh the costs. So, the concept of Reverse Proxy Servers is best explained with an example.
Let’s say you have three servers: one can be accessed directly by anyone who wants to view the content on that server. But the second and third need to be accessed via the first server. Because they are behind a firewall and not directly accessible from outside.