Forwarding proxy vs reverse proxy - what's the diff and when to use each?
Hey folks, been digging into proxies lately and got a bit confused. Like, both forwarding proxy and reverse proxy sound similar, but they’re used totally differently, right?
From what I gather:
- A *forwarding proxy* sits in front of clients (like your browser) and hides *their* identities when hitting the internet. Think corporate networks blocking sketchy sites.
- A *reverse proxy* sits in front of servers, hiding *their* identities instead. Like load balancing or caching for websites (NGINX, Cloudflare, etc.).
But when do you actually pick one over the other? If I’m setting up a web app, is a reverse proxy the way to go? Or are there cases where a forwarding proxy makes sense too?
Kinda new to this, so any real-world examples or gotchas would be awesome!
(Also, did I get the basics right or am I way off? 😅)
Hey folks, been digging into proxies lately and got a bit confused. Like, both forwarding proxy and reverse proxy sound similar, but they’re used totally differently, right?
From what I gather:
- A *forwarding proxy* sits in front of clients (like your browser) and hides *their* identities when hitting the internet. Think corporate networks blocking sketchy sites.
- A *reverse proxy* sits in front of servers, hiding *their* identities instead. Like load balancing or caching for websites (NGINX, Cloudflare, etc.).
But when do you actually pick one over the other? If I’m setting up a web app, is a reverse proxy the way to go? Or are there cases where a forwarding proxy makes sense too?
Kinda new to this, so any real-world examples or gotchas would be awesome!
(Also, did I get the basics right or am I way off? 😅)