What's the difference between a forwarding proxy vs reverse proxy? Which one should I use? Alternatively:

Kinda nerdy but here’s a real-world twist:

Forwarding proxy: Your office blocks Facebook. Your traffic goes through it, Facebook sees the proxy’s IP, not yours.

Reverse proxy: Your website gets slammed. NGINX distributes the load so your servers don’t melt.

Tools? HAProxy for reverse, Squid for forward.

Bonus: Reverse proxies can also handle WAF (Web Application Firewall) stuff. Overkill for a small app tho.