What's the difference between forward vs reverse proxy? Which one should I use? Alternatively, if you prefer

Yo, the forward vs reverse proxy thing clicked for me when I thought of it like this:

Forward proxy = your team’s "mask" when surfing the web.
Reverse proxy = your server’s "bodyguard" against direct hits.

If you’re anonymizing traffic, yeah, forward proxy (check out Proxychains if you’re into CLI tools). But if you’ve got a website getting slammed, reverse proxy with HAProxy or NGINX is a lifesaver.

One gotcha: Reverse proxies can introduce latency if misconfigured. Always test!