#3.1 Reverse Proxy vs Forward proxy
One of the most beautiful topics that I have seen in the field of web application engineering, who among us does not want a fast and secure site, load balancing and protection from attacks, as well as reducing the number of requests on the site through caching, these are all things that are provided by companies that provide different services and have a number of requests Big on their services, so a reverse agent can mitigate most of these things. How is that, let’s find out 😊😊 But before that, let’s put in a term that is also known, which is (forward proxy), so we will clarify it before diving into our topic so that things are clear.
Forward proxy is a web server whose location is in front of the user (symbolic expression), that is, when the user requests a request, this request is first forwarded to the Forword proxy, which in turn delivers this request to the server that the client requested .
let’s give a simple example, you want to access The video of this section is on Zoo.com and its address is 198.160.11.18 When you request the video, the request will go to the server whose address is 200.130.10.12 then this server will forward the request to the internet with the address of Zoo.com whose address is 198.160. 11.18 Then the site sends the request to the Internet with the address of the forword proxy server, which in turn sends the request to the client.
This is simply the work of the Forward proxy . Now you will wonder ,why you send to forward proxy server!! Why not shorten the way and send the request directly to the web site ( origin server )?
Forword proxy server is used when you want to violate geolocation laws. Zoo.com may be blocked from access either by the country you live in or by the website itself, so this command is used so that you can access the website without restrictions, and another thing is when you want your orders not to be tracked from throughout the website, so when you are using Forword proxy server it will be difficult for the website to keep track of the status as well as the requests you are working on within the website.
More examples of its use :-
Blocking the service of pornographic websites that took place in some Arab countries, where requests are directed to licensed websites. If a website provides pornographic content, the request will be blocked and prevented from accessing the Internet. also China is known for its extensive internet censorship and control, often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China.” The Chinese government utilizes a sophisticated network of forward proxies and other filtering technologies to control internet access within the country.
In the second part, we will talk about a full reverse proxy server , can read that on this link : Reverse Proxy vs Forward proxy
