Reverse Proxy
It is used by servers, it acts as an intermediary between clients and one or more backend servers
The client thinks it is connecting directly to the server, but it actually connects to the reverse proxy, which forwards the request to an appropriate backend server and returns the response.
Common uses:
- Load Balancing: Distributes traffic across multiple servers to avoid overload.
- Caching: Improves performance by storing common responses.
- Security: Hides the internal topology of servers and can apply protections against DDoS attacks.
- SSL Terminating: Handles HTTPS encryption on behalf of the backend servers.
Example: a user visits example.com, but their request is first handled by a reverse proxy like NGINX, which decides which backend server to serve the request.
See also proxy server