Website traffic is not constant.
This spike in demand puts a lot of pressure on the servers responsible for supplying content to the customer.
Due to this, content streaming services face several problems when anticipated shows are released.
So how do websites scale instantaneously when the traffic they receive increases exponentially?
How Does your machine Connect to a Website?
Simply put, the internet is nothing but a set of computers communicating with one another.
Even the website you connect to is a computer with the website data stored on its hard drive.
That said, to connect to a website, your equipment needs to know the server’s location.
This information is provided to your unit by the IP address of the server.
That’s an extremely simplified version of how DNS works, mind.
What Is a Proxy?
Simply put, the proxy is nothing but a middleman between you and the website.
But why is this middleman needed?
This data includes your IP address, cookie data, and your system’s hardware/software details.
The server requests the data mentioned above to understand how the website needs to be displayed on your setup.
To solve this problem, forward proxies are used.
What Is a Reverse Proxy, and How Does It Work?
Just like forward proxies, reverse proxies also solve a problem.
However, this problem relates to servers.
In short, reverse proxies work in the exact opposite manner when compared to a forward proxy.
Essentially, a reverse proxy collects all the requests made to the server.
Once intercepted, the reverse proxy sends the requests to the server with the data you are looking for.
Due to this, the reverse proxy can manage the traffic landing on a website.
This design architecture solves a big problem when it comes to distributing content.
Due to this, the proxy does not have to request the server to get the data.
Instead, it can serve data from its local cache.
This approach is used while serving static web pages like this article.
To solve this problem, the reverse proxy stores popular web pages locally.
Security
When a reverse proxy is in place, it is the face of your website.
As a result, an attacker cannot reach the website’s internal servers directly.
In addition, reverse proxies can be used to fend offDDoS attacks.
Faster Data Decryption
Most websites on the internet use HTTPS to transfer data securely.
Due to this, all the data reaching the server is encrypted.
Therefore a server has to decrypt the received traffic and serve the data to the client.
To solve this problem, reverse proxies can be used to decrypt data, reducing the server load.
Not only this, reverse proxies improve the security and reliability offered by a server.
