So what exactly is a Reverse Proxy?
First let's review what a forward proxy or proxy is and how it works. A forward proxy acts as a gateway for a client's browser, sending HTTP requests on the client's behalf to the Internet.
The proxy protects your inside network by hiding the actual client's IP address and using its own instead.
When an outside HTTP server receives the request, it sees the requestor's address as originating from the proxy server, not from the actual client.
A Reverse Proxy proxies on behalf of the backend HTTP server, not on behalf of the outside client's request, hence the term "reverse".
First let's review what a forward proxy or proxy is and how it works. A forward proxy acts as a gateway for a client's browser, sending HTTP requests on the client's behalf to the Internet.
The proxy protects your inside network by hiding the actual client's IP address and using its own instead.
When an outside HTTP server receives the request, it sees the requestor's address as originating from the proxy server, not from the actual client.
A Reverse Proxy proxies on behalf of the backend HTTP server, not on behalf of the outside client's request, hence the term "reverse".
Read more about this at: http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/webservers/302.php
