Reverse Proxy

 REVERSE PROXIES

A reverse proxy is less well known, generally because we don't use the term anymore to describe products used as such. Load  balancers (application delivery controllers) and caches are good examples of reverse proxies. Reverse proxies sit in front of web and application servers and process requests for applications and content coming in from the public Internet to the internal, private network. This is the primary reason for the appellation "reverse" proxy - to differentiate it from a proxy that handles outbound requests.

Reverse proxies are also generally focused on HTTP but in recent years have expanded to include a number of other protocols commonly used on the web such as streaming audio (RTSP), file transfers (FTP), and generally any application protocol capable of being delivered via UDP or TCP.