Reverse Proxy

A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of multiple other servers and redirects traffic to those web servers based on different logic rules. For example, you could have two web servers, one for customers of your business and another one for your employees.

You could configure a reverse proxy to redirect traffic to one or the other depending on the value of a header sent in the request or the actual URL being requested.

It is very useful in backend development because it allows you to do many different things, for example:

• Load balancing traffic between multiple instances of the same backend service.
• Provide an extra layer of security by hiding the location of the backend services and handling attacks, such as DDoS.
• It can cache content, reducing server load on your web servers.
• It allows you to switch backend services without affecting the public-facing URLs.