Reverse Proxy Server
A reverse proxy server is a network intermediary that sits between client devices and backend servers, forwarding client requests to appropriate servers and returning responses. It handles tasks like load balancing, SSL termination, caching, and security filtering, acting as a single entry point for external traffic to distributed applications. This improves performance, scalability, and security by offloading processing from backend servers.
Developers should use reverse proxy servers when building scalable web applications, microservices architectures, or APIs that require high availability and security. They are essential for load balancing across multiple servers, implementing SSL/TLS encryption centrally, caching static content to reduce server load, and protecting backend systems from direct exposure to the internet. Common use cases include deploying applications in cloud environments, managing traffic for high-traffic websites, and securing internal services.