A client issues a request to a Forward Proxy, which then forwards the request to the server. The server then responds to the client from the server.
Client Forward Proxy Server
[ C ]<------>[ F ]<------->[ S ]This is basically how VPNs work. This way, the client's IP address is only known by the Forward Proxy, and the Server only knows the Forward Proxy's request.
Reverse proxies work similarly, but for the server.
The client's request is sent to the Reverse Proxy, and the Reverse Proxy returns the response to the client.
The client thinks it's interacting with the server. The server has no idea of the client.
This is useful -- Reverse Proxies can be used to cache requests, log requests, or as a Load Balancer.
Nginx can be used to add or remove headers from requests, if you use it as a reverse proxy, to filter requests and send them to the right place.
Client Reverse Proxy Server
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