Skip to content

What is a Reverse Proxy?

A reverse proxy server sits in front of one or more web servers and intercepts incoming requests from users before those requests ever reach the actual server. To the user, it looks like they’re communicating directly with the website but behind the scenes, the reverse proxy is handling the connection, forwarding the request to the appropriate backend server, and returning the response.

This is the opposite of a standard forward proxy, which acts on behalf of the user. A reverse proxy acts on behalf of the server, shielding it from direct contact with the outside world.

The main reasons organizations use reverse proxies come down to security, performance, and reliability. On the security side, a reverse proxy hides the real IP address of the origin server, making it much harder for attackers to target it directly. If a DDoS attack is launched, it hits the reverse proxy rather than the actual web server, giving organizations a buffer. On the performance side, reverse proxies can cache content, compress data, and distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers, a technique called load balancing, so no single server gets overwhelmed during traffic spikes.

Large websites, content delivery networks, and cloud platforms all rely heavily on reverse proxies. When you visit a major site like Netflix or Google, you’re almost certainly interacting with a reverse proxy layer before any request reaches their actual infrastructure.