Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Explain what a reverse proxy is.
• Differentiate between a reverse proxy and a forward proxy.
• Understand why organizations place reverse proxies in front of their applications.
• Explain the architecture of NGINX as a reverse proxy.
• Understand SSL/TLS termination.
• Configure request routing concepts.
• Understand URL rewriting.
• Explain how reverse proxies perform load balancing.
• Understand caching and compression.
• Implement authentication using a reverse proxy.
• Recognize common production deployment patterns.
• Troubleshoot common reverse proxy issues.

Introduction

Imagine a large company with thousands of employees.

Visitors never walk directly into the CEO's office.

Instead, they first arrive at a reception desk.

The receptionist: