Proxy all you need to know

Proxy Servers, all You need to know.

Hello everyone and Welcome back to another blog!!!

Before we dig more into the details about Proxy Server and types of proxy
server it is very important to understand what a proxy server is and what are
the functions of a proxy server. 

A Proxy server is a computer acts as a gateway (application-level-gateway).
It is a dedicated computer/server that acts as an intermediate between a client
and a server from which the client is requesting service. Proxy servers offer
better performance and security by caching requests from the client.

There are different types of proxy servers depending on the type
of request they handle, they are:

Tunnelling Proxy: A proxy server that handles
unmodified request from clients.

Forward Proxy: A Proxy server (Web) which is
available on internet and can be accessed literally by anybody is otherwise
known open proxy. It is estimated the number of open proxy server is in
thousands. It provides anonymity while browsing the internet. However sometimes
users are tricked and the proxy reveals user’s information.

Reverse Proxy: A Proxy server that forward
requests to one or more server, but not directly accessible or visible by
clients. The application of reverse proxy includes :

1. Encryption/ SSL acceleration

2. Load Balancing

3. Server static content

4. Compression

5. Spoon-feeding

6. Security

7. Extranet publishing

Though proxy server have various usage some are legal and
some are illegal, lot of countries constantly monitor and ban proxies as users
can access all banned content using a proxy or vpn. Some of the very common
usages are:

i. Content Control: It provides administrative
control over the content relayed in one or both direction. It provides ability
to System Administrators to enforce Acceptable Usage Policy of the
organisation, by blocking unwanted websites (Porn sites, Gambling sites, Social
networking websites, etc.).  It also
provides a better insight of content usage trend analysis.

ii. Bypass Filter and Censorship: This is the most
common technology to by-pass government censorship. For using a service like (torrent
sites or any other blocked content) this is mostly used.

iii. Improving Performance: It cache users requests
and thus the request does not have to query internet naming server/DNS every
time. It is also very helpful while troubleshooting DNS or Network related
issues.

iv. Translation: This proxy server sits close to the
web server and all global requests lands on the proxy server which helps
localizing the webserver by forwarding the request to the webserver and
response to the client.

v. Accessing services anonymously: There are lot of
open proxy servers which provides anonymity, some of them provide free service
and some are paid. But before trusting the proxy server and trying it out be
very careful as the information passed through the proxy server like your
credentials or personal photos can be stolen and miss used.

vi. Security: Proxy server help keeping intranet or
internal network secure, as it handles both in and out traffic of the
organisation and anonymizing the request from
internal users.