What is difference among load balancer, proxy and reverse proxy servers?
Load Balancer:
Imagine you have a popular restaurant with many customers. A load balancer is like a host who directs customers to different available tables, making sure no single table gets overcrowded.
In the digital world, A load balancer distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers. This can help to improve performance by ensuring that no single server is overloaded. It can also help to improve availability by ensuring that requests can still be handled even if one of the servers is down.
Proxy(Forward Proxy):
Think of a proxy as a messenger or middle-person. Imagine you want to ask a question to someone, but you don’t want them to know who you are. You tell your question to a friend, and your friend asks on your behalf.
A proxy acts as an intermediary between a client and a server. This can be used to improve performance by caching frequently accessed resources, or to improve security by filtering requests before they reach the server. The proxy server intercepts the incoming requests and then communicates with web servers on behalf of those clients, like a middleman.
Reverse Proxy:
A reverse proxy is like a receptionist at a big company. When clients come in, the receptionist directs them to the appropriate department or person.
Similarly, A reverse proxy is a specific type of proxy that sits in front of a web server. It accepts requests from clients and forwards them to the web server. The reverse proxy can also perform additional tasks such as caching, load balancing, and SSL termination.
Proxy Vs Reverse Proxy
Here is a table that summarises the key differences between load balancers, proxies, and reverse proxies:
