Proxy Server, Forward Proxy, Reverse Proxy

Proxy Server passes requests and responses unmodified also called as gateway.

Forward Proxy in simple terms resides near to the client(s) and accesses the servers on the internet. Generally organizations provides internet access to all its employees through forward proxy servers. In this case organizations can restrict access to certain sites and also can monitor employee's internet activity easily on this forward proxy servers. Another advantage is employees desktops and intranet is not exposed to internet and protected from outside attacks.

Reverse Proxy in simple terms resides near to the server(s) and servers the internet clients. In this case servers are protected from internet clients. These revere proxies can also be configured to share the high number of internet requests among the servers. That is the reason these revers proxies also called as load balancers.