What Is a Reverse Proxy? The Server in Front of Your Servers

A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of your backend servers, receiving client requests and forwarding them on, while handling concerns like TLS, caching, and routing.

A forward proxy acts on behalf of clients; a reverse proxy acts on behalf of servers. Clients connect to the reverse proxy as if it were the application, and it forwards requests to one or more backends behind it. Nginx, HAProxy, Envoy, and Traefik are common reverse proxies, and they underpin load balancers and API gateways.

What a reverse proxy does

Terminates TLS so backends speak plain HTTP internally.
Routes requests by host or path to different services.
Caches responses to reduce backend load.
Adds rate limiting, compression, and security headers.

Reverse proxy vs load balancer

The two overlap heavily. A load balancer distributes traffic across instances; a reverse proxy forwards and transforms requests. Most layer 7 load balancers are reverse proxies, and most reverse proxies can balance load, so the labels often describe the same component playing different roles.

Why backends sit behind one

Putting a reverse proxy in front centralizes cross-cutting concerns: one place to manage certificates, routing, and rate limits. Backends stay simple and are not exposed directly to the internet, which improves both security and maintainability.

In container platforms

In Kubernetes, an ingress controller is a reverse proxy that routes external traffic to services. On PaaS platforms, a managed reverse proxy handles TLS and routing for you. The pattern is the same: a smart front door in front of your apps.

Role in CI/CD

During deploys, a reverse proxy or ingress decides which version of a service receives traffic, enabling rolling and canary releases. Pipelines often update ingress or proxy config to shift traffic to a new release, and the proxy keeps TLS and routing stable across deploys.

Key takeaways

A reverse proxy fronts your backends, handling TLS, routing, and caching.
It overlaps with load balancers; layer 7 balancers are reverse proxies.
In CI/CD it controls traffic routing for rolling and canary deployments.