What is a proxy? Why is nginx called a reverse proxy?

A 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐲 is a server that sits between a group of client machines and the internet.

A 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐲 sits between the internet and the web servers. It intercepts the requests from clients and talks to the web server on behalf of the clients.

In this YouTube video, we will explain the following:
🔹What is a forward proxy
🔹What is a reverse proxy
🔹Differences between forward proxy and reverse proxy
🔹Real-world examples
🔹Multi-layer reverse proxies