Reverse Proxy — Complete Gateway Proxy Pattern Guide

In this tutorial, you will learn about Reverse Proxy. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

A reverse proxy sits between clients and backend servers, forwarding client requests to backend services and returning responses. It hides the internal network structure from clients.

What You'll Learn

You'll learn how reverse proxies work, their role in API gateways, and how to configure them.

Why It Matters

Reverse proxies are the foundation of API gateways. Understanding the reverse proxy pattern is essential before exploring advanced gateway features.

Real-World Use

NGINX as a reverse proxy sits in front of a Python web application. All requests go to NGINX, which forwards them to the Python app server. NGINX handles static files, TLS, and compression, while the Python app only handles business logic.

Implementation

# NGINX reverse proxy configuration
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;

    location /api/users {
        proxy_pass http://user-service:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    location /api/orders {
        proxy_pass http://order-service:3001;
    }

    location /api/payments {
        proxy_pass http://payment-service:3002;
    }
}

Common Mistakes

What's Next

Learn about request routing in API gateways.