What is the Difference Between a Load Balancer and a Reverse Proxy?
Written By
Ananaya Kandpal
Reading time: 5 minutes
Reverse proxy servers and load balancers are crucial components of the client/server computing architecture. Both servers work as mediators between clients and servers, elevating efficiency in communication. While they can be implemented as dedicated hardware devices, modern web architectures significantly depend on software applications operating on general-purpose hardware.
A reverse proxy generally receives client requests, forwards them to the appropriate backend server, and then returns the server's response to the client. On the other hand, a load balancer divides client requests among a group of servers and certifies that responses from selected servers are directed back to the proper client.
However, the definition might seem alike, their functions differ, which often confuses. To get a better understanding, we are going to explain when and why each is deployed for web hosting services.
What is Load Balancing?
A load balancer is mainly used when a single server cannot manage a high volume of requests effectively, needing different servers to manage the cloud. By distributing requests across different servers, load balancers eliminate single points of failure and improve the reliability of websites. Most of the servers in such an environment host identical content.
The role of the load balancer is to increase the utilization of server resources. It allocates workloads evenly to prevent overloading any single server and offers faster responses to clients. When a server goes offline, the load balancer detects it and reroutes requests to the remaining servers.
Modern health checks enable load balancers to calculate server health more effectively by sending specific requests and analyzing responses, rather than depending only on intercepted error responses. A few load balancers also deliver session persistence, ensuring all requests from a specific client are directed to the same server. This is especially beneficial for stateful applications like eCommerce platforms, where functionality, like shopping carts, needs to handle regular session states.
How does load balancer work?
A load balancer mainly works as a middle layer between users and backend servers, effectively handling how incoming traffic is handled. When a client sends a request, the load balancer received it first and then allocates it to one of the available servers using predefined algorithms. It regularly controls the health of each server, certifying that if any server fails or becomes unresponsive, the traffic is automatically redirected to healthy ones. By spreading requests across different machines and rerouting traffic when required, a load balancer ensures high availability, lessens downtime, and keeps application operating flawlessly.
What is Reverse Proxy?
While load balancers are generally located in multi-server environments, reverse proxies are often beneficial even with a single web or application server. Acting as the public face of a website, a reverse proxy is positioned at the network edge, receiving requests for hosted content from browsers and mobile applications.
Significant benefits include:
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Better Security: By shielding backend server data from external networks, reverse proxies stop hostile actors from directly accessing the server. The majority of reverse proxies may also limit connection attempts, prevent DDoS assaults, and block traffic from particular IP addresses.
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Improved Scalability and Flexibility: The backend architecture can be flexibly altered since clients can only see the IP address of the reverse proxy. Because it enables smooth scaling in response to variations in traffic, this configuration is especially helpful in load-balanced systems.
How does reverse proxy work?
By serving as a middleman between clients and backend servers, a reverse proxy receives incoming requests before they are sent to the server. It can handle SSL termination to relieve work from backend servers, compress data, or cache responses for quicker delivery after receiving the request. After processing, the reverse proxy uses the settings to forward the request to the right server. By concealing backend servers' IP addresses and shielding them from potential threats, it not only improves performance but also strengthens security.
| Feature | Load Balancer | Reverse Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Objective | Allocate traffic among different backend servers | Acts as an intermediary for client requests |
| Traffic Direction | Manage traffic flow from clients to different servers | Handles traffic flow from clients to an individual server or server group |
| Security | Less focus on security; primarily used for performance optimization | Increase security by hiding backend servers and managing SSL termination |
| Caching | No built-in caching features | Often consists caching for better response times |
| SSL Termination | Generally not responsible for SSL termination | Can manage SSL termination to overcome backend load |
Thus, understanding the difference between a load balancer and a reverse proxy is crucial for handling modern web applications effectively. Both improve performance, their roles differ significantly. Load balancers allocate incoming requests among different servers, whereas reverse proxies work as a gateway, offering security and catching benefits.
In cloud-hosted environments like Net2Secure, integrating both solutions can enlarge scalability, security, and efficiency. Whether you are running a high-traffic website, an eCommerce platform, the right architecture will ensure high availability, decreased latency, abd better user experience.
