Shadowing Practice: Proxy vs Reverse Proxy Server Explained - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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going on guys my name is Hussain
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going on guys my name is Hussain
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and in this video I want to discuss the difference between a proxy and a reverse proxy.
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I made a video two years ago and I want to remake this video
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and talk about things that I haven't talked about in the previous video
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and things that I recently learned from
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and from you guys like you had a lot of questions I compile these questions into this video as well
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so if you're interested stay tuned how about we jump into the video.
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So the first thing is what is a proxy?
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A proxy is a software that makes requests on behalf of a client.
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So in this case, for example, the client here, the laptop says, hey, I want to go to google.com.
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But it has certain configuration in its setting that says, by the way, this is my proxy.
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That means any request that needs to go out have to go through the proxy first.
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So all the connections is actually established between those two guys only.
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All right?
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And then the proxy will look at the data and says, oh, you want to go to google.com?
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I'll take care of it.
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I'll make the request of your behalf.
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So as far as Google is concerned or any of the destination server here, the client is the proxy, not this guy, right?
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So that's essentially what a proxy is, right?
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You might say, okay, what are use cases for this?
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Well, some ISPs use proxies to block certain unwanted websites and certain governments, not all of them, right?
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At your work, some organization uses a proxy.
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They want to protect you from bad websites that, well, this is confidential data and we don't want you to visit bad websites.
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So this is a list of things that you shouldn't access.
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And we can know because we keep the list right here.
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So if you try to access certain websites that we think is an efficient website, we're going to block you right here.
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We're going to block that website.
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And another use case is like, hey, I want to cache this stuff.
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Hey, we just made another person just made a request for certain content.
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Hey, I have it cached here.
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Don't bother.
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I'm not going to go to the server to pull this content again.
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I'm just going to serve it back to you.
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So that's where you use a proxy.
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How about some use cases of a proxy?
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The use of proxy is caching.
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Caching is very popular where, hey, I'm consuming this content, but someone else already have done it.
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So as you have this centralized location where all the some of the requests going through the proxy, the proxy can serve you cached content.
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This could be bad or good, but nevertheless, it's a good idea sometimes.
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right anonymity anonymity from the final destination the final destination doesn't know
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that originating client as we have discussed here as far as
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Google is concerned this is the client right not this one right
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so this is kind of an anonymity right code in code you're kind of understand
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that you're transferring the anonymity from one place to another
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because yes Google doesn't know who you are anymore
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but the proxy does logging yeah
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and again in a work environment hey i want to log everybody request
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and say okay this website is being visited a lot
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so maybe it's time to start caching this website
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or maybe this guy's oh this is this guy's always on facebook oh why is he doing
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that right block websites hey i don't want you isps
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and work situations can actually do that right if it can protect you from bad websites or actually if certain governments,
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right, can force clients to actually use a proxy to access the internet.
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It's like, hey, without this proxy, you cannot access the internet.
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I'm sorry.
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So if the month is to use a proxy, any website goes, any request goes through that ISP proxy.
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And the moment you do that,
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well, they can see certain information not everything at least the domains we we can go hours talking about
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that stuff right block website
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microservices is one of the recent chain uh use cases of
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proxies especially a sidecar proxies there are many type proxies guys this yeah http proxy tcp proxy sidecar proxy
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so microservices is also another use case where you can deploy a proxy next to your application and have it
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take care of networking stuff, right?
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So if you make a simple request, right, let's say an HTTP one request,
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that sidecar proxy can actually start upgrading that request to a newer protocol, let's say HTTP two or HTTP three, right?
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So it can do that for you because it know how to speak that language.
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You just speak in a primitive way between these two.
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And this could be the bad ass configuration, right?
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They can use gRPC.
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They can use very high tech at the back end, right?
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So, that's another use case for microservices.
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Microservices actually uses both proxy and reverse proxy.
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Jumping to the reverse proxy.
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The reverse proxy is actually the reverse, and I hate that because it's very confusing, I know.
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In the proxy configuration, the server doesn't know the client.
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In the reverse proxy, the client doesn't know the final destination server.
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it's actually reversed right so if here you want to go to google.com
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which is your final destination
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but guess what google.com in itself is a reverse proxy it is not the true final destination
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and you don't know that
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because guess what the proxy in this case will make the request still on your behalf
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but you don't know that they will communicate to either google server one or Google server two or Google server three.
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And this is one use case of a reverse proxy called load balancing, right?
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So, hey, I want to go to this or no, maybe I'm going to use a canary deployment.
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Well, I'm testing that 8% of users should use this new version of the application, right?
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And Instagram does that all the time, right?
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Or YouTube does that all the time.
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Hey, we're testing all the request, 8% of the request, we're testing this new feature, right?
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This new functionality.
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Oh, well, 8% of the request, literally in the reverse proxy, we're going to funnel it to this destination.
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And that's it.
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That's how you get the new functionality, right?
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So that's a reverse proxy.
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Again, very quick.
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In a proxy, the server doesn't know the client.
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Reverse proxy, the client doesn't know the final destination.
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That's the simplest I can get it, really, right?
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And let's talk about reverse proxy use cases, more reverse proxy use cases.
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Caching is again, shows up again.
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I want to make a request to Google.com and the Google.com is a reverse proxy.
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Well, it will cache content for me so that I don't have to.
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It doesn't have to go to the back end and features on formation for me.
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Right.
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Formation that are already being fetched so catching is very important load balancing something you cannot do with just a proxy
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load balancing hey i am you're making a request to me
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which is the reverse proxy i'm sometimes gonna hit this server
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sometimes i'm gonna hit this server sometimes i'm gonna hit this server
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and there are so this you can speak about this for hours guys i i made
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so many videos about load balancing there are many types of
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app balancer layer 4 load balancers layer 7 load balancers layer 3 load balancers it is a complicated topic
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if you want to learn more i'm going to reference the
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playlist it's going to in the comment section go dive deep into it
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and just enjoy this is a huge huge huge huge feature right
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so a lot balancing ingress in kubernetes and microservices
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and architecture always says hey all right you talk to me
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sir as a reverse proxy your client talk to me reverse proxy
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and guess what if you want to access the pictures api i'm gonna funnel you to this api
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if you're doing going to the comments api i'm going to funnel you to this
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so that's called an ingress where it's actually based on certain
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filtering on the content at least the http side it says
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oh you want to go to this you want to consume
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the comments api you want to consume the pictures api you
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want to consume this api right well i'm going to take you to the actual service
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that is responsible of serving you this content
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so it's not really not balancing it's kind of cause it's
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all an ingress where it's kind of like like a router right
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so hey this goes here this goes here this goes here very important features in kubernetes canary deployment
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Canary deployment is where we talked about right?
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This is hey, I'm experimenting that 3% of all YouTube videos should have a random generated thumbnail.
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That's a canary deployment.
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How do they do it?
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Reverse proxy rules.
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They have rules and they define it in the reverse proxy.
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Examples of reverse proxies guys by the way, hundreds of them right?
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There are it's a proxy there is nginx there is envoy
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there is linkedin linkedin linker d already run out i say 100
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but i can't think of a lot of people
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that yeah caddy web server some people some some servers act like a web server
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and a reverse proxy which is awesome
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and finally the microservices yes a microservice architecture reverse proxy is
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also a key where each service sometimes as a sidecar plays like a sidecar it's both a proxy
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and a reverse proxy at the same time we're going to talk about
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that all right guys so these are the most common questions
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that i have collected over over the years and just from reading my comment section on the youtube channel
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the first question is can the proxy
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and the reverse proxy be used at the same time yes
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there is a use case where a proxy can act also as a reverse proxy at the same instance
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and this is called the service mesh right a service mesh
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or a sidecar proxy like linker d or stu
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or envoy are used in microservices architecture
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and it is used all the time to kind of build
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the networking feature of the application in the proxy itself instead of
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and focus the application to write its own features instead of worrying about timeouts
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and circuit break and all that garbage right so
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So that's a use case where a proxy can act like
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a reverse proxy the same a second uh question is can
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i use a proxy instead of vpn for anonymity well you can yeah you can
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but you have to really know what they are doing technically vpn is more secure than
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a proxy because they are at lower level and vpn the only thing
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that vpn can see in your content is the domain that
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and that's assuming every website you're visiting has the padlock in
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it https right assuming i'm talking about only web traffic here but yeah
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if the vpn can only see the domains right you have you're going to facebook.com they can see
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that right you're going to this website that's come a proxy is more dangerous
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because some proxies can not only see see the domains, they can see everything if they are TLS terminating proxies.
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If they are that type, then actually they can just see everything you're doing and you don't want that, right?
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So if you want to use a proxy, know that it's not a TLS termination proxy.
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If it's that, then it's essentially decrypting the traffic and serving you its certificate.
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So to know is very easy.
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Go to the padlock and click on it and see that it's being served by the final destination web server, not the proxies certificate, right?
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But yeah, to be honest, I don't use a VPN or a proxy, right?
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Because first of all, I don't have a use case where I want to visit.
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I live in the United States, so any page is pretty much open, right?
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But if I want to use anonymity, I'm not going to use a VPN because VPN still, the anonymity is still not going to use a VPN transferred from from my isp to the vpn
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so the vpn know where i'm going and which websites i'm visiting
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but yeah even i don't have a use case
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so i don't use a vpn
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or a proxy i'm sorry i might consider using it to to access some content
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that i'm not supposed to watch in the united states i
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don't know some uk shows right i would i would use a vpn
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but yeah i don't use that any of them Plus, as long as the website is secure, it's good, right?
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And the domains, really?
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I mean, yeah, they can look that I'm viewing amazon.com or facebook.com.
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Yeah.
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So I'm not really worried about that much.
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So that's just me.
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Is proxy just for HTTP traffic?
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No. You can have so many types of proxies.
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There is SOX proxies, which is a very low level.
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There is unused for tunneling.
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There is HTTP proxy, which only forwards traffic for HTTP, right?
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There is HTTPS traffic proxy, which can act both ways.
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As a tunneling proxy using the connect HTTP method, which is safer.
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Or as a TLS termination, which is you want to use TLS termination reverse proxies.
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TLS termination proxies And you use it for your normal days That's a no-no Alright guys That's it for me
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Hopefully it was a quick video I don't know
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if it's worse than the one I made
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But hey I just thought it was a good idea To just remake this video guys for you
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And follow me on Twitter Send me your great questions I
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love to leave them Subscribe to this channel to see more software engineering Backend technology I talk about all
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that stuff in this channel and I'm going to see you in the next one.
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You guys stay awesome.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will engage in understanding the concepts of proxy and reverse proxy servers, key components in the world of networking and internet communications. By analyzing this informative discussion, you will practice your listening skills while enhancing your vocabulary related to technology and networking. This lesson aims to help you improve your English pronunciation and speaking practice through shadowing techniques, which involve mimicking the speaker’s tone and pace. You will not only enhance your comprehension but also gain confidence in articulating complex vocabulary associated with server technologies.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Proxy: A software that makes requests on behalf of a client.
- Reverse Proxy: A server that retrieves resources on behalf of a client and forwards them to the client.
- Caching: The process of storing copies of files or data to quickly serve future requests.
- Anonymity: The state of being anonymous or unidentified when accessing the internet.
- Logging: The practice of recording user activities on a particular system or network.
- ISP: Internet Service Provider, a company that provides internet access to consumers.
- Websites: Locations on the internet where information is hosted or shared.
- Configuration: The arrangement or setting of technologies or devices.
Practice Tips
To get the most out of this lesson, consider using shadowing techniques. Listen closely to the video and try to shadow speech in real-time. This means repeating phrases immediately after the speaker, imitating their intonation, rhythm, and speed. The speaker in the video maintains a clear but conversational pace, which is ideal for improving English pronunciation and enhancing your overall fluency. Remember to focus on how they articulate each term, especially the technical vocabulary like "proxy" and "caching," as these are crucial for your English speaking practice.
Additionally, don't hesitate to pause the video after complex sentences or phrases. Repeat them several times until you feel comfortable. This will train your mouth to form these sounds accurately. Engaging in regular practice with these shadow speaking exercises will significantly help you develop a natural flow and improve your confidence in using sophisticated language related to technology.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.