Forward Proxy vs Reverse Proxy Demo

This project demonstrates the difference between forward and reverse proxies using AWS EC2 instances.

Architecture

We'll set up:

1. A simple web application (Backend Server)
2. A forward proxy server
3. A reverse proxy server
4. Client machine for testing

Prerequisites

• AWS Account
• 3x EC2 instances (t2.micro is sufficient)
• Basic knowledge of Linux commands
• Python 3.6+

Setup Instructions

1. Launch 3 EC2 instances (Ubuntu 20.04 recommended):

   • Backend Server
   • Forward Proxy
   • Reverse Proxy

2. Update security groups to allow necessary traffic:

   • Backend Server: Allow HTTP (80) from Reverse Proxy
   • Forward Proxy: Allow HTTP (8080) from your IP
   • Reverse Proxy: Allow HTTP (80) from anywhere

3. Follow the setup instructions in each directory to configure the services.