A server that sits in front of web servers and forwards requests to them, providing load balancing and security. Like a receptionist who directs visitors to the right department.
Nginx acts as a reverse proxy, distributing incoming website traffic across multiple servers and hiding their actual locations for security.
A reverse proxy is commonly delivered as an L7 (HTTP/HTTPS) load balancer or application gateway. These managed services accept client traffic, terminate TLS, apply routing/WAF policies, and forward requests to backend services/instances—hiding backend origins and improving availability.