We define the target IP that all request need to be forwarded on the client device
Proxies are protocol specific (i.e. HTTP proxy will only route HTTP traffic to proxy server)
Works at Layer 7 & Layer 4 (Load Balancers)
VPN Server similar to Proxies hide the IP Address but they additionally encrypt the traffic

Forward Proxy

Makes request on behalf of the client (Target not aware of source)
They need configuration to be made in application to work

Anonymity : Destination is not aware of the client
Logging : Log requests that are originating from the source network
Block Websites : Restrict and filter unwanted websites (gambling, social media, etc.)
Content Checking : Verifies the content is valid and doesn’t have malicious content (Similar to application Firewall)

Reverse Proxy

Makes request of behalf of client (Source not aware of target)

Caching : Caches pages in its memory. Helps to save bandwidth
Load Balancing : Allows to balance request between multiple internal servers
Ingress : Used in microservices allows to route traffic based on endpoints
Canary Deployment : Route traffic between new and old version of site