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How a reverse proxy works with Easy Report

A reverse proxy is a server that receives requests from external (internet) clients and forwards them to Easy Report.

Why use a reverse proxy? The basic answer is security. A reverse proxy makes Easy Report available to the internet without having to expose the individual IP address of that particular Easy Report instance to the internet. A reverse proxy also acts as an authentication and pass-through device, so that no data is stored where people outside the company can get to it.

The following diagram illustrates the communication path on the example of WhatsApp when a client makes a request to Easy Report that is configured to work with a reverse proxy server.

Easy-Report-reverse-proxy

*WhatsApp IPs:

  • Text Messages:
    • 34.202.224.208
    • 52.66.99.126
  • Media messages:
    • 13.232.173.180
    • 13.127.57.130
    • 13.234.143.231
    • 3.7.115.196

Communication path:

  1. An external client initiates a connection to Easy Report. The client uses the public URL that's been configured for the reverse proxy server, such as https://easyreport.example.com. (The client doesn't know that it's accessing a reverse proxy.)
  2. The reverse proxy maps that request in turn to a request to Easy Report. The reverse proxy must have a supported, verified, or self-signed certificate.
  3. Easy Report gets the request and sends its response to the reverse proxy.
  4. The reverse proxy sends the content back to the client. As far as the client is concerned, it just had an interaction with Easy Report and has no way to know that the communication was mediated by the reverse proxy.