Proxy Server Gateways

Gateways work at a higher level in the protocol stack to provide more opportunities for monitoring and controlling access between networks. A gateway is like a middle-man, relaying messages from internal clients to external services. The proxy service changes the IP address of the client packets to essentially hide the internal client to the Internet, then it acts as a proxy agent for the client on the Internet. Using proxies reduces the threat from hackers who monitor network traffic to glean information about computers on internal networks. The proxy hides the addresses of all internal computers. Traditionally, using proxies has reduced performance and transparency of access to other networks. However, current firewall products solve some of these problems. There are two types of proxy servers: