What is a reverse proxy and why is it used with ASP.NET Core?

A reverse proxy is a server that receives client requests and forwards them to the ASP.NET Core application, usually running on Kestrel.

It can provide TLS termination, public port management, load balancing, process integration, request filtering, centralized logging, and other edge-server capabilities. IIS and Nginx are common reverse proxies used with ASP.NET Core.

When a proxy changes request scheme, host, or client IP information, forwarded headers must be configured correctly so the application sees the original request values.