MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 2-USING FIREWORKS, Use Manual

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Introducing edge servers 11
Administrators can explicitly specify that any connection request to an origin server be
automatically routed through an edge or proxy server. For example, if your applications are
running on fms.foo.com, you can redirect the connection request from the users’ computers
to another server (or virtual host) called fmsproxy.foo.com
,
which is configured to run in
remote mode
.
Instead of making the usual connection to the applications with the following connection
string:
rtmp://fms.foo.com/app/inst
the clients are redirected through the edge, which prefixes its protocol and hostname to an
existing URI:
rtmp://fmsproxy.foo.com/?rtmp://fms.foo.com/app/inst
The prefix contains only the protocol, hostname, and optionally the port number. The URI
must always end with a trailing slash. A question mark (?) separates the proxy’s prefix from the
main URI.
Reverse proxies
Sometimes you cannot configure the client (as is the case with mobile phones and devices) to
send their connection requests for Flash Media Server services through an edge or proxy
server. In these cases you might set up one or more reverse proxy servers and position them
closer to the origin server. Reverse proxies are usually located within an organization’s DMZ
and control access to Flash Media Server resources from clients connecting through the
Internet to an origin server located behind the firewall. Reverse proxies redirect incoming
connection requests instead of outgoing connection requests as in the case of explicit and
anonymous proxies.
The reverse proxy intercepts all connection requests that arrive from clients, as well as any
edge servers positioned on the outer side of a firewall, authenticates these requests, and then
forwards them to the origin server. The origin server is always located on the inner side of the
firewall. With a reverse proxy, you limit the access to an origin server on the trusted network.
The reverse proxy blocks all traffic except what its configuration allows for. A reverse proxy
also blocks any attempt to access other servers and their resources on the trusted network.
A reverse edge server hides the presence and location of the origin server. Administrators can
explicitly determine that connection requests to Flash Media Server be automatically routed
through a reverse edge or proxy server. You can use RTMPS to configure a reverse proxy to
listen on port 80 for non-secure connection requests and port 443 for secure requests.