I have a noob question but seem overwhelmed with all the information I get about it. Basically, why do I need a reverse proxy if all my services are not public? Every guide or video for self hosting there’s always talk of a reverse proxy, have been doing it wrong?
Here’s my setup: I have proxmox running with LXC containers and VM’s for different services some have docker. I have HAProxy on PfSense with a wildcard cert. and the built-in dns resolver, and I vpn home every time I need something.
Have I be going about this the wrong way? Would I benefit from Nginx or traefik? Or is HAProxy enough? Sorry for the stupid question, I’m like a kid with a new toy and overwhelming myself.
A reverse proxy can still be useful internally by allowing you to collect many different services under one name. It can greatly reduce your certificate management as well. I can’t think of much else you’d gain though.
But you don’t NEED one. I manage my home network without one, and I have two dozen machines, counting VMs. Gotta vpn to get to anything, except game servers and SMTP. Nothing wrong with that approach.