A Zabbix proxy is another member of the Zabbix suite of programs that sits between a full-blown Zabbix server and a host-oriented Zabbix agent. Just as with a server, it's used to collect data from any number of items on any number of hosts, and it can retain that data for an arbitrary period of time, relying on a dedicated database to do so. Just as with an agent, it doesn't have a frontend and is managed directly from the central server. It also limits itself to data collection without triggering evaluations or actions.

All these characteristics make the Zabbix proxy a simple, lightweight tool to deploy if you need to offload some checks from the central server or if your objective is to control and streamline the flow of monitored data across networks (possibly segregated by one or more firewalls) or both.

A basic distributed architecture involving Zabbix proxies would look as follows:

By its very nature, a Zabbix proxy should run on a dedicated machine, which is different...