Xray Working Modes

Single Server Mode

Like other network proxy tools, you need a server configured with Xray. Then, install and configure the Xray client on your device to access the Internet smoothly.

A single Xray server can support multiple devices accessing via different proxy protocols simultaneously. Meanwhile, with reasonable configuration, Xray can identify and distinguish traffic that needs proxying from traffic that doesn't; direct traffic does not need to take a detour.

Bridge Mode

If you don't want to configure routing on every single device, you can set up a relay (transit) server. This server receives all traffic sent from clients and then makes forwarding decisions within the server itself.

Working Principle

Before configuring Xray, it is helpful to look at how Xray works. The following is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a single Xray process. Multiple Xray instances are independent of each other and do not affect one another.

• You need to configure at least one Inbound and one Outbound connection for it to work properly.
  • Inbound connections are responsible for communicating with clients (such as browsers):
    • Inbound connections can usually be configured with user authentication, such as IDs and passwords.
    • After receiving data, the inbound connection hands it over to the Dispatcher for distribution.
  • Outbound connections are responsible for sending data to the destination, such as Xray on another host.
• When there are multiple outbound connections, you can configure Routing to specify that a certain category of traffic is sent via a specific outbound connection.
  • The Router will query DNS when necessary to obtain more information for decision-making.