# Panel proxy
Panel proxy provides a centralized login portal for all participating ApisCP nodes. Panel proxy consists of three components:
- Collection agent, cp-collect Repository apisnetworks/cp-collect (opens new window)
- API service, cp-api Repository apisnetworks/cp-api (opens new window)
- Reverse proxy cp-proxy Repository apisnetworks/cp-proxy (opens new window)
The designated panel proxy server will always be visible in the address bar regardless of server an account actually resides on. Locations will change when a user clicks through to phpMyAdmin, phpPgAdmin, or any webmail application. This is by design.
Panel proxy can be combined with Cachet (opens new window) to report server status on login, reported as "<indicator> Network Status"
All components of panel proxy are available on GitHub (opens new window).
A typical topology exists of at least 2 nodes with the cp-api on a separate node from cp-proxy/cp-collector for security.
Layout considerations
cp-collector encrypts authentication data with a key outside the database. This key is required to decrypt authentication keys (API/SSH) to collect accounts. Separation of services adds an extra layer of security should the API server become compromised. This also allows the API service to run on a normal ApisCP instance as its own account.
