# Start here (https://portunus.bybee.dev/en/docs/overview)



Portunus forwards TCP and UDP ports on remote hosts. There are two ways to run
it: a single standalone binary driven by a local TOML file, or a server that
pushes rules to clients and manages permissions, rate limits, metrics, and audit
logs. Either way, business traffic flows through the forwarding host, not the
server, and Portunus does not decrypt or edit it.

## Which one should I use? [#which-one-should-i-use]

|                                                                          | [**Standalone**](/en/docs/standalone/installation) | [**Server + client**](/en/docs/server-client/installation) |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------: | :--------------------------------------------------------: |
| Rules come from                                                          |                  A local TOML file                 |                   The server, pushed live                  |
| Best for                                                                 |                 One host / edge box                |                 Many hosts, central control                |
| Control-plane server to run, secure, back up                             |                        None                        |                          Required                          |
| Live rule updates (no restart)                                           |                          ✗                         |                              ✓                             |
| Browser Web UI, RBAC, audit log                                          |                          ✗                         |                              ✓                             |
| Rate limiting / QoS, per-owner quotas                                    |                          ✗                         |                              ✓                             |
| TLS-SNI routing                                                          |                          ✗                         |                              ✓                             |
| Prometheus metrics                                                       |                          ✗                         |                              ✓                             |
| Live traffic dashboard                                                   |    ✓ terminal TUI (`portunus-standalone stats`)    |                    ✓ Web UI + Prometheus                   |
| TCP/UDP, port ranges, multi-target failover, PROXY protocol, DNS targets |                          ✓                         |                              ✓                             |

Pick a mode and follow its install path:

<Cards>
  <Card title="Standalone" href="/en/docs/standalone/installation" description="One host, rules from a local TOML file. Most users start here." />

  <Card title="Server + Client" href="/en/docs/server-client/installation" description="Many hosts, rules pushed from a server: RBAC, Web UI, metrics, quotas." />
</Cards>

## Learn more [#learn-more]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Architecture" href="/en/docs/overview/architecture" />

  <Card title="Performance" href="/en/docs/overview/performance" />

  <Card title="Forwarding concepts" href="/en/docs/overview/concepts/tcp-forwarding" />
</Cards>

## License [#license]

Licensed under the [GNU Affero General Public License v3.0](https://github.com/ZingerLittleBee/Portunus/blob/main/LICENSE)
(`AGPL-3.0-only`).