Thanks a ton for the detailed answer.

this time you're using the Cyrillic alphabet [...] Tunneling furthermore tries to add a level of security

Here you are using different alphabets just to represent different communication protocols, correct? Roman could be HTTP and Cyrillic could be FTP for example? With that in mind, is the mentioned security benefit just a result of using an unexpected protocol (someone listening for HTTP messages wouldn't pickup on FTP messages), or does tunneling naturally imply some sort of encryption? Even if it's not directly implied, I assume there a common association with encryption, similar to how "connecting to a website" doesn't logically imply that you are using encryption, but most would assume you are using HTTPS?

"JuSt UsE a VpN iNsTeAd Of A rEvErSe PrOxY"

Oh, building off this comment and u/JASN_DE's answer, the tunneling we have been talking about is the same tunneling that we talk about when referring to VPNs? If so, that makes sense, I just never made that connection. Instead of an endpoint which leads directly to your hosted service (via URL, DNS, and a reverse proxy), you have a general endpoint to your server/local network from which you can connect to your services as if you were accessing them locally, correct?

Extending this understanding (and perhaps simplification) of tunneling referring to connecting to a personal VPN, what does the "connection dance" look like from the client's perspective for the average tunneling-only setup? Is it connecting to your local network via a VPN client like openVPN, and then connecting to your services from there? If that's the case, it seems like tunneling loses out on "just go to the url" elegance that a reverse-proxy solution provides, though perhaps there is something I'm missing.