Proxy server, what is it and why is it needed?
Proxy server, what is it?
Proxy server — an additional host between your real IP and the Internet. This is like an additional agent that separates the visitor’s real IP from the site visited. We can say that the proxy server acts as an some kind of wall between users and Internet resources. The task of the proxy server is to transfer all requests from the client to the Internet, and broadcast the received responses back, while hiding the real IP address.
Why are proxy servers needed?
- Proxy servers have different usage scenarios. Below are some of them:
- To protect information on your computer from network attacks and possible hacks
- To ensure privacy. So that sites and Internet resources do not know who exactly visits them.
- To access blocked resources, which, for example, for some reason may not be available for a particular country.
- To have a permanent IP address on the Internet, if the Internet provider cannot offer such a service.
- Speed up access to resources and reduce Internet traffic by compressing and caching some pages and resources.
What are the differences between proxy servers?
Server proxies are divided into public proxies, private proxies and shared proxies.
Public proxy or open proxy server is a proxy that accepts requests from any clients, and is not limited in access. Usually such proxies do not live long and work very slowly. The reason for this is a large number of people who use this type of proxies. Advantage of such proxy servers is that they are free. You can get a large number of not very high-quality proxies for free. Among the shortcomings, one can note the slow speed of work and instability of work.
Unlike public proxies, private proxies are used by one client or a very limited circle of people. Private proxy servers have limited access, usually authorization occurs through IP or by login and password. Private proxy servers allow you to get maximum speed and privacy. You can always be sure who exactly uses the proxy and for what purposes. But, this type of proxy have some cost.
Shared proxy is a mixture between private and public proxy servers. Usually shared proxies are sold by services that sell proxies in order to reduce the final price of the proxy. Shared proxies can be sold to multiple users. But since this number of users is usually limited, proxies remain quite private and usually services selling proxies make sure that the purposes of using such proxies do not overlap between users. In other words, such proxies are a great solution when you need private proxies, but you do not want to overpay for the fact that only you use these proxies.
Usually proxies support socks4, socks5 and https protocols. Unlike http proxy servers, SOCKS transmits all data from the client without adding anything from itself, that is, from the point of view of the final server, the data received by it from the SOCKS proxy is identical to the data that the client would transfer directly, without proxying.
The technical difference between a proxy server from each other:
- HTTP proxy. The most common. Used for web browsing. But they are not safe, so it is better to choose others.
- HTTPS. Same as HTTP, but with encryption. You can safely use it to access blocked sites like Pandora, Hula or Netflix.
- SOCKS. A variation of the protocol that works with different types of traffic. More flexible and secure.
Proxy or VPN
If we consider proxies and VPNs, then in general they both cope with their task — spoofing the IP address. The only difference is that the VPN encrypts the traffic between the client and the server, so the provider will not be able to find out where you are accessing and what data you are transmitting. Unlike VPN, it is believed that proxies are not so protected from interception of information within the protocol. On the other hand, using a VPN, you cannot get multiple IP addresses at the same time using a VPN connection. Alternatively, you can always use a proxy behind the VPN connection. So you get the opportunity to use an infinite number of proxy servers, and at the same time the traffic that you transmit to proxy servers will not be visible to your Internet provider.
You can always buy a proxy server or download proxies using software or public proxy lists. Alternatively, in order to understand what you need, you can start with free proxies, maybe they will suit you and you will not need to buy high-quality paid proxies. If, however, you understand that public proxies cannot be downloaded and their quality leaves much to be desired, then you can always buy a proxy package from us 🙂 https://fosy.club/price.html
