Web browsing is getting less private every day. Websites and apps control just about everything you do. Therefore, more and more people are looking for ways to maintain their privacy. Proxies are one of the options that you can use to protect your identity while browsing the web. The cost of a proxy can be found at https://proxy-seller.com/.
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What is a proxy server and why use one?
When you browse the Internet, your computer connects to a remote server that sends information to it. The proxy server acts as an intermediary for this connection. Your client or application connects to a proxy server that redirects your requests to the final destination.
A proxy server handles your requests, but hides a large amount of identifying information, including your original IP address, the source of the request, your operating system (OS) details, and more. Simply put, it prevents third parties from tracking you.
So far, we’ve talked about the most common privacy-related benefits of proxy servers. However, they also offer many other benefits, including:
- They allow access to geo-restricted content.
- Accelerating downloads due to caching
- They protect against malware by filtering content
- They prevent access to restricted sites on corporate networks.
It is important to understand that there are different types of proxy servers that you can use. However, they all have one thing in common: you need a proxy address to connect to them.
Proxy types
There are several types of proxy servers to choose from. The most popular of these is the so-called “open”, which most people think of when they talk about proxies.
Let’s take a look at the most common types:
- Open proxy. This type of proxy does not require authentication and is often publicly available. This means that while you can use it to increase anonymity, your data may not be safe from whoever controls this server.
- Direct proxy server. Companies and institutions rely on this type of proxy to route internal connections to the outside world. Forward proxies determine whether specific websites or services can be accessed, which helps keep networks secure.
- Reverse proxy server. In simple terms, they help filter incoming requests to your site, which, among other things, helps to ensure privacy and caching.You can find dozens, if not hundreds, of open proxy services on the web. They are usually free and allow you to connect to them using your IP address or directly through your browser. Some even offer extensions so you can always keep them active while browsing the web. Free proxies seem like a practical solution on paper. Unfortunately, they exacerbate security problems – from trivial collection of technical information and travel routes to spoofing packets, redirecting to other sites, collecting your passwords and installing malware on your computer, with all the ensuing consequences.
A private proxy acts as an intermediary between the client and the Internet. Using a private proxy means that one client is currently using exclusively a dedicated IP address. When using a private proxy server, requests first go through the proxy server (which masks the client’s original IP address) and only then connect to Internet resources to fulfill the client’s requests.
Every time you connect to the Internet, your IP address allows other websites to track your Internet activity, regardless of its nature. The only way to stay anonymous is to know how to hide your IP address, and this is where private proxies come in handy.
Also, exclusivity is what determines their quality and, as a rule, price. This is why most proxy providers offer public, semi-dedicated, and private proxies.
Shared proxies can have their advantages, but it’s usually better to buy private proxies as the former can significantly slow down performance, reduce privacy, and increase the likelihood of blocked IP addresses. Today we will take a closer look at private ones.
What is a personal proxy?
- A personal proxy, also known as a private or dedicated proxy, refers to the type of proxy used by only one user at a time. It is not shared with anyone, so you have complete control over how and when this proxy is used.
A personal proxy server carries an exclusive IP address assigned to one user. Since the IP address only belongs to one person, there is no need to be careful about other proxy users performing actions that could cause certain websites to block IP addresses, preventing you from accessing the same websites. Proxy server ownership per hour, this gives you an increased level of privacy and control over your proxy server, but also requires higher costs compared to public and public proxies.
Personal proxies for personal and business needs
Private proxies provide the highest level of anonymity, so they are used not only for personal but also for business purposes. While personal use cases usually involve anonymity, and you can configure your browser to use a proxy that will route all traffic through a specific endpoint, business use cases are more complex.
For example, companies use private proxies anonymously to check advertisers’ landing pages. Or take the fare aggregators for travel, whose business is almost entirely dependent on private proxies. For travel fare aggregators, proxy servers automatically collect data from the websites of airlines, online travel agencies and other sources without blocking or banning IP addresses.
Private proxies are also used to get pricing data (for example, for MAP monitoring), purchase limited edition products, create and manage social media accounts, and many other reasons. Of course, performing these tasks using a proxy requires users to understand the difference between a resident proxy and a datacenter proxy. Residential private proxies are better when simulating the average internet user is important, while data center proxies are better when high internet speed is required.
Proxy servers for private residences and data centers
Proxies differ not only in usage, but also in origin. Two common points of origin are residential proxies and data center proxies. Both of these types can also be public or private proxies.
Residential proxies are servers created by ISPs. These proxies are hosted on real physical machines and provide a dedicated IP address. In addition, these private IPs are the best choice for checking ads, collecting price analytics, and many other online activities where maintaining the identity of the average consumer is critical.
What is a proxy server?
- A resident proxy is a dedicated IP address provided by an ISP to the homeowner. This is a real IP address attached to a real physical machine.
On the other hand, datacenter proxies are built by hosting virtual machines on powerful servers. A large number of proxies can be placed on one server without affecting the connection speed. These private IP addresses are ideal when performing heavy traffic operations (such as email security or market research).
What is a data center proxy?
- A datacenter proxy is a virtual IP address generated by the server. These dedicated IP addresses are usually provided by businesses and not by ISPs.
Dedicated IP addresses from datacenter proxies have the disadvantage that they all come from the same subnet. Target servers can see that a large number of such dedicated IP addresses are using their services, which can trigger bot detection algorithms.
Understanding the differences between datacenter proxies and resident proxies is incredibly important when deciding whether to buy a private proxy.
Benefits of using a private proxy
Private and secure
- The main advantage of private proxies is that they are essentially private. If you buy these proxies, nobody else will have access to them.
- By using private proxies, you will practically not face the risk of compromising your personal information, which provides a higher level of security.
- Private proxies will always show up as an IP address other than your usual one. Home private proxies provide an extra layer of privacy by making it appear like the average Internet user is browsing the Internet.
Several locations
- Usually, private proxy providers offer IP addresses from different locations. This allows you to access content that might otherwise not be available in your region. For example, use a US proxy to access content in the US, or an England proxy to browse the web as if you were in England.
- This can come in handy in many cases. For example, if your target website uses geoblocks or you want localized SERP data.
Very fast
- Private proxies will not negatively affect your browsing speed. They are assigned to a single user, so there is little chance of bandwidth congestion.
- Private proxies are also more reliable than public proxies, and in most cases have unlimited new bandwidth.
- If a private IP proxy is chosen for the datacenter, the internet speed will be extremely high as the servers usually have an enviable internet connection plan.