What is a proxy server?

A Proxy server is a computer that sits between a client computer and the Internet and provides indirect network services to a client. It may reside on the user's local computer or at various points along the path between the user's computer and destination servers on the Internet. A proxy server intercepts all client requests, either providing responses from its cache or forwarding them to the real server. A client computer is connected to the proxy server, which acknowledges client requests by providing the requested resource/data from either a specified server or the local cache memory. Client requests include files or any other resources available on various servers.

Types of Proxy servers

Proxy servers are classified into several types based on purpose and functionality. Some of the most common types and their uses can be described below:

Web Proxy is the most common type of proxy application, which responds to user requests by accessing resources from cached web pages and files available on remote web servers. This provides quick, reliable access to data for local network clients. If the requested resource is not found in the cache, a web proxy fetches the file from the remote server, stores a copy in the cache, and returns it to the client.

Transparent Proxy is mostly used for caching websites and overcoming simple IP bans. However, such proxies do not provide user anonymity, as the user’s original IP address is exposed. Transparent proxies are not specifically configured on the client computers.

Anonymous proxies do not hide the original IP address of the user; however, they provide adequate anonymity to most users. Anonymous proxies are easily detectable.

A distorting proxy identifies itself as a proxy server and modifies the HTTP headers to disguise the original IP address.

Tunneling proxies are capable of passing client requests and returning responses without making any modifications. These are also referred to as gateway proxies.

A forward proxy responds to client requests by retrieving data from a wide range of sources on the internet. It is also referred to as an Internet-facing proxy.

Open proxies belong to the category of forwarding proxy servers, which are accessible by any internet user since they can receive and return requests from any client computer. Meanwhile, anonymous open proxies are used to conceal users' IP addresses.

Reverse proxies, also known as surrogates, usually receive requests from the Internet and forward them to internal network servers. A reverse proxy server forwards requests to one or more proxy servers, whose response is returned to the client computer, the user of which has no knowledge of the origin of the response.

Where is a Proxy server used?

Proxy servers are used for several purposes. If used as a caching web proxy, it can dramatically improve the performance of web responses. When a client requests a document, a caching proxy returns it directly from its cache if the document already exists. Otherwise, it makes the request to the real server, returns the result, and saves it in its cache for later use.

Proxy servers are also used as "web proxies" to filter web page contents. An organization or company may use a proxy server to block offensive web content from users. As organizations increasingly need to prevent employees from accessing specific websites, such as Facebook.com, proxy servers are being deployed across intranet-connected computers. Some web proxies can reformat web pages to suit specific audiences or cater to organizational or personal internet use. Further, web proxies can be used to prevent the spread of computer viruses and malware, as well as other hostile content transmitted across the internet. However, users can also use web proxy servers to access those blocked sites indirectly. These web proxies are built with PHP or CGI to implement proxying and provide access to sites blocked by corporate and school proxies. Moreover, Internet Service providers (ISPs) may also use proxies to block computer viruses and other offensive content.

Of course, for the best proxying experience, you should use paid proxy providers such as Smartproxy. These are reliable proxy providers that offer top-notch residential proxies. For instance, you can use these proxies for web scraping, ad verification, cybersecurity, and more. You can also use residential proxies for data collection, scraping competitor sites, or conducting price comparison analysis.

Advanatage of Proxy Server

There are several advantages of Proxy servers. We intend to provide an overview of some of the most basic uses of proxy servers.

Performance Improvement:

Proxy servers also contribute to improved web performance since the results of the user requests are saved in cache memory for a set period of time. This is achieved with a caching proxy server, which can save significant time while handling requests from a large user base. A caching proxy server maintains a local copy of frequently requested web content. Hence, it can accelerate service requests by retrieving content from the cache memory if it has already been requested by another client on the same network. This feature significantly reduces upstream bandwidth usage and costs for large organizations with thousands of employees.

Monitoring and Filtering User Requests:

As discussed earlier, web proxies can be used to filter user requests and block certain content or web pages from being accessed. This can be achieved with the help of a content-filtering web proxy server that differentiates the users’ level of control over the content, based on the user type - Guest or Administrator.

Content-filtering proxies are generally used in organizations and educational institutions with strict internet usage policies. Blocking certain websites, restricting access to specific keywords, and censoring undesirable content are some of the basic features provided by content-filtering or web-filtering proxies. However, there are certain web proxies that bypass geo-restrictions and censorship by using advanced services that allow access to resources from blacklisted web locations.

Anonymous Browsing:

An anonymous proxy server is another type of web proxy that anonymizes users' online activities. This type of proxy server directs the user's requests to a destination server, which ultimately has no knowledge of the source of the request. Only the proxy is aware of the source of the request, including the user's IP address and location.

Advertisements targeting specific geographical regions. Web Proxies can also be used to validate and verify geo-targeted advertisements. Servers for such ads validate the source IP address of the user request and determine the geographic location of the request using a geo-IP database. User requests are responded to via proxy servers located in the user's respective geographical location, ensuring that the advertisements displayed are purely relevant to the user's location.

Translation:

Considering the global audiences, translation proxies have been developed to localize/translate the content of a source website into the local language of the client computer. Responses to requests sent by local users are replaced with translated content from the source website and then returned through the proxy server. Some translation proxies also provide additional services such as excluding source content or substituting source content with original local content.