What is proxy and what proxy types are there?

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Proxy 101

What are the Proxies?

So, what is the proxy itself, you may ask? To say it in the simplest way – it is a mediator between you, the client and the website you want to visit. Meaning that working principle is rather simple – all the traffic is routed through servers on its way to/from destination sites rather than direct connection. Now you may wonder why proxies are used in first place. Reasons can be multiple but here are some main ones:

  • More privacy on the internet
  • Better network performance
  • Better data/information security (in cases when proxy server is used as a firewall or filtering purposes)
  • Better data collection success rates.

 

Now that we know the basics of what proxy server is you may start questioning how does it work. To put it simple – every device we use to connect to the internet has IP (Internet Protocol address). To simplify that even more – IP addresses are like real addresses but for devices. This allows other devices to communicate with yours as they know who is trying to request/receive information (For example having certain downloads, visiting sites, browsing, downloading files, etc.) Of course, proxies are chosen for a certain reason as there are lots of people and companies that do prefer not a direct type of communication (As in communication between your direct IP address and target website). The proxies do act as a certain computer as it does have its own IP address too.

Proxies are also capable of such features as:

  • Masking of your real IP address
  • Helping out to receive/send encrypted data so it won’t get taken by unwanted 3rd party
  • Blocking access to certain websites for certain IP addresses (more commonly used in business places or higher education places for work maximization)
  • Routing traffic in different IPs to make target site think that device from local place (as in target websites country i.e.) is trying to access site.

 

Main advantages of using proxy servers:

  • More security for your business: Helping your business to be more secure by using IP addresses that are not connected to your company and more protection against possible attacks such as Denial-of-service (more commonly known as DDoS)
  • Traffic filtering and monitoring
  • Data collection: Helpful way to get information for companies which is correct from a user/location perspective. I.e., Pricings for certain goods in certain location – are competitors’ prices in certain location is correct.

 

What proxy types are available at proxy-cheap.com?

Here at proxy-cheap.com we have a variety of proxies to offer, for most use cases.

Static residential proxies: Also known as ISP (Internet Service Provider) proxies – they allow you to choose the favorite ISP. Main advantage – these IPs are assigned at real places of residence mainly for commercial use as they are treated as business type IP’s and the designated target sites will treat the requests as if they are coming from real places so higher success rates and quicker speeds can be achieved. This type of proxy will work with all your favorite websites.

Residential rotating proxies: type of proxies that consists of real user IPs internationally. This comes in as real individuals choose to jump in to the network for exchange of some benefits such as some ads-free experiences. For this the individuals allow business to route traffic. Mainly they are used for data collection from certain sites (as there is country level targeting), allows user to view information from a local perspective.

Data Center proxies: Type of proxies that are not affiliated with any ISP and are located in a data center rather than real residential location as seen with our previous proxy types. Usually, single server is assigned a huge amount of IP addresses and through all of it the traffic is being routed. This type of proxy is mainly chosen due to cheap price and cheap maintenance. Both IPv4 and IPv6 proxies are available.

Mobile proxies: Proxy that allows to use 3G/4G type proxies from different mobile carriers. This type of proxies is mostly used for apps, ads or to check quality assessments, geo-specific user experiences (with USA mobile 3G proxy state level targeting is possible).

Augustas Frost

Support Manager

Augustas Frost is a valued contributor at Proxy-Cheap, specializing in proxy-related content. With a knack for simplifying complex topics, he's your go-to source for understanding the world of proxies.
Outside his work, Augustas explores the latest tech gadgets and embarking on hiking adventures.

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