A proxy is a software, computer, or system through which traffic originating from a browser or server first passes before being directed to the target. In addition to acting as an intermediary, a proxy server, especially a forward proxy, also functions as an anonymizer. It hides a computer’s real IP address and, in its place, assigns a new IP address. It is this functionality that informs their myriad use cases. In this article, we will detail the 5 best proxy server use cases. But before delving into this, let’s first explore the various types of proxies.
Types of Proxies
The main types of proxy servers include:
- Reverse proxies
- Forward proxies
- Residential proxies
- Datacenter proxies
- Rotating proxies
- Sticky proxies
- Shared proxies
- Dedicated or private proxies
- Transparent proxies
- HTTP/HTTPS proxies
- SOCKS/SOCKS5 proxies
Top 5 Proxy Server Uses
The five best proxy server use cases are:
1. Web scraping
Web scraping entails using bots to automatically extract publicly available data from websites. However, websites are increasingly implementing anti-scraping measures, such as CAPTCHAs, IP blocking, headers, and more, which are triggered once the server detects unusual activity originating from the same IP address.
Proxies are useful tools used to mount a formidable resistance against these techniques. Firstly, proxy servers assign a new IP address, masking the real IP address. This way, they protect the real IP address from being blocked should any unforeseen issue arise. Secondly, rotating proxies periodically change the assigned IP address. This keeps the number of requests associated with the same IP address to an absolute minimum. Simply, they prevent servers from noting any unusual activity.
It is noteworthy that residential and datacenter proxies are best suited for web data extraction. The former is ideal for large-scale applications. In contrast, the latter is recommended for use in small-scale web scraping. Additionally, it is equally important to utilize private proxies. Also known as dedicated proxies, private proxies are computers or applications that route traffic from only one user at a time. This, again, limits the number of requests originating from the same IP address.
Web scraping is used in many applications, including:
- Travel fare aggregation
- SEO monitoring
- Market research (competitor monitoring and analysis)
- Price monitoring
- Product monitoring
- Academic research
- Review and reputation monitoring
2. Cybersecurity
HTTP/HTTPS proxies, which can either be configured on the server’s or client’s side, act as content filtration tools. They act as a buffer, receiving incoming responses (if configured as part of the browser) or incoming requests (if located on the server) before reaching the target. By filtering the content, they block content or requests that may be malicious. For instance, they prevent email phishing attacks.
Private proxies also promote security by ensuring that only a single user utilizes a particular proxy resource. As a result, they eliminate the risk of malicious attacks that can sometimes be witnessed when multiple users share the same bandwidth or computing resources, as is the case with shared proxies. Go to this blog article to learn more about the special features of private proxies.
3. Load balancing and reducing bandwidth
Reverse proxies prevent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, an attack wherein an attacker sends more requests than the server can handle, leading to a crash. This proxy type, which can be defined as an application that is found on the server side, sitting in front of the back-end applications, receives requests from browsers before forwarding them to the applications.
Reverse proxies prevent DDoS attacks by balancing the internet traffic among multiple servers. This way, they improve the performance of a website as they connect visitors to the server that is nearest to them. Similarly, reverse proxies increase scalability by ensuring the website can handle a large number of users.
Server-side proxies such as reverse and HTTP/HTTPS proxies also cache frequently accessed files and compress traffic. This way, they free up the server for other functions as the server no longer has to load the cached files.
4. Accessing geo-restricted content
As stated, proxy servers assign a new unique IP address while simultaneously masking the computer’s real online identifier. As a user, you could choose an IP address associated with any country of your choosing (provided your provider has a large IP network pool). Considering that some websites usually display location-specific content, you can access this geo-restricted content using a proxy server.
5. Restrict access to specific websites
Proxies are also used to promote productivity in workplaces. They achieve this by restricting access to some websites. Transparent proxies are mainly used in this use case. They are particularly effective because they stealthily block access to the websites without ‘announcing’ their presence within a network. Simply, they do not leave behind crumbs that a user can use to link the restrictions to the existence of a proxy.
Conclusion
Proxies are fundamental to the success of certain operations. In fact, they are linked to increased performance, scalability, and security of web servers. In addition, they promote cyber security, facilitate web scraping, block access to unauthorized websites, and enable users to access location-specific content.
