Understanding Proxy Servers and How They Work

In today's Internet era, Proxy has become one of the essential tools for many people to surf the Internet, especially for overseas business. Overseas Proxy brings unlimited business opportunities for marketing growth. Whether it is to break through website restrictions or to protect personal privacy and security, Proxy can provide an effective solution.

But where do these magical IP addresses come from? And how do they work? Today we will answer them for you one by one.

1. The principle of Proxy

A proxy server acts as a gateway between you and the internet. It acts as a relay station, and if you use a proxy server, internet traffic flows through the proxy server to the address you requested. The request then returns through the same proxy server (there are exceptions to this rule), and the proxy server then forwards the data it received from the website to you.

If that's all, then why use a proxy server? Why not just go directly to the website and back?

That's because proxy servers do much more than just forward network requests, all for data security and network performance. A good proxy server can protect users and internal networks from malicious content on the Internet, provide a high level of privacy, and help users break through the restrictions of their own IP addresses.

When a proxy server forwards your web requests, it can change the data you send but still provide you with the information you want to see. A proxy server can change your IP address so the web server doesn't know exactly where in the world you are.

2. Where does the Proxy come from?

Currently, the main sources of Proxys can be divided into data centers and ISP operators, and the corresponding IP types provided are computer rooms (data center IPs) and residential IPs.

Residential Proxy:

Residential IP refers to the IP address resources provided by local operators. These IP addresses are usually allocated to the operators' customers, such as enterprises, individual users, etc. The reason why operator IPs can be used as Proxys is that they have the following characteristics:

• Geographical dispersion: Operators have network nodes spread all over the country and can provide IP address resources in different regions.
• High stability: The operator's IP address resources are highly stable and reliable.
• High authenticity: Residential IPs are derived from IP resources accessed by local operators, linked to real geographic locations, and more closely simulate real-life environments. Therefore, by renting or purchasing IP address resources from operators, users can obtain stable and reliable Proxys. This method is suitable for companies and institutions that require the authenticity of Proxys. IPFoxy residential proxy resources are directly purchased from local operators and are real real-life residential IPs.

Data Center Proxy:

The computer room IP refers to the IP address provided by the data center or server hosting provider. These IP addresses are usually assigned to various servers hosted in the computer room. The reason why the computer room IP can also be used as a Proxy is mainly because:

• Wide geographical distribution: Data centers in different regions can provide IP address resources in different regions.
• Excellent network quality: The computer room's professional network infrastructure can ensure good network quality.
• Rich resources: Large computer rooms often have a large number of available IP address resources for large-scale use. Compared with residential proxies, IPs obtained from computer rooms are easier to detect. However, high performance and high anonymity are also favored by many companies. For example, IPv4 and IPv6 belong to data center IPs.

3. Application of Proxy

In most cases, using a proxy has the following effects:

• Improve privacy and security The main function of a Proxy is to hide the user's IP to protect network privacy. Turning on a Proxy can filter content, prevent malware and network attacks.
• Access restricted content Some regions or organizations may restrict access to certain websites or content. By changing the Proxy, you can avoid restricted access and complete global market planning and strategies.
• Improving Internet Speed Proxy servers can cache commonly used web pages and files, thereby reducing access to original servers, improving network performance and speeding up page downloads. Extending from these functions, Proxys also play a role in positioning switching, IP isolation, and security prevention in cross-border e-commerce social media operations, advertising, independent site SEO optimization, web page collection, and other fields.

4. Risks of Proxy

You do need to be careful when choosing a proxy server: some common risks may offset any potential benefits:

1. Risks of free proxy servers

You know that old saying, "You get what you pay for?" A lot of free proxies are dangerous, even those that use an ad-based revenue model. Free usually means they don't invest a lot in backend hardware or encryption, and could steal your information.

2. Browsing History

The proxy server may store your original IP address and web request information locally in an unencrypted form. Make sure to choose a provider that guarantees user security before use.

3. No encryption

If you use an unencrypted proxy protocol, anyone listening can easily obtain usernames and passwords as well as account information, so make sure any Proxy you use uses a secure encrypted protocol, such as socks5 or http.

5. Conclusion

Regardless of the method adopted, obtaining high-quality and stable Proxy resources requires certain costs and technical investment.