In this article, we are listing all proxy types on the market. This is the ultimate guide you can't miss. Keep reading to improve your knowledge of proxies.
Then, the terminal server processes the request and sends back the requested data to the proxy server, which finally sends back the requested information to you.
This is like you seeking a friend to ask another individual a question and then let you know the answer. Through this concept, numerous servers have been invented to serve different purposes. If it is your first time learning about proxies, these can be confusing. In this article, we will discuss the different proxy types and their uses.
Different Types of Proxy Servers
Proxies are divided into various types based on different criteria. Below, we will discuss different kinds of proxies based on server type, sharing, request modification, usage method, anonymity, and protocol.
Types of Proxies Based on Protocol
-
HTTP Proxy
An HTTP proxy server uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to connect to the browser or terminal server. The majority of the proxies are HTTP proxies due to the extensive use of HTTP on the internet. They can access the web pages that you’re browsing on the internet. Although they can also access the web pages using secured HTTPS, the problem is that the original SSL Certificate might be lost during the process.
-
HTTPS Proxy & SSL Proxy
Secure Socket Layer (SSL), is an extra security layer imposed on the HTTP to change it to HTTPS. The extra layer adds security certificates that are utilized for end-to-end encryption to avoid spying during data transmission. When equipped with SSL, a proxy server will establish a secure connection to the web server and also to the client to prevent any external intervention. HTTPS Proxies helps in securing your date by demanding the use of username and password when transacting or logging into websites.
-
SOCKS Proxy
SOCKS Proxies forms a Transmission Control Protocol connection on behalf of the client for directing traffic. This is a technique of channelling through firewalls, and even the proxy’s servers can’t interrupt the data, to allow the socks proxy to support more applications. Due to this, the SOCKS proxy is much more secure compared to HTTP proxies.
Types of Proxies Based on Anonymity Level
-
Transparent Proxy
Transparent proxies are also called a forced proxy, inline proxy, or intercepting proxy.
These proxies don’t modify the responded or requested data, so there’s no anonymity involved, and sites can read your IP address. These types of proxies are mostly found in public Wi-Fi hotspots to allow access to only those with permission. Also, most servers use these proxies to cache data for fast delivery.
-
Anonymous Proxy
Anonymous proxies modify the HTTP header to substitute your IP with their IP address and add extra advancing commands to stop the web server from knowing your IP. The sites may identify that a proxy server is bypassing the connections but can’t tell your real IP address.
-
Elite Anonymous Proxy
These proxies offer the best level of anonymity in a proxy, thus being much safer than anonymous proxies. To altogether remove any of your information, it modifies the HTTP header and doesn’t add any forwarding commands. This way, the connection request is treated as any general connection since the website doesn’t recognize the request to be from a proxy server.
Types of Proxies Based on IP Origin
-
Datacenter Proxy
Datacenter proxy servers are dedicated to handling proxies. To maximize performance, the servers are specially configured with specialized software and high bandwidth connections. The outcome is proxies that have lower ping, fast speed, and can have anonymity. They are mostly suited for business purposes, such as bots. However, in most cases, the location diversity is much less for datacenter proxies since this requires the seller to have a data center in each of the IP address locations. Also, the total number of proxies a seller owns is limited to a few thousand.
-
Residential Proxy
Residential proxies are IP addresses provided by real ISPs and are used by genuine individuals. The seller of these proxies doesn’t own them, but simply ents’ them in exchange for services like private VPN. This allows the seller to have an enormous pool of residential proxies from practically worldwide. Compared to datacenter proxies, these proxies are moderately slower, but due to their extensive collection of proxies, they are suitable for many businesses uses.
- Bright Data Voted Best Proxy Provider for Datacenter Proxy & Residential Proxies. For More Info Visit Bright Data official Website Here.
Types of Proxies Based on The Proxy Duration
-
Static Non-rotating or IP Proxy
The majority of the datacenter proxy providers allocate a specific number of proxies to a user for a price and the cost increases with the number of proxies allocated. The packages are only allocated to a specific user, and they can use the proxies in a rotating manner using plug-ins or bots.
-
Back-connect or Rotating Proxy
Also known as rotating proxies, back-connect proxies are designed to change automatically and get replaced by new ones after a particular time. This enables the user to have much better anonymity since all requests are made with a new IP address. You will also experience better speeds and avoid limitations in the bots. Due to the vast number of proxies to rotate from, back-connect proxies are generally found in residential proxies. These proxies are also perfect for scraping.
- Bright Data Voted Best Proxy Provider for Residential Rotating Proxies. For More Info Visit Bright Data official Website Here.
Types of Proxies Based on The Modification of Data
-
Forward proxy
Forward proxies are the general proxies used when accessing web content anonymously. They are used by browsers (clients) to remain anonymous. These proxies take the information request from the browser, forwards it to the web server to be processed, and then forward the response from the web server to the browser. Surprisingly, almost all of the proxy types we e discussed above are forward proxies.
-
Reverse proxy
A reverse proxy typically resides in the web server side for caching content for faster delivery, decrypting connection requests, and controlling traffic to the server. Keep in mind that these proxies cannot be used for gaining anonymity. Instead, they help the web server to remain protected from attacks. Also, these proxies can allocate the traffic to various servers to balance the load.
Types of Proxies Based on Usage Method
-
Open Proxy
Open proxies are publicly open proxies that don’t require any authentication method during configuration. However, most of the time, these proxies are not secure or dead since they are free and publicly available and can be used to steal information by hackers. They can also be referred to as public proxies, meaning they are entirely free of charge.
-
Closed Proxy
Closed proxies are proxies that are protected via different authentication methods to prevent any unauthorized access or use by people. You can purchase closed proxies from various legitimate vendors online. They are two types of closed proxies which include shared and private rotating proxy and are based on the number of individuals the proxies are shared between.
-
Dedicated Proxy
Also known as private proxies, dedicated proxies are proxy servers that are allocated to only one individual, since their access is private to you. Dedicated proxies offer security and higher performance but are somewhat more expensive. Proxy packages that are dedicated to sneakers copping, scraping, and ticketing are almost always private proxies. This is because they need heavy-duty performance and sharing proxies with others rises the chance of getting banned.
-
Web Proxy Server
Web proxies are the proxies installed on a website. They are configured on your desired application such as bots and browsers to ensure the applications function normally. These types of proxies are just like a site you can mask your IP address.
-
Common Gateway Interface Web Proxy
These proxies are run by web interface called CGI on websites. To visit the page from the proxy website itself, you can enter your desired URL. There are not many CGI Web Proxies that are used by web proxy websites.
Types of Proxies Based on IP Reusing
-
Virgin or Unused Proxy
Proxies that haven’t been previously used are called unused proxies or virgin proxies. Most frequently, the unused proxies aren’t precisely fresh but are not already used for the specific sites that they’re allocated for in your package. That’s the reason why most sellers block access to sites other than the planned uses.
-
Resold or Used Proxy
Although not openly mentioned, most of the proxies are beforehand used in one way or another. Since most sites remove the ban of a proxy after a specific time, using previously used proxies is seamlessly fine after the time is over as the website apparently lifts the ban.
Proxy being the intermediate transit web server, it’s used as an intermediary between the destination server and the user. Proxy servers aid in various types of anonymity needed at different levels either as a service provider or as a client. It helps in resetting the security of information of different users as well as the internal network. The different types of proxies discussed above serve various uses at varying levels of anonymity and follow multiple routing protocols.
Last Updated on February 18, 2024
