What Is A Proxy Server?

Date First Published: 2nd February 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Network Services

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 6/10

CONTENTS

What Is A Proxy Server Used For?
Why Is It Called A Proxy Server?
Is A Proxy Server The Same As A VPN?
Are There Any Disadvantages Of Using A Proxy Server?
What Are The Types Of Proxy Servers?

Learn more about what a proxy server is in this article.

A proxy server, also known as a proxy, forwards traffic sent from a computer to the proxy server and may offer an anonymous network connection from a different location as well as a different IP address, similar to a VPN. When connecting to a proxy server, an internet connection is required to connect to the server and it can act as a 'bridge' between the user and the rest of the internet since it helps users to connect to websites indirectly. As of now, there are lots of online proxies that do not require anything to be installed or downloaded to a computer, such as Hide.me, Proxysite.com, and Croxyproxy.com.

Whenever a user requests a webpage through a proxy server, they will first connect to that proxy and the user will be connected to the website through the proxy via an outside host server. All internet traffic is forwarded by the proxy server to the website that is being visited. When using a proxy server, all requests will go through there before accessing them on the internet.

What Is A Proxy Server Used For?

Proxy servers can be used for the following reasons:

To filter content - Some workplaces and schools can filter website traffic with a proxy server to block undesirable, distracting, or non-work-related content.
To protect people’s online privacy - Since proxy servers forward traffic, they hide people's real IP addresses (unless they are transparent proxies) and replace them with the IP address of the proxy server. Real IP addresses can be used to reveal a user's location or for third parties to track their browsing habits.
To unblock websites that are blocked in one’s country, work or school. Since some websites determine the location of users by their IP address and block access if they don’t come from a certain country (geo-blocked content), a proxy server can be used for unblocking websites that are inaccessible in one’s country since proxy servers change people’s location. They can also be used for unblocking websites that are blocked by one’s school or workplace, since the content filtering proxy in schools or workplaces can be bypassed by another proxy, which will allow blocked websites to be reached.
For caching purposes - Since cache temporarily stores a copy of data, which includes images, CSS, and JS files, caching will make previously visited webpages load faster in the future. Proxy servers can cache webpages, meaning that they will load faster with the proxy server and reduce the loading time. However, this may make it harder to view the latest version of a webpage.

Why Is It Called A Proxy Server?

They are called 'proxies' because the word 'proxy' means the authority to represent and take actions for someone else. An example of this would be someone voting for someone else who cannot attend a meeting. Online, a proxy server performs the same functions since it handles the traffic for someone else instead of a user communicating directly with a website.

Is A Proxy Server The Same As A VPN?

Proxy servers are similar to VPNs as they both act as an intermediary between the user and the internet. However, the main difference is that a VPN encrypts all of the traffic between the device and VPN server and VPNs generally offer more anonymity and privacy than proxy servers. In addition, proxy servers forward less traffic than VPNs, since proxy servers are only designed to handle web requests and VPNs work on the operating system, encrypting all traffic. Most VPNs are actually installed on a user's operating system, giving people full privacy. Proxy servers are often web-based applications and only forward traffic sent from there.

Are There Any Disadvantages Of Using A Proxy Server?

Disadvantages of using a proxy server include:

Slower speed, since it is necessary for proxy servers to forward traffic and connect to a server, which will decrease the loading time of the webpage.
Limited security, since not all proxy servers encrypt traffic like a VPN and some unreliable proxy servers can excessively collect people’s personal data, since the proxy server owner might be able to peek at the information sent through their proxy server. Personal data, such as usernames and passwords could be sold by an unreliable proxy server owner, which causes security risks. Always be careful when using free proxy servers and only use reputable ones.
Some proxy servers can be instable as they can suddenly experience disconnections or service disruptions.

What Are The Types Of Proxy Servers?

The four types of proxy servers include:

Reverse proxies - These proxies operate between a group of web servers and the forwards client (the browser requests to the servers), handling traffic for them. Reverse proxies are often used to help improve security, performance, and reliability.
Transparent proxies - These offer no added privacy or security and web servers will receive user's real IP addresses when using these types of proxies. Transparent proxies are often for the purposes of content filtering or caching.
Anonymity proxy - These proxies offer some online privacy as they hide people’s real IP addresses and do not pass people’s real IP addresses to the websites or services that are used.
High anonymity proxy - The most secure type of proxy. These types of proxies are even more secure than regular anonymity proxies and this makes it almost impossible for websites to know whether a proxy is being used for browsing it. In addition, these occasionally change people’s IP addresses.