How to Use Rotating Proxy in Scrapy

Proxy rotation can be one of the most important techniques that you can master. Depending on the project, this option can easily save up some portion of your budget and, at the same time, improve the existing success rate.

Introduction to Proxy Rotation

Rotation of proxy servers can be described as the function for automatic IP change. This function can be included in packages offered by your provider, but otherwise you should perform it yourself with the help of a custom server list. In this manner, you can create custom rules for your rotation.

Understanding Proxies

Proxies, in the basics, work as the gateway for all connections between your device and the needed site. So the signal is first delivered to the server and only then to the destination. In this manner, the proxy is masking your real address and providing you with the ability to browse content related to some specific regions or locations.

There are different kinds of proxies available at the market. For example, the most popular residential proxy take advantage of clean, real-user IPs to provide the most simple and direct approach in terms of proxy servers. Then there are also datacenter proxy that can give extensive power to the datacenter infrastructure. 

What is Proxy Rotation and Why Is It Important?

So what is a rotating proxy? Rotation technology provides an option for auto-IP change. These addresses come from a dedicated pool. For example, you can change IP over dedicated periods of time or when the address gets blocked.

This technology is useful because it can automatically protect you from most of the risks in terms of blocks. And more than this, rotating proxy helps to keep all proxy-related processes uninterrupted.

Difference Between Static and Rotating Proxies

Static and rotating servers differ in many ways and even basic principles. First of all, these two types serve different tasks. Static residential proxy or other static servers are more applicable when you need to participate in more sustainable and time-consuming activities that require connection with one IP address. 

The rotating type, for example, the datacenter rotating proxy, on the other hand, is useful for the tasks that need to be extra protected from the possible blocks. With rostation, even if some IPs get triggered, your server will just switch them and proceed.

Setting Up Your Environment

Let’s look at the steps you should take to create the desired environment.

Installing Required Libraries

First, you should create the installing virtual network with all the needed libraries for this. Then activate the created environment and add the requests option. Now you should be able to send test requests to the portals of your choice.

Creating a Proxy List

At this step, you should create your personal list of proxies  in the csv format. There you should specify the expected time of response for servers. Then add a piece of code that will automatically read your list by lines.

Using Proxies with Python Requests

As said before, you need to map a dictionary to work with the proxy variable. In this dictionary, define connections for needed protocols and map them to needed URLs. 

Making a Request Without a Proxy

To start, you should test the current setup. Simply send a request without any servers implemented. Then read the response parameters to determine if you faced any problems on this step.

Using a Proxy with Requests

To start utilizing requests in this configuration, first you should map a dictionary for your servers. Additionally, specify the URLs you will target in the process. Now, you should make a GET request to pass the created dictionary.

Using an Authenticated Proxy

Most of the proxy servers require some form of authentication. In most cases, it will be enough to just put the needed credentials in the URL string. The same approach will work for the selenium or for environmental variables about which we talk next. 

Setting a Proxy Via Environment Variables

Requests support built-in variables for HTTP and HTTPS connections. This function can be useful if you use multiple scripts at the same time and need to have the same proxy parameters across all of them. So, you simply need to set this variable to work with proxies and start enjoying your new setup. 

Rotating Proxies

So how to rotate IP address? To start, implement all needed libraries and then choose an option for IP retrieval. Then add a pool of your servers and send requests to an API call. Now you can use the proxy_request method with needed variables and automatically change your IPs.

Rotating Proxies with Each Request

You are also able to make each request with the new IP. To perform this, you need to add a function that will automatically pull new IP from the existing pool. The main difference here will be that you need to specify the time frame and requirement for IP change on each request. That's basically how you can implement the rotate IP address Python option.

Using a Proxy Pool

How to rotate proxies from the pool? As mentioned before, you need to have a pre-made file with the specifications to start implementing servers. Then you need to make a custom option for reading the proxy variables. Also, you should pay attention to the configuration of the request module. To use only the currently active servers, you can add brake parameters at the end.

Rotating Proxies Using Asynchronous Methods

To automate the Python proxy rotator power with a synchronous approach, you need to use asyncio or the same libraries. To start, simply install the library and make a new file with all the other wanted libraries. After this, specify the pool of servers, targeted URL, and amount of time gap for response. And only now specify the parameters for the functions and print the results. After this, you only will need to add an option for proxy list reading. And with this, your basic asynchronous rotating IP address setup is ready.

Tips for Effective Proxy Rotation

Here’s the list of the most useful tricks to use while changing proxies.

Using Reliable Proxy Services

When working with servers, the trust in your server sources is one of the main things to secure. You should take a good time when choosing the provider and consider all options needed for you. With the wrong choice, you can face not only poor performance across the whole project but also legal risks if the provider does not collect IPs ethically.

Avoiding Predictable Proxy IP Addresses

Automated changes of IPs require you to pay extra attention to the quality of the servers in your pool. If at some point you will start to use flagged or just faulty servers, you can face a new set of problems instead of improved protection.

Combining IP Rotation with User Agent Rotation

In some cases, when working with advanced anti-bot systems, you will also be forced to change UA. These tasks can be hard to pull because of the UA complexity. But you can find tools that will change them automatically for you.

Troubleshooting Proxy Issues

In some cases, your web scraper can report basic problems with servers on its own. But ultimately, it is best to have an understanding of the processes to troubleshoot the existing problems yourself.

Checking Proxy Validity

You will be able to check proxy validity fully manually or use tools for proxy testing. In manual mode, you probably need to add requests and analyze the answers from the server. For automatic checking, just feed your pool to Scraper and finalize the results.

Handling Failed Proxies

Proxy can fail for many reasons, and in some situations you may even falsely claim the server fault, so you better perform a double check. And even if the server has really failed, you can test it on some other platforms. If the server falls completely, you can try to contact your provider and get a new one.

Conclusion

Rotation has become one of the main and important tools to pair your scraper with. With this type of technology in your system, you can forget about most of the risks in terms of blocks and improve your overall success rate across all of the projects.