Proxy nowadays has become one of the most widely used and popular tools for professional online tasks, remote work, and even daily Internet surfing. You can benefit both in your regular and work-related tasks from the proxy functionality. In this article, we will discuss the basics of proxies and see how to use a proxy server between public and private network.
What’s a Proxy Server?
To start with this topic, let’s talk about the basics first. Most devices with an Internet connection nowadays require an IP address for a network link. An IP address is essentially a set of unique numbers allocated to every gadget. This number sequence is needed for identifying basic information about your connection, computer, and location.
So, a proxy server is also a computer with its own IP address. But you can use this dedicated computer to reverse all of your connections through it. In default conditions, when you try to open a site, the computer sends a request to the site that allows you to connect to the page. The computer and the Internet domain will both use your original IP address as the gateway throughout all of these steps.
However, with a proxy, your request will be first sent to the server and only after this to the needed site. This way, you can hide your real IP by changing it to a proxy one. Plus, most proxy servers can increase your online security with a built-in firewall. With all of these functions, any shady site or page won’t be able to collect your real IP or reach your system with malware or viruses.
You can use proxies not only in your daily tasks but in a lot of work-related activities. For example, almost all of the data collection or scraping tools rely on proxy servers in the process. You can also use proxies for different tasks related to SEO, recruitment, or marketing processes. For example, try to utilize datacenter proxies for best performance in any of your professional tasks.
How do Proxy Servers Work?
Proxy servers in the core work as the intermediary between your computer and the site or page you want to visit. So, all of your connections to the Internet will be sent to the proxy server first and then to the needed site or resource. From a website point of view, it will look like a regular request and connection from a proxy server and not your device.
This feature allows a proxy to act as a filter for content, an IP-changing tool, and a data-encrypting tool. For example, a lot of schools, universities, and workplaces use proxy as a barrier to accessing the internal network. This way, organizations can control what sites and pages students or employees use throughout the day.
Proxy can also be used for professional and work-related tasks. Site owners and use them to cache information and data to increase response time and serve user requests faster. More than this, datacenter rotating proxies, or other kinds of professionally oriented proxies, have become an essential tool for data collection and other professional online tasks.
In day-to-day missions, proxies are usually used as a privacy and security tool. The principle of the proxy itself can increase the security of your network. But, apart from this, you can use a proxy server in a country other than yours to access any restricted content. You can consider using residential proxies for the best choice of locations in most of the popular countries.
Public Proxies
Public proxies are one of the various implementations of proxy servers. Such proxy servers allow multiple users to access them simultaneously. In other words, it is typical for someone to use a server such as this in parallel with your connection for their own work.
Overall, this kind of proxy cannot be recommended as the main tool for every day or long-term use. But they have some advantages that may interest you. In most cases, proxies of this kind are free or significantly cheaper than any others. This kind of proxy also supports HTTP and SOCKS5 types of connections. Some proxies, like this, can be used for data collection or as SEO tools.
On the other hand, every use of public proxies involves risk. When a lot of people use one free or cheap server, proxies can become a tracking tool for collecting your personal information. So, this type of proxy can be recommended only as an emergency tool when you need to access a blocked site. Remember that all of the credentials that you will use with these proxies turned on can be compromised.
Private Proxies
A private proxy, in contrast to a public one, can be used only by one client at a time. This opens up much more use cases and overall possibilities. You get a more secure and protected proxy experience with private proxies because, while you are using the server alone, your personal data won’t be compromised or attacked. Plus, you can use the full speed of the server since no one else is using it.
This feature can also be important for data-scraping projects. With publicly available proxies, your tools and IP address will be blocked at the start. While the best proxies providers can guarantee a much longer life span and trustworthy IPs.
The Difference Between Private Proxies and Public Proxies
Private and public proxies have a lot of differences. We can start with one of the main differences, which lies in speed. In almost any case, a private proxy will be a more stable and fast tool compared to public servers. This happens due to much higher server loads in public proxies.
A private static residential proxies or other private proxy option will also be a more secure and protected choice. With public proxies, you cannot be sure what kind of interactions you will face, and your personal data will be put at constant risk. Whether the private proxies can guarantee you a protected connection without any additional risks. This also covers the anonymity topic since the private proxy also guarantees that your real IP stays hidden and protected. Public proxies can leak not only your data but also other information about your device, including your IP address.
Private proxies also beat public ones in reliability comparisons. With private proxies, no one will enter your connection or overload server capacities. But with public proxies, you can expect a sudden connection loss or even a complete server freeze.
The only major point where public proxies can compete with private ones lies in the field of costs. Some of the public servers can be accessed for free. But, on the other hand, this server will highly likely collect your data and sell it to ad companies later. This way, server owners can cover the costs of hardware and get the needed profit.
Proxy Setup Between a Private and Public Network
Knowing all the main nuances and differences, we can now talk about differences in proxy setup between private and public networks. In most cases, the configuration of this type of proxy will be the same.
With public proxies, you can find the credentials needed for connection available for free to anyone. This means that users can access servers as long as they are aware of the address and port. Special sites with lists of free public proxies make use of it to collect servers like this in one table.
With private proxies, you will also need to use a login and password in addition to the server’s port and address. This information will be accessible to you on the provider’s website or app. With credentials on hand, you can be sure that the server will be accessible exclusively to you.The setup for the proxy server between public and private won’t be much different. You need to open the advanced network settings of your system and find the menu for proxy configuration. After this, all that remains is to add a port and address for public proxies and, additionally, a password and login for private ones. In the end, you need to click the save button and see if the IP address in your browser has changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read our Documentation if you have questions that are not listed below.
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What is the difference between public and private proxies?
Public and private proxies differ in accessibility for users. Public proxies, in most cases, can be used by anyone and by multiple people at the same time. A private proxy, on the other hand, is accessible only to one user at a time.
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What kind of private proxy is the best?
The choice of proxies depends on your tasks at a particular moment. Ultimately, residential proxies can be versatile for most kinds of tasks.
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What is better to use for regular or work-related tasks?
A private proxy will be a better choice for both daily and professional tasks. A private proxy is overall faster, more secure, and more comfortable to use. Public proxies can be handy only when you urgently need any kind of proxies at all.
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