Businesses want to improve their privacy, and one way to achieve that is by using a proxy. But what is more important is the kind of proxy to use — because the privacy you seek is as reliable as the proxy itself. With unethical technicians running the proxy server, your internet activities could be in jeopardy.
The Many Types of Proxy Servers
Proxies come in different types, but how to get a proxy that best suits your business needs should not be a problem. The following information will help you make an informed decision as regards the various options out there.
Residential Proxies
Residential proxies are IP addresses of real devices. If you have been wondering how to get Residential Proxiers and Sneaker Bots, these proxies might be what you need. Servers see them as average users, so detecting them would be impossible — except a user abuses them.
Data Centers Proxies
These are proxies with non-physical addresses and created artificially at data centers. With a single service, you’ll get as much as hundreds of data center proxies. But the snag here is that they will share the server’s IP subnetwork. In other words, a group of data center proxies will always look similar — which makes them prone to ban. Data center proxies are very fast because of the fast-paced internet connection of data centers.
Private Proxies
Don’t be deceived by the word “private.” These proxies are not in any way private; the word only appears as a product feature. They are single-client proxies. You may find some proxy providers using the term interchangeably with “dedicated proxies.” Others prefer to separate the two to mean dedicated proxy used by one client instead of a dedicated proxy used by many clients — but not at the same time.
When proxies are specific to individuals — in other words, not shared — they’re dedicated proxies, and it means only a single user can use one at a time.
Leading proxy service provider oxylabs.io has a great blog post explaining a proxy in less than 5 minutes. Check it out.
Shared Proxies
Several clients use these types of proxies at any time. They are the cheapest type of proxies, and if you’re on a budget and have search endlessly on how to get a proxy — budget-friendly proxies — this might be ideal for your needs. Clients will split the cost, so they get to share more proxies for the same price. There must be-robust network architecture in place because of the several connection requests hitting the network at the same time.
What are the Differences?
Internet service providers commonly issue residential proxies for businesses or individuals; they’re capable of providing the host location in a network. Data centers offer you an alternative IP for your proxies. If you need higher anonymity, data centers will come handy. You may encounter some challenges when anonymizing your traffic, which is not necessarily so with residential proxies.
For proxies defined by a number of users, the difference is simple to understand — private proxies are specific to one user at a time while the shared proxies are for multiple people. Private proxies are faster than shared ones because they’re for single clients, so no sharing of performance or bandwidth.
The proxy use Cases from a Business standpoint
Web Scraping
A perfect example using proxies for business would be scraping for information on a competitor’s website. With the several requests from one IP, you may appear suspicious. However, the use of proxies makes it easy for scrapers to achieve their goal. Proxies appear less suspicious, so you can continue gathering data while in anonymity.
Brand Protection
Stealing ideas in business is nothing new. Startups want to brand and make a big statement — even the bigger brands won’t let out their secret sauce. But that is only for a while if they’re not defending their brands.
With residential proxies added to your network, you can protect your brand. A would-be-data theft will hit a brick wall trying to navigate through internet traffic back to your network.
Need a Reliable Proxy?
There are so many types of proxies in the market, so settling for the right choice may seem daunting. But when you have an idea of what to look out for, it becomes a much easier task. The following factors come to play when buying a proxy:
Speed
First thing first; proxies do not slow down your computer. Of the truth, they make your network faster and even offer bandwidth, so look out for this feature when next you go looking for how to get a proxy.
Check Compatibility
While looking for how to get a proxy, check compatibility with different tools. You may find out that some proxies do not work with specific tools; the rule of thumb is to go with proxies compatible with several tools.
Subnet Diversity
Some companies do not provide subnet diversity, and that makes it difficult to remain anonymous when you browse online. Make sure you watch out for this before jumping on any proxy.
Check if they offer support
Setting up your proxy may not be much of a task, but you could run into trouble much later while using it. A company that offers support for the best experience would suffice.
Using Free Proxies: The Risks
Free proxies are everywhere with each having an array of countries that you can go with. All required is the address of the site you’re about to visit, and it is immediately loaded up.
Such a generous service you might say, but that could be risky — they may not be as great as envisaged. They do not use HTTPS, meaning the connection is not encrypted. You may be infected with malicious malware — though by accident — when they inject ads into the content they show you.
A proxy is a valuable tool for business — but what matters is the type of proxy you go with. Go for the one that best fits and improve your bottom line.
