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What is a Proxy Server?
A proxy server is a computer that offers a service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to the other network services. A client connects to the proxy server, and then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server.
Then the proxy provides the required resource either by connecting to the specified server or by obtaining through its cache.
Advantages
The advantages of a proxy server are as follows −
It helps the clients to protect their important information from getting hacked by hackers.
The proxy server is also used to enhance the security and privacy level of the client's device while surfing by using different proxies.
Proxy servers can be used any number of times for speeding up the browsing and access data because of their good cache system.
As the cache system of a proxy server is very good, when you access any websites using a proxy server, it is having the chance to store your desired data in their cache system. As a result we can access them whenever we want.
A proxy server is also used in bypassing blocked websites.
Working of a Proxy
When we type a website name, say Google.com or alibaba.com, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) establishes a request and connects to the destination computer by exposing the requestor IP address.
If we use proxy our requests get redirected. That is, the request goes from the client computer to the ISP but it is sent to the proxy server instead of hitting the website directly. Thus, for external systems the requestor IP address is the proxy IP, but not the real client computer IP address which is masked.
Need of Proxy
We should use proxy for the following reasons:
Security
Client computers can surf anonymously as proxy acts as an intermediary computer between server and client systems which overall helps in preventing internet attacks and unexpected access.
Large organizations like Amazon, setup proxy servers to prevent their website being hacked easily. As proxy adds an additional layer of security it is difficult for outsiders to easily access the real computer behind the proxy computer.
Speedy Internet access
Using proxy computer can enhance the speed of a page request. Because every computer who is requesting access has to pass through proxy and if it has requests cached it would be immediately responded back rather than getting the request processed by the web server.
Controlled access
Using a proxy server you can even provide controlled access to the website. For example using proxy you can bypass certain users or block user requests based on the privileges they possess.
Moreover, by using proxy, some website owners control internet access to their employees and also record what employees are viewing so that they can block unviewed or inappropriate content.
Balancing traffic
Proxy servers can also be used to balance the requests your web server receives so it will not get overloaded. This will also ensure the servers behind proxy receive a uniform amount of requests passing through them and prevent crashes because of high traffic at peak times.
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