The most suitable proxy types for businesses: What’s yours? – AMEinfo

By Rilind Elezaj: Rilind is a tech enthusiast covering topics on technology, marketing, workplace and others

There are many benefits associated with using proxy servers while accessing the internet such as data protection and improvement in productivity at the workplace. Keep in mind, there are many kinds of proxy servers out there such as shared, residential, and HTTP proxy servers. The question is how do you know which proxy is best suitable for your business? Lets find out.

What are proxies?

If you access a site while being on the web, your computer is doing it by sending what is known as a web request. Most of these web requests contain all kinds of information related to your computer such as your current location and IP address etc. It allows the site you are accessing to identify the person that is requesting before sending the data. This leaves you vulnerable to cybercriminals especially when the sites you are accessing are unsafe. Proxy servers are useful here as they can reroute the web requests via their servers.

Residential proxies vs datacenter proxies

One of the common kinds of proxies used for businesses is data center proxies. This kind of proxy server uses IP addresses generated by data centers. They are supplied by the company providing the proxy and you get relative anonymity on the internet. They are popular because they are more affordable than their counterparts residential proxies. But if your business needs to do web scraping, it will be a good idea to use residential proxies. The data center proxies can get blocked easily. The residential proxy on the other hand uses an actual physical device or location for its IP address. This decreases the likelihood of it getting blocked. It also means you can perform web scraping without raising suspicion from websites as your proxy servers can aid you in imitating normal browsing behavior.

Shared proxies vs dedicated proxies

Another extremely popular alternative is dedicated proxy, especially for businesses as the service is used exclusively by the organization. It provides more anonymity and privacy than the shared proxies. Although dedicated proxies are more expensive than shared proxies, businesses can make sure that their internet connection is not abused. Only the people using their network can access this kind of service. But if a business is on a tight budget, these shared proxies are a good alternative because they tend to be cheaper than the dedicated proxies. As you are sharing the connection with other users and splitting the costs. Another disadvantage of using shared proxies is that when multiple users are utilizing the service, it tends to slow down the internet connection. There are also greater chances of somebody abusing the proxy servers getting themselves banned as a result.

HTTP proxies

Another kind of proxy suitable for businesses is the HTTP proxy server because it has several uses for your business operations. The HTTP proxy will use HTTP protocol and it is responsible for how sites send and display their media files across the internet. These proxies are useful for businesses that operate mainly on the internet due to the advantages such as maintaining anonymity across the connection, speeding uploading time, and bypassing filters for accessing restricted content. These servers will not just protect the data while browsing, they can also help in improving workplace productivity. They provide limited access to distracting sites. It is also capable of balancing the office internet traffic. It can stop server crashes that hamper business operations.

Conclusion

It is the responsibility of organizations to keep the organization data and the client data safe and secure especially from people practicing malicious intentions. They have to take measures to prevent their sensitive data from falling into the hands of cybercriminals. Proxies help in securing the company connection as they are engaging in their business activities on the web. Businesses use proxy servers not just for their outgoing connections but also for the incoming ones. For instance, the use of HTTP proxies is useful for boosting productivity in offices. This is done by placing limitations on employees accessing the websites during their working hours.

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The most suitable proxy types for businesses: What's yours? - AMEinfo