A proxy is a server that a company like VulkanVegas uses to act as a gateway, or entry point, between its servers and its users. Its main function is to prevent hackers from getting access to a private network.
Whenever you connect to the internet, your device uses an IP address. Your device tells the servers your address, and then your device also gets the address of the server.
From here, the two computers can talk. Essentially, a proxy is a machine with its own IP address that uses it instead of the real one.
Why Do People Need Proxy Servers?
It is not only companies that need proxy servers. Everyone can benefit from them. For one, proxy servers provide an extra layer of security for your computer.
What proxies do is act as web filters. They also act as a firewall. They protect your computer from getting hacked or from installing malware.
Some people also use a proxy for privacy reasons. They want to hide their location while they are accessing a site, and a proxy server can enable them to do this.
What Are the Benefits of a Proxy Server?
Below are some of the benefits of a proxy server.
Hiding an IP Address
One of the most common reasons people use a proxy server is to hide their IP addresses. For an individual, it can be important at times.
If you access a website, a proxy server will tell the website server a different IP address instead of yours. As such, you can remain anonymous. The website server cannot tell that it was really your device that accessed the site.
As a result? You will not see ads or any useless garbage. If you are operating a company, you can prevent hackers from knowing your real IP address. Because of that, they cannot launch an attack.
Accessing Geo-Blocked Content
As an individual, you may find yourself banned from a website that operates outside your country. But then, you want to view the content. For example, you may want to watch a movie, but your country is not being served by the company.
With your real IP address, the company’s servers can determine whether or not you belong to a blacklist. If you do, then you cannot access that site.
With a proxy server, you can fool the company’s web servers. Your computer can tell the company server that you are in the UK, but in reality, you are in the Philippines.
Since the company’s servers think you are in the UK, they will grant you access to their content. However, not all company servers are this easy to circumvent.
Some corporations spend so much money on their restriction protocol. A proxy can help you, but it is not always a guarantee.
Reduced Load Times
Proxy servers also have the capacity to store data. For example, once you have accessed a website before, your proxy server can store that information. This information is called cached data.
Next time you try to access that site, your proxy server will show you the stored information, not the live one. The benefit of this is that you get to load the website faster.
In the backend, your computer is still talking to the server of the website, and then your browser will update the data in just a little bit. The microseconds of difference in this speed can mean a lot, especially if you only want to view a site and not use it.
Without a cache, your browser or computer will lag. As you know, lag times make for a bad browsing experience.
Filtering Malicious Websites
Proxy servers can help your office admins to block users from entering a malicious website. For example, some websites do not have authentication. Without a blocking mechanism, most people are unaware that they are entering a hacker’s site.
Malicious sites often masquerade as legitimate ones. It is how people perform social engineering. With proxy servers, you can easily manage this risk by blocking access to bad sites.
Control Internet Use
If your employees are spending more time on the internet than their work, you need to block them from using any site that is not related to work.
Proxy servers can help you limit what your employees can access online. Your IT specialists can work on a process to filter out undesirable content from being accessed. With a process like this, you get more work from your employees done.
Balancing Web Traffic
Sometimes, your company may experience heavy traffic from people who want to access your site. With a proxy server, you can spread your information to different servers.
From here, traffic from the world will not route to the same server. As such, you are easing the load without them knowing; people from Asia will be connecting to your proxy servers in Asia. Likewise, people from Africa will go through the same process.
Since your website information is stored and cached simultaneously in different servers, you can serve all traffic requests without delay, lag, or downtime.
