Basics of Proxy Server

Proxy Server

A proxy server is an another hardware or can be a software that is used to mask or hide the real IP address of the user from the Internet. 

Your IP address sends information from your computer to the internet, When you browse the Internet, you compromise your information. 

You may have wondered why certain sites know where you are. How Advertisements at eCommerce sites work. This is because the IP is traceable.

• Usually, companies track your IP address for advertisement purposes. 
• It works as a gateway between your computer and the Internet. 
• Using a proxy server will protect your IP so it is not traceable for [Windows OS] only.

Besides the above it is used for the major purpose of ::

• It is to keep machines behind anonymous.
• It is to speed up access to resources or cache.
• Web proxies are commonly used for cache web pages from web server.
• Applied to block unwanted websites.
• To log or audit usage statistics or internet usage report.
• To scan outbound content and transmitted content and bypass security.
• It provides a secure gateway to internet.
• Because of the Proxy Server has two network interface cards, the LAN is secured from unauthorized users attempting to access the private network. Only one point of contact exists between the private network and the Internet.
• Proxy server 2.0 provides a dynamic packet filtering feature that enables to block specific packets at port.

 

FORWARD PROXY:

It sends request to a web server forwarded from user or client system. Forward Proxies evade firewall and increases the security.

REVERSE PROXY:

A reverse proxy is a server that is used to handle all the requests at server end. 

Used for:

1. Encryption or SSL (Secure Socket Layer) acceleration

2. Load Balancing

3. Security

4. Compression

Benefits of Proxy Server

Proxies can be transparent or nontransparent. A transparent proxy does not change the request beyond what is required for proxy authentication and identification; in other words, clients need not be aware of the existence of the proxy. 

A nontransparent proxy changes the request in order to provide some added service to the user agent, such as media type transformation, protocol reduction or anonymity filtering. 

In organizations, proxy servers are generally used for traffic filtering (web filters) and performance improvement (load balancers).

-DR