Restrictions on the internet are often carried out by organizations and companies with the aim of increasing the productivity of its employees. In a broader scope, even a country may also do this for various purposes, whether it’s for political reasons or as a form of prevention of all crimes.
Those who don’t like things like this are faced with two choices, obeying the authority or looking for ways to bypass the restrictions. In fact, there are solutions for this, one of which is by using a proxy server.
What are proxy servers?
As the name suggests, a proxy server is a server that acts as a proxy or intermediary that will make requests to the destination website and then forward it to our host or computer so that the proxy server can track all incoming and outgoing traffic.
How does it work?
If we choose to use a proxy, as a client, all our outgoing traffic (requests) will be directed to the proxy server. After the server receives the request, the server will check whether the request is valid. If the request is valid but not allowed by the proxy server (rejected by proxy firewall), the request will be blocked by the server.
If the request is valid and permitted by the server, the server will first check whether the request has been stored by the server cache. If present, the server will serve the cached information to the client.
If the server does not have information regarding the request requested by the client, the server will proceed the request requested by the client to the intended website using the server’s IP as an identity and will not use the client’s IP, so that the destination website will only identify the server’s IP as incoming traffic. This function is similar to the function performed by routers known as Network Address Translation (NAT).
Then, the server will receive the content given by the origin server (website) and the server will cache the content. These contents will be forwarded to the client. This is especially useful if used on static websites, which the content tends not to change over time. In case, the client makes the same request again, the server will retrieve the request from the existing cache so that the client can get the request in a shorter time.
Why use a proxy server?
As stated above, proxy servers can be very useful for obscuring our IP address. In other words, we can hide our identity on the internet as the proxy will act on behalf of us as a client.
In addition, the ability of a server to do caching allows us to make requests to a server in a shorter time period thus providing better user experience.
With a firewall on the proxy server, all incoming and outgoing traffic can be filtered so that it provides more control for its administrator. This makes a proxy server able to limit access to a certain IP or website. Its role as an intermediary also makes it possible to track all ongoing traffic.
And of course, proxy servers allow users to bypass content restrictions enforced by the company. Even proxy servers are able to bypass the policy imposed by ISPs as long as the ISPs don’t block access to the proxy servers we are aiming for.
What is a proxy chaining?
In its application, there is a concept known as proxy chaining. Basically, this concept is using a combination of several proxy servers at once in order to reach a particular website.
The reasons for using this method may vary. One of them is that the server may have a policy that limits its users from making requests on certain websites. In such a case, the request will be forwarded to the second server to fetch the data requested by the client.
Conclusion
A proxy server is a useful tool that can help us access the internet in a more secure and efficient way. By using a proxy server, we can hide our IP address, speed up our requests, filter unwanted traffic, and bypass content restrictions.
However, we should also be aware of the risks and limitations of using a proxy server, such as data leakage, performance issues, and legal consequences. Therefore, we should always use a trusted and reliable proxy server that can protect our privacy and security. Moreover, we can also use proxy chaining to enhance our anonymity and access more websites that are blocked by the first proxy server. Proxy servers are not perfect solutions, but they can offer us more flexibility and control over our internet experience.