What the proxy gives. Why do we need constant updates of free proxy lists? Due to what the proxy server speeds up the connection to the Internet

109843 08.08.2009

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When people unfamiliar with computer terminology hear the word "proxy server", they imagine anything but what the proxy really is.

For some, this term is associated with something that the provider offers to speed up access to the network. Others recall that proxies are often mentioned in hacker movies as a way to remain invisible to security systems. Still others ... But, by the way, what are we talking about? How many people, so many opinions. Everyone is right about something, but not about something.

The question is, who is closest to the truth? Let's take everything in order ...

Proxy server (from the English proxy - the right to use on behalf of someone else) - remote computer, which, when your machine is connected to it, becomes an intermediary for the subscriber to access the Internet. The proxy transmits all requests of the subscriber's programs to the network, and, having received the answer, sends it back to the subscriber.

Each computer connected to the Internet is assigned a unique ip-address, which carries information about the country and subscriber's region, the number of its provider and the number of the computer in the network of the provider itself.

The proxy server also has its own ip address. As we already mentioned, by connecting to a proxy, you transmit all requests to the Internet through it, while the check shows the ip of the proxy server, and you remain anonymous.

How can this be used? Here's the simplest example: you are banned from your favorite chat. You can't enter the chat either under your nickname or under the newly created one. Most likely you got a ban by ip-address. By connecting to the proxy server, you can deceive the chat verification system (after all, it will see the proxy's ip-address, not yours).

The second example is a little more complicated. By checking the ip of visitors, some sites impose restrictions on viewing, based on the criterion of geographic location. There are many American sites that hide some of the sections from the eyes of users from Russia, for example. The motives they are guided by is another topic for discussion, but the fact remains. If you need to access these sections, try connecting to a proxy hosted in the United States. If everything goes well, only you and the proxy server will know that you are a resident of the Russian Federation, and the ip checking system on a closed site will take you for “its own” and access will be unblocked.

Providers often connect their subscribers to their own proxy server. According to them, this speeds up the speed of Internet access.
Indeed, anonymity is only one of the advantages of a proxy. In addition to it, the proxy server is able to cache information passing through it. What does this mean and how does "caching" affect speed?

How many people are inside your local network uses the services of such popular services like Yandex, Rambler, Google, Mail.ru? Almost everything, I guess. Every time someone opens a site, they download a whole bunch of pictures and banners from it. When using the provider's proxy server, all these pictures are downloaded from the Internet once, after which they are saved on the hard disk proxy - cached. Any user who opens a site that is already in the cache receives all his pictures from the proxy server, and not the site itself. If we take into account that Internet access occurs at a speed of 3-4 Mbit / s, and the connection between computers in the local network (and therefore between your computer and the proxy) reaches 100 Mbit / s, then we will get the difference in the download speed declared by the provider.

The size of pictures usually does not exceed 100 KB, it would seem that the difference is imperceptible, but the example with images is just an example. What if you want to download a movie or distribution new program, the size of which is 500-700 MB, and this file is already in the cache? Probably, in this case, you will feel the difference. In addition, with most providers you will not have to pay for traffic received from a proxy server, which, you see, can help you save a lot on monthly fee budgets.

A proxy server is an intermediate computer that is an intermediary ("proxy") between your computer and the Internet. All your calls to the Internet go through it. Proxy processes them, and the results (downloaded from Internet files) transfers to you.

A proxy server can do a lot. He is capable of:

• make your web trip anonymous;
• and much more.

you can ask "Why do I need a proxy of some kind? I'm fine anyway. "Indeed, since childhood we know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line :-) But the trick is that we do not need the shortest distance, but best speed communication. And high speed is not necessarily a consequence of the shortest distance.

Imagine the following situation: you live in the city "A" and want to get to the distant city "B" (or they want to come to you from this city). You can use regular transport - bus or rail. But it takes a very long time to travel by such transport to the destination. And if you use the bus to get to another city - "C", where there is an airport, then by plane fly much faster to your destination (city "B"). Moreover, city "C" may be located even further from "B" than your city "A".

Simply put:

"A" >>>> (by train) >>>> "B"

takes longer than

"A" >>> (by train) >>> "C" >>> (by plane) >>>> "B"

A similar scheme is used here: you connect to a proxy server (from "A" to "B").

That is, communication without a proxy is implemented according to the following scheme:

Your computer >>>> websites

And when using a proxy server, the scheme looks like this:

Your computer >>>> proxy >>>> websites

Request for a file / page

Established connection to the server

Of course, in order for a proxy server to be an "airplane", you need to find a suitable one (closer to you) and enough powerful server(this is revealed empirically).

What can a proxy server do?
(basic features of proxy servers)

As already mentioned, a proxy server can do a lot. In particular, he is capable of:

• speed up your work with the Internet;
• make your surfing the web more anonymous;
• allow you to enter chats, even if you are blocked;
• help to see those sites to which your system administrator has closed access;

Let's consider these and other possibilities in more detail.

How does a proxy server speed up Internet connections?

First, this is due to two factors:

1. the proxy server is close to you - i.e. closer than most other sites you work with (say if it comes about western sites, it is recommended to use a Russian proxy, and if these are Russian sites, then it is better to use a proxy server located in your city);
2. the proxy server has a powerful communication channel (dedicated network or fiber) and a large pool ( maximum speed exchange with Intenet).

In this case, acceleration occurs due to the fact that:

• between you and the proxy server, the maximum data transfer rate allowed by your equipment is set (due to the fact that the proxy is close to you): if you use a modem, then the exchange rate will be the maximum allowable for your communication line;
• the proxy server obviously uses more high speed connections (through a powerful channel) with websites than you;
• since when transmitting data over a network, the total data exchange rate cannot exceed minimum speed exchange between intermediate computers, then your connection speed with both Russian servers (say Yandex) and foreign (for example microsoft) will be the same! And this speed will be almost equal to the speed of exchange between you and the proxy server! (well ... in theory :-)).

Secondly, the acceleration of communication with the Internet occurs due to information caching. Caching is essentially similar to the cache in your browser (where temporary files), however, it is much more efficient due to the fact that:

1. the size of the cache, unlike your computer, is not megabytes, and not even tens of megabytes, but gigabytes;
2. this cache is used not only by you, but also by tens (hundreds and thousands) of other users. Imagine a situation: fresh information appeared on the news server. The first user approached the proxy with a request to download the news. Proxy downloaded the news to itself, transmitted it to the user, and saved it in its cache. After that, you also contact the proxy for the same news. The proxy server detects these news in its cache, and transmits them immediately to you, without downloading them from the news server (and without wasting time on it). Thus, you get a noticeable benefit using public proxy servers.

How does a proxy make my Internet surfing anonymous?

When you visit any web site, your computer sends a request to download pages, pictures, etc. from a web server. In this case, the computer transmits your IP-address - a unique computer number on the Internet. Using this address, an attacker can "freeze" your computer, launch a virus to you, connect to your computer and steal confidential information, etc.

To prevent this from happening, you can install powerful security systems on your computer - Firewall. However, this is not a panacea - any program can be hacked. Therefore, as additional measures protection, it makes sense for you to use an anonymous proxy server. When accessing web servers, the proxy will "replace" your IP address with its own, and the attacker will try to invade not you, but the proxy server (which has much more powerful system protection).

However, I draw your attention: not all proxy servers on the Internet are anonymous (they substitute your IP address). Most of them are designed specifically to speed up Internet access, and do not "hide" your IP address. To find anonymous proxy servers, you need to use the Proxy Checker program (or similar), which you can download from the "Programs" section of the www.freeproxy.ru website.

Chains of proxy servers

Using one proxy server, you can connect to another proxy, through it - to the next, etc., i.e. build a chain of proxy servers. The chain can consist of one type of proxy (chains from HTTP or from socks proxy, chains from anonymizers), and from proxy different types, for example:

Socks proxy -> socks proxy -> http proxy -> http proxy -> - cgi proxy -> cgi proxy -> web server

Each type of proxy has its own way of building the chain. The most difficult one is for the HTTP proxy (especially since not all HTTP proxies allow themselves to be included in the chain). And the simplest one is at the CGI proxy.

What else can a proxy do?

All proxy capabilities are based on the fact that it is an intermediate link between your computer (or local network) and the Internet. Therefore, as a consequence, he also, in principle, can:

• filter the content of the pages you are viewing, in particular, remove advertisements;
• "change" the geographic location of your computer (relevant for sites showing different content depending on which region / country the request is coming from);
• if the proxy server is in the same local network with you, then it is enough that only the proxy is connected to the Internet - using one connection, the entire network will be able to access the Internet;
• etc.

Proxy classification for dummies

There are several types of proxy servers. Each type of proxy is designed to solve its own range of tasks, but they have a lot in common, their capabilities are largely the same.

HTTP proxy

This is the most common type of proxy server and simply speaking "proxy" means it. Previously, using this type of proxy, you could only view web pages and pictures, download files. Now new versions of programs (ICQ, etc.) are able to work through HTTP proxy. Browsers of any version can work with this type of proxy.

Socks proxy

These proxy server are able to work with almost any type of information on the Internet (TCP / IP protocol), however, to use them, programs must explicitly indicate the ability to work with the socks proxy. To use socks proxy in a browser, you need additional programs(browsers do not know how to work themselves through the socks proxy). However, any version of ICQ (and many other popular programs) can work perfectly through the socks proxy. Finally, I would like to draw your attention: when working with a socks proxy, you need to specify its version: socks 4 or socks 5.

CGI proxy (anonymizers)

You can work with this type of proxy servers only through a browser. In other programs, their use is difficult (and it is not necessary - there is an HTTP proxy). However, since this type of proxy was originally designed to work through a browser, they are extremely easy to use. You can easily not only use the anonymizer in your work, but also build a chain from CGI proxy without any problems.

FTP proxy

This type of proxy server is quite rare apart from corporate networks. Usually its use is due to the fact that the organization has a Firewall (a system for protecting computers from intrusion from the outside), which prevents direct access on the Internet. The use of this type of proxy is provided in many popular file managers(FAR, Windows Commander), download managers (GetRight, ReGet, ...) and browsers.
This type of proxy is highly specialized and is designed to work only with FTP servers.

What is a free proxy server?

A free proxy is a proxy server that is already configured and accessible over the Internet. You do not need to buy equipment, install and configure software for the functioning of such a proxy - everything has already been done. It is enough to customize your programs (for example Internet browser Explorer) to work through such a proxy - and you can work. Moreover, such a proxy server provides its services completely free of charge (for various reasons). As a rule, from the point of view of the service provided (information caching), it does not differ from paid proxy servers, but there are some peculiarities in its operation - both advantages and disadvantages.

What is the difference between a free proxy server and a paid one? (comparison)

Benefits of paid proxy servers

1. You choose the server yourself according to the characteristics that suit you (such as server response time, work speed, caching efficiency, etc.);
2. Server operation is stable - in case of malfunctions, you can submit your claims.

Disadvantages of paid proxy servers

1. You have to pay money for the service provided;
2. Although the paid proxy server is stable, it may malfunction. This is especially offensive - after all, I paid the money;
3. A paid proxy server, by definition, cannot be completely anonymous - it is enough to get to your proxy, and then contact the organization that provides you with a paid proxy server. True, this is only available to organizations such as the FSB and the CIA;
4. Although paid proxy servers can of course be built into a chain (after all, you yourself choose a server when you buy this service), you still can hardly afford to pay for a chain of, say, 5 proxy servers;
5. It is difficult (if not impossible) to switch between different proxy servers - unless of course you pay for several proxies.

Advantages free proxy servers

1. Of course, their service is absolutely free;
2. You can easily use several proxy servers - if you are not allowed to chat, I have included using proxy- and forward;
3. According to their characteristics (speed, response time, etc.), free proxies may not be inferior to their paid counterparts;
4. If your proxy server is anonymous, then you are much more difficult to trace over the network (for example, to attack);
5. You can build proxy servers in a chain, this will dramatically increase your anonymity (and, I note, most likely will drastically reduce the speed of data exchange with the Internet);

Disadvantages of free proxy servers

1. Since the service is free, its quality in 99% of cases leaves much to be desired: low speed work, constant interruptions, etc. etc.;
2. There are practically no long-term free proxies. As a rule, after some time they either become paid or stop working;
3. Many proxy servers are not anonymous - their whole point of work is reduced to caching information received from the Internet;
4. Some free proxies themselves are not secure (!) I will give an example: I have a Firewall installed, and when connected to some proxies, it records an attempt to connect to my computer from the proxy server side (using NetBIOS);
5. It is quite difficult to find free proxy servers that suit you. Free proxy lists duplicate each other by 70%, more than 90% of these lists are outdated (many proxies in them are not working).

Why do we need constant updates of free proxy lists?

The fact is that (as already noted in the shortcomings of free proxies) free proxy servers sooner or later cease to be such. They either become paid or stop working. And since many lists of free proxy servers on the Internet are not constantly (and often!) Updated, as a result, most of such lists do not contain any working free proxy servers at all. The lists, which are updated from time to time, irregularly, contain only about 10% of working proxies.

An example of a constantly updated list of proxy servers is the server http://www.checker.freeproxy.ru/checker/last_checked_proxies.php.

I took a free proxy server, but it doesn't work for me. I know for sure that he is a worker. What's the matter?

There may be several reasons:

1. The proxy server is working, but it is far from you, and the proxy is working so slowly that the answer simply does not have time to reach your computer - and you consider the proxy to be inoperative;
2. Your ISP has blocked access to certain sites, and then discovered that you are using a proxy server to access prohibited web pages. And the provider has closed (for you) access to this proxy (only to this one!);
3. The proxy server provider (since a proxy server is a computer connected to the Internet, it also has its own provider) has denied for some reason access to the proxy server from your network (or from your provider - competition :-)). The reasons may be very different, beyond your control;
4. The proxy server itself is configured so that it does not allow using it from your network (similar to point 3);
5. The proxy server is corporate - that is, it has a list of computers that can use it (list of allowed IP addresses). In this case, even if your neighbor can use this proxy, this proxy server may not be available to you;
6. Since the proxy server is free, no guarantees of its functioning are given and cannot be given - i.e. he may stop working from time to time for arbitrarily long periods of time (for various reasons);
7. And finally .... you are setting up the proxy incorrectly! This also happens.

Summary: even if the proxy server works for "everyone", it may not work for you => there are no 100% working proxies that work everywhere!

Do I need to restart Windows or programs by setting up a proxy?

Since the proxy server is configured separately in each program, and not in the operating system, you do not need to restart Windows. Moreover: you can enable / disable the use of proxy, as well as change the proxy server without restarting the browser (however, some programs may need to be restarted for the new settings to take effect).

When to set up a proxy? Before or after going online?

The proxy server is configured separately in each program, so you can enable / disable the use of the proxy server at any time, regardless of whether your computer is connected to the Internet or not.

If I have several programs, in which one do I need to configure the proxy?

If you have several programs that work with the Internet (these may be browsers, download managers, etc.), then in all programs in which you want to use a proxy, you need to make the appropriate settings. For example, you can configure all programs to use the same proxy server, or each program will use its own proxy.

The only exceptions are programs that use your browser settings - how the browser is configured ( Internet Explorer) so they will work (with or without a proxy).

How to determine the proxy type? How to find out what kind of proxy is - HTTP, SOCKS or CGI?

First of all, let's separate these types of proxy servers from each other in essence:

1. HTTP proxy- This is the "regular" proxy server, which is the most common. You can use this proxy by configuring your browser and many other programs (the programs must provide for the use of a proxy server, if the type of proxy used is not specified, then this is an HTTP proxy).
2. SOCKS proxy- browsers do not know how to work with this type of proxy servers, but many popular programs provide for the use of this type of proxy servers (for example ICQ). If the program requires such proxies, the proxy server type (SOCKS) always is indicated, and almost always the subtype (version) of the SOCKS proxy server must be indicated: SOCKS 4 or SOCKS 5 (sometimes SOCKS 4a).
3. Anonymizers (CGI proxy) is a web page, the address of which you just need to type in the browser address bar (for example, http://www.anonymizer.com/). You don't need to change any program settings, configure your browser, etc. - just open a web page. Other programs (except browsers) in 99.9% of cases do not know how to use anonymizers.

Now about the "external" differences between these types of proxy servers:

• Since a CGI proxy is a web page, the address of such a proxy starts with http: // or https: // and contains the path to the web page (for example, http://www.server.com/nph-proxy.cgi). The anonymizer (as a rule) does not have a port number;
• HTTP and SOCKS proxy - consist of the server name (host) and port number, separated by a colon (usually) or a space:
  www.server.com:5731;
• SOCKS proxy - in 90% of cases they have a port number of 1080, 1081 or similar;
• HTTP proxy - in 99% of cases they have port number 80, 8080, 81 or 3128;
• In addition, you can determine the type of proxy server using any proxy checker: by checking the proxy first for one and then for another type (HTTP / SOCKS). In 99.999% of cases, the proxy is either HTTP or SOCKS (although there can be both at the same time);
• HTTPS proxy: this type of proxy server is one of the subtypes of HTTP, so it can be distinguished only by checking with some proxy checker.

Cascading proxies or why the proxy address that is registered in the browser does not match the address displayed on the sites?

The symptoms of this situation are usually as follows: you take some kind of proxy IP address, register it in your browser and go to some proxy check page for verification. And on this page you see a completely different IP address (which is also not your IP). The question arises: why is this?

It turns out that everything is very simple: in fact, in in this case You are using not one proxy, but several. Let's say you connect to proxy 1.1.1.1:80, he (himself!) Sends your request to proxy 1.1.1.2, that one - further, and finally proxy 1.2.3.4 sends a request to the web server. Typically, such "cascade proxies" work quite quickly and their advantage is that the last proxy in the chain (1.2.3.4) may not have open ports at all - that is, an attempt to scan this address from the site will give nothing (as if it did not proxy at all).

These "cascading proxies" use their own proxy-to-proxy protocol, ICP (Internet Caching Protocol). And for such proxy servers, concepts such as in_addr and out_addr are used:
in_addr- this is the IP address that you specify in the browser settings.
out_addr- this is the IP that is displayed on sites in the REMOTE_ADDR field.
For most proxies, in_addr and out_addr are the same, but for such "cascading proxies" they will be different. In principle, it is even possible that they will refer to different countries.

What a proxy server can and cannot

A proxy server is computer program, which is activated when connected to a specific port of the computer (they also say that it "hangs" on a specific port or is "tied" to a specific port).
And like any computer program, a proxy server has a lot of customization options: deny access to anywhere, cut out ads, etc. etc.

What a proxy can do

In case of using methods GET / POST(normal navigation on web sites):

• deny access to certain sites (say www.porno.com or www.icq.com);
• deny access to sites containing prohibited pages keywords(say "porn" or even "proxy")
• cut out certain fragments of pages (banners);
• prohibit the reception of files with a certain extension and / or a certain size (both in Kb and in size by dimensions, for example banners - 468: 60), for example * .MP3, .ZIP, .EXE, .RAR, etc .;
• log all movements by web pages and issue system administrator report on visited pages;
• prohibit the use of any protocols (say, deny access to https: // and / or ftp: // sites);
• deny access from any computers to this proxy. That is, it is quite possible that the two have side by side standing computers one can work through a proxy and the other cannot.

In case of using the method CONNECT(connecting to https: // sites, building a proxy in a chain, port mapping through a proxy, etc.), or in the case of using a SOCKS proxy:

• completely prohibit the use of the CONNECT method (or disable the SOCKS proxy), then ICQ will not work and it will be impossible to connect to any https: // sites;
• deny connection through a proxy to certain servers (for example login.icq.com, etc.);
• prohibit connection through a proxy to certain ports, for example: to port 25 (SMTP), to port 6667 (IRC), to port 5190 (ICQ);
• prohibit connection through a proxy to any ports other than those specified, for example: except 443 (then it will be an HTTPS proxy).

What the proxy cannot do

• Use a heuristic analyzer - that is, perform a semantic analysis of the content of pages and prohibit ALL sites containing articles on a specific topic, regardless of keywords.
• When using the CONNECT method (or in SOCKS proxy) - filter transmitted information(let's say block pages for certain keywords).
• Skip back connections from the Internet (SOCKS 5 can do this, but this is also a non-trivial task).
• and many many others:)

Summary: a proxy server is a computer program and, like any program, it has both advantages and disadvantages. If the administrator has configured a proxy and forgot about it, then the proxy server always you can "get around". Otherwise, your attempts to bypass the proxy are a fight with the sysadmin, and any decisions you make in this area will be temporary - until the sysadmin discovers another "hole" and "plugs" it.

Look more:

And VPN ( virtual private networks), and proxies were designed to help keep users anonymous on the Internet. And also give the opportunity to access sites that are blocked for certain regions.

Before, how to use proxy servers, you need to know their advantages and disadvantages. For some situations, a proxy is more suitable, and for some a VPN. In this guide, we'll cover everything there is to know about it.

What is a proxy server?

A proxy server is an intermediate link between your computer or other device and the Internet. It executes requests to websites, servers and all kinds of internet services on your behalf.

For example, if your browser is configured to use a proxy server and you are trying to visit a site, the request is not directed to that resource. Instead, it is sent to the proxy server. After the proxy receives the browser's request, it forwards it to the server that hosts the resource. The site server then sends the response to the proxy, which in turn sends it to your browser:

The request is not made from a browser, but through a proxy server, so the requested site does not see your computer or device. Instead, he sees that a proxy server is visiting him.

Pros and cons of using proxy servers

Using a proxy server for local connections gives the following advantages:

• You hide your IP address during a basic check;
• By using proxies, you hide your geographic location. The websites and services you visit only see the location of the proxy server;
• Depending on how they are configured, proxies can increase your security by blocking sites that distribute malicious software. They can also check content for malicious elements before sending it to your computer;
• Proxy servers can be used to access geographically restricted services;
• There are many open free proxy servers and some of them provide a variety of useful services.

On the other hand, there are negative aspects of using a proxy server for local connections, which should be taken into account:

• Proxies do not encrypt your internet traffic;
• Neither your IP address nor your real location is hidden from more advanced detection methods. You can see an example of how your location can be found using the browser and its location service here: W3C Geolocation Browser;
• When using a proxy server, your internet traffic goes through it. This means that a malicious proxy server can see and control everything you do on the Internet. This is detrimental to privacy and security;
• Proxies tend to track and record the actions of their users. V certain cases it can have negative consequences;
• If you access a protected encrypted website or Internet service through an incorrectly configured proxy server, it can transmit data to your computer in unencrypted form. Unencrypted information can be intercepted by others;
• Before using a proxy server in Chrome, keep in mind that there are many free proxy servers open on the Internet, and many of them are not reliable. And some of them are generally harmful.

What is VPN?

Virtual private network or VPN is a secure network between your computer and a VPN server on the Internet. The whole network traffic that goes through that connection is encrypted, so only your computer and the VPN server know which resource you've visited and used.

For example, if you are using a VPN and try to visit a site, the request is encrypted and sent to the VPN server. After the VPN server has accepted your request, it decrypts it and thus knows what you need. Next, it sends a download request to the server that hosts the site. The site server responds and sends to the VPN server home page site. The VPN server then encrypts it and sends you:

Since every bit of data is encrypted, no one will be able to see which sites you visit and which services you use. This applies to both your government and your internet service provider.

Pros and cons of virtual private networks

Before using a proxy server, please note that VPN application gives many advantages:

• All network traffic between you and the VPN server is encrypted, making it almost impossible for a third party to see which sites you are visiting;
• VPNs hide your real IP address. Websites and Internet services will only see VPN server IP address;
• VPNs hide your real geographic location. Only the location of the VPN server you are using is displayed;
• Using a VPN server can help bypass geographic restrictions;
• Your network traffic cannot be viewed as everything is encrypted;
• There are tons of VPN providers out there that offer more than just paid services but also free VPN servers.

You might be better off using a proxy server for local connections. Since VPNs have some disadvantages:

• VPN servers must encrypt all traffic that passes through them, and this can affect performance and speed;
• When you connect to a VPN server, every bit of data between you and the server is encrypted. However, this data is decrypted into VPN server so he knows what you are doing on the internet. It is very important that VPN providers do not store user activity logs. Otherwise, the VPN provider will know what you are doing. This data can be used by other organizations that receive an authorized or unauthorized access to them;
• Reliable VPN services tend to cost more than a good proxy server. Encrypting all traffic means the VPN server must have powerful hardware.

Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of proxy servers and virtual private networks

To make it easier to compare all the advantages and disadvantages of using proxy servers and VPNs, we have created a special table:

When to use a proxy and when to use a VPN?

We believe VPNs are better than proxies in almost every aspect. VPNs are better for anonymity and security. Everything you do online using a VPN is encrypted and no one can control or track your activities. The only major drawback is that VPNs are much more expensive than proxies.

If all you need is to hide your IP address or real location from a website or internet service that only does basic checking, then use a proxy server for local connections. If you want anonymity, security and privacy, then you should use a VPN. However, check that the service of your choice does not store any logs of your activity.

Translation of the article " When to use a proxy and when to use a VPN”Was prepared by the friendly project team.

In this article, we will try to tell you as simply and accessible as possible about what proxy servers are and where you can buy them. In addition, we will dwell a little on the classification (i.e., we will tell you whatproxy are). If you are just discovering cyberspace and want to have at least something in its vastness (money, fame, pleasure, etc.), then this educational program will please you very much - we will not load it. All you need to do is read the material, get into the basics, and then act according to the circumstances, namely, you either continue to study the topic (in order to become an expert in everything related to the proxy), or, relying on the knowledge gained, reap the benefits that this miracle Yudo will supply you (and this will undoubtedly happen).

Let's start the story a little unconventional and define " a proxy server is ...."We'll give it a little later. Let's start with a banal example, which very clearly demonstrates why some ordinary mortal users are actively starting to dig in the network in the hope of finding a well-working proxy server.

Look.

Imagine this picture - you are connected to the Internet and want to download music. There are not so few places where this can be done, but, unfortunately, very often it happens that the very music you need is located only in one place. Either you do not know how to use search engines, or really the archiver with the album you need is posted only in a single copy - in a word, the devil only knows - nowhere else, even if you crack!

So. Now you have found the opportunity to download what you need and click on download... Clap - you get to the free uplode host entitled rapidshare.com... Fine! We are waiting for the allotted time. for freeloaders who do not buy a premium account, there is always a little waiting before the download. The prescribed 60-70 seconds passed and the coveted button appeared Download file.

But it didn't work - it turns out that someone is already pumping from the rapidshara, and on top of that, also from your IP address! The world is cruel and the system is not going to give you the go-ahead to download the file unambiguously - it simply says - " wait while they download, and then try again". You wait, wait, wait ... And so on without end.

But the point is this - you have a static IP address and your provider, to put it mildly, is very bad (if you allow yourself such things).

Well, what can you do - you say - how to swing from rapidshara? Well, yes .. The answer is on the network - and now you are bursting there in order to figure it out and understand, and then make it work so that everything works. And, of course, the first thing you find on the net if you google " how to download from rapidshara", will helpful advice - "use a proxy and you will be happy!"

Oops. What is a proxy? And with what it is eaten? Where can I get it? How to set up? Yes ... There are many questions, but you are one ... But do not despair! Now we will tell you everything (well, almost everything!)

What is a proxy server.

A proxy server is an intermediate computer that is an intermediary (from the English "proxy" - intermediary) between your computer and the Internet. All your calls to cyber space pass through the proxy server. The proxy server processes these requests and transfers the results (for example, files downloaded from the Internet) back to your computer.

If you explain it on your fingers, then technically, the procedure for the proxy server looks like this:

• - you set your browser to the corresponding proxy server (see below for how this is done);
• - the browser sends a request to this proxy server through your ISP;
• - the proxy server (if it is working and kind) sends a request to the site you need;
• - the site (if it is not evil and trusts a good proxy) accepts the request and issues the requested information to the proxy server;
• - a proxy, accepts this response and sends it to you (again, through your provider);
• - your browser accepts the received data;
• - you save a file on the screw or look at the page of the required site.

Thus, from the provider's side, your activity on the Internet looks very weak, because you constantly visit the same site (the proxy server, like the site, has a unique IP address). But, in fact, you download the required data from all over the Internet, and the provider cannot even imagine where you are and what interests you.

Read the last sentence carefully again, because proxy servers are not only an opportunity to download from rapidshare, but also anonymity on the Internet.

By the way, we will talk about anonymity later, but now - let's once again return to the theory of using proxy servers in everyday life.

All that needs to be done ordinary user networks in order to use proxy servers can be expressed in three points:

• - you need to find the address of the proxy server ... The address can be, for example, this - 59.39.71.201 8080. The last four digits are the port (it will also need to be hammered into the browser);
• - you must enter the existing address into a special proxy form of your browser (This is done through the proxy settings, which you can easily find if you go to the section "options", "settings", etc.)
• - enter the address of the required site in address bar browser and press the "enter" button.

  And that's all - now all the sites you visit will receive requests exclusively from the new IP address, which belongs to the proxy server of your choice.

At the beginning of the article, we gave an example with a rapid ball. So - using good proxy servers you can pump tones from there useful information, which was previously not available to you due to the static IP address, which you were awarded with the commitment of many domestic providers to the collective farm system.

What else is the use of proxy servers?

1. A proxy server can speed up your surfing.

It makes no sense to dwell on this question, since the 21st century is already in the yard and high speed connections(1 megabit and above) is not uncommon now. Five or six years ago, this question was of interest to many - now, proxy servers are used for other purposes;

2. The proxy server makes the above web surfing anonymous.

Note that not all proxy servers are anonymous - therefore, if you decide to encrypt your stay on the Internet, you should first make sure that the proxy server is actually anonymous. For example, in the directories of free proxy servers, it is always indicated whether this or that proxy server address is anonymous or not. How Alternative option, we recommend that you search the network for a good program designed specifically to determine the anonymity of proxy servers. The software is simply called Proxy Checker.

3. Using proxy servers, you will be able to access sites that are blocked by your ISP or network administrator.

For example, you are at work and want to write something to your LJ, and the administrator (of course, it’s not him - he was ordered!) Has blocked access to livejournal.com. In this situation, you should do so - put a working proxy server in the browser, go to LJ and make a post about the administrator and his bosses. But! Jokes and jokes, and proxy servers for many people in this world are a window to the free Internet - for example, in China, proxy servers are used to visit sites banned by the Communist Party.

4. Using proxy servers, you can filter the content of loaded web pages (for example, get rid of ads).

This is rarely used, because in order to cut ads, it is enough to set up your firewall or, say, your beloved Mozila.

5. With a proxy server, you can easily change your "geographic location" in the network.

For example, some sites show different content depending on where on the planet the request comes from - the proxy solves this issue and gives you more possibilities analyze information. Another option is the issuance of search engines. If your request comes from the Runet segment, then the search results for the same word will be very different from the German, English or Japanese search results. In order to know where your site is for surfers from distant countries, it is recommended to use proxy servers geo-referenced to these countries.

6. If the proxy server is located in a local network (ie in the same local network with you), then it is enough that only this proxy has an Internet connection - the entire network will be able to access the Internet through this proxy (collective farm option).

Well.

Now a few words about what proxy servers are.

To begin with, we note that in an educational article it is very difficult to give detailed description types of proxy servers, but we will not do this - why? If in the future you need to get more full information, then we recommend that you turn to specialized sources (there are a lot of them on the network - a Google query will give good results!).

There are four types of proxy servers and each of them is designed to perform a specific range of tasks. But, despite this, they have a lot in common, and the capabilities of all four types often coincide.

1. HTTP proxy

HTTP proxy is the most common type of proxy server and, most often, when they say "use a proxy server" they mean exactly the HTTP proxy. All types of browsers support this type of proxy servers - moreover, programs such as, say, ICQ crackers can also connect via HTTP proxy. Previously, the situation looked a little different - with the help of an HTTP proxy, you could only browse the web and upload pictures.

2. Socks proxy

This is the most universal type proxy servers, because knows how to work with any information that circulates on the Internet (using the TCP / IP protocol). Despite their versatility, Socks proxy servers have a more limited distribution (compared to HTTP proxies), because not all programs support this connection. For example, browsers, by themselves, do not know how to work with Socks proxy, and in order to configure such a connection through a browser, you need to install special plugins or even programs. Nevertheless, the aforementioned ICQ cracker (and other applications) easily work through the Socks proxy - many thanks to them for that. There are two versions of Socks proxy - socks 4 and socks 5. In order to configure the connection, you must select one of them.

3. CGI proxy

This type of proxy is also called anonymizers and you can work with them only through a browser. A huge advantage of these proxies is their simplicity. development from the very beginning was sharpened for browsers. Convenience lies in the fact that with the help of CGI proxy you can build arbitrarily large chains of proxy servers and very effectively cover your tracks in world wide web(hence the name - anonymizers). Many internet applications are not compatible with CGI proxies at all, while for others it is difficult to use CGI proxies.

4.FTP proxy

FTP proxy is a highly specialized type of proxy servers and is intended exclusively for working with FTP ( File Transfer Protocol) servers. Most often, FTP proxy can be found in corporate networks... Applications such as FAR or Windows Commander support FTP proxy.

In conclusion, it should be noted that proxy servers are paid and free. For domestic (and near domestic) purposes, it is strongly recommended to use only the second option. finding a quick free server you will not feel any difference, and the money will remain with you.

You can use the addresses of free proxy servers in a very a large number find, for example, on www.FreeProxy.ru, and at this address you can buy paid anonymous proxy servers. Moreover, this portal has a section of articles in which the issue of everything related to proxy servers is considered in great detail + there is not only a wonderful FAQ, but also a forum. There is also a section from which you can download programs for identifying working proxies.