Also known as proxy servers, proxies are intermediary units that serve as a gateway between a user’s computer and web servers. They route all web requests from the former through themselves and, in the process, mask the real IP address and assign a new IP. At the same time, they’re the first entity to receive responses, with their role further entailing sending the responses to the user’s computer.
Proxy servers can be software-based or hardware-based. They exist in many forms depending on the nature of traffic routing (e.g., forward and reverse proxies), the type of IP address assigned (e.g., residential, mobile proxies, and datacenter proxies), and the communication protocol (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 proxies). However, this article will focus on datacenter proxies and how they differ from other proxy types. provide s p r P
What is a Datacenter Proxy?
A datacenter proxy is an intermediary that routes requests and responses via powerful data center servers. In the process, it assigns datacenter IP addresses to the outgoing requests. These IP addresses aren’t associated with internet service providers (ISPs). Instead, they’re registered by/belong to companies that operate and run data centers and cloud computing services.
Generally, by executing this role, the datacenter proxies mask the requests’ actual origin as they hide the IP addresses associated with them. Thus, a server that receives the requests affiliates them with the datacenter proxies rather than the real user’s computer. This is because the responses appear to originate from the former instead of the latter. However, this may have a downside, as we’ll highlight in the weaknesses section below. Firstly, though, let’s explore the strengths of datacenter proxies.
Strengths of Datacenter Proxies
1. Speed and Performance
Datacenter proxies are fast and extremely powerful because they’re hosted in equally powerful data center servers. In fact, they’re faster than residential proxies, which route internet traffic through IP addresses that belong to ISP’s clients. Because of the sheer power, speed, and performance, datacenter proxies are preferred, particularly when working on tasks that require quick response times. They can also support tasks that need a lot of bandwidth to complete.
2. Cost advantage (cheap)
This proxy type is cheap compared to other proxies, such as residential and mobile proxies. This cost advantage stems from the fact that datacenter IP addresses aren’t as rare or hard to find as residential IP addresses and mobile proxies. To put it simply, they’re somewhat abundant. Additionally, the concept of economies of scale, which sees datacenter companies operate thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of servers, reduces the overall cost of running one server. This fact further contributes to the reduced cost of datacenter proxies.
A proxy service provider needs to enter into agreements with the data center companies, who will then grant access to the server infrastructure – server space and actual servers – that are then configured as proxy servers.
In contrast, for a proxy provider to acquire and run residential and mobile proxies, they must first enter into agreements with ISPs and mobile carriers respectively. They must also find willing participants – actual users – who will then consent to their IPs being used as proxy servers. These privacy-oriented measures make residential and mobile IP addresses and, by extension, the proxies rarer than datacenter proxies, ultimately making them more expensive.
3. Bypass geo-restrictions
Reputable proxy service providers usually offer datacenter proxies in multiple locations, with each location boasting hundreds of thousands of IP addresses. As a result, users can rely on such proxies to gain access to otherwise geo-restricted content from different countries.
Weaknesses of Datacenter Proxies
1. Unreliability due to easy detection
While datacenter proxies offer certain unique advantages and strengths, they fall short on some fronts. The most common shortcoming is their unreliability due to the ease with which websites recognize them by associating them with their respective data centers. This is mostly the case if they’re sourced from an untrusted provider. If you want to find datacenter proxies from a reliable source, click here.
That said, you can avoid IP blocking by using a datacenter proxy from a reputable provider. You can also reduce the chances of detection by utilizing a dedicated or private datacenter proxy, which ensures that the internet traffic only originates from your computer rather than other users, as is the case with shared proxies. You can also use proxy rotators, which limit the number of requests that are linked to the same IP address by periodically changing the IP address.
Uses of Datacenter Proxies
Datacenter proxies are used for the following:
- Market research, e.g., competitor analysis, product monitoring, and price monitoring
- Web change monitoring
- Review and reputation monitoring
- Accessing geo-blocked content
- Automated sneaker or gadget purchases via bots
- Collecting alternative data
Conclusion
Datacenter proxies are useful in the computing ecosystem. They’re fast, powerful, and cheap. This makes them ideal for several use cases, including market research, accessing geo-blocked content, and collecting data from review sites and e-commerce websites, just to mention a few.
This article was provided by Doma Stankevičiūtė
