We are existing into the world of computers where our day –to-day activities can be handled online. Be it searching any information or buying any commodities or simple surfing the net. But have we ever given a thought how and from where the information is delivered to us? To get an answer for this you must understand about online proxy server.
Online proxy server is a server which acts as an intermediary between the end point device such as a computer and the server from the request has to be delivered. When you request for a file, or web page or any other resources, the computer connects to the proxy server. A proxy server has a cache memory which stores information. If the request is already there in the cache, your information is delivered otherwise the proxy server has to get information from the server where the information is stored.
How does a proxy server works?
When the proxy server receives a request from the web page, it searches for that information in its cache. If it is available it provides the information to the user without forwarding its request to the internet. But if the page is not in the cache, the proxy server acts as the user and uses one of its IP address to get the page from the server in the internet. Once received, it matches the page with the original request and sends it to the user.
Types of online proxy server
- Anonymous Open Proxy Server – This server does not disclose the IP address of the client. It allows you to access those sites which are blocked by firewalls.
- Transparent Open Proxy Server – This server is mainly seen in corporate networks as the data stored in the network are confidential. It acts as a gateway server and separates the corporate network from the internet. Data delivered to the client are scanned for security purpose.
- Reverse Proxies – also known as surrogates, receives information from the internet and forward it to internal network servers. The client doesn’t have knowledge of the origin of the information.
- Forward Proxies – These servers forward the request from a client directly to the web server. They can directly access forward proxy by configuring their internet settings. It increases the security and privacy for the users.
Summing up, we can say proxy servers are useful as they save the information often requested by vast users in the cache memory. It maintains a local copy of the web content. Therefore, when a client requests any data information in the same network, it delivers it by retrieving from the already stored data in cache memory. It, therefore, reduces the upstream usage bandwidth and costs of organizations where there are large no. of employees.
