A web Proxy Server is a specialized HTTP server that functions as a firewall. It protects the client computers from hackers from hackers by limiting the outside access to the clients. All the people who are connected to a Web Proxy server can access the internet from behind the firewall. It is used for limited anonymity, it acts as a network traffic middleman. Web proxy acts as a shield between the client and they site they are looking at. When a web proxy is used the client is not directly connected to the intended site, the web proxy is the one that connects to the site, thus hiding the presences of the client. Web proxy is generally used to keep the internet searches private or to hide the identity when online.
Working of a web proxy site
The web proxy server listens for any request from the clients. A internet user visits a web proxy and enters the URL of the site he wants to visit into the proxy’s website search bar, then all the requests made by the user is forwarded to the remote internet services outside the firewall, then the requested website is displayed to the user. As the proxy website has made the request the identity of the user is not displayed, hence the user can surf the internet anonymously. The web proxy also responds to the user’s request that is made from firewall’s exterior and sends them to the internal client computers. Generally, the same proxy server is used by clients in a sub net, thus it is easy to cache documents when more than one client requests them. For those who use a best browser proxy, can access the web even without a domain name, all that is necessary is just the IP address.
Reasons for the popularity of a web proxy
Web proxy is becoming increasingly popular these days. The following are three reasons listed for their popularity.
- Web Proxies are very popular in the world of internet because they are necessary to protect your identity or to surf the internet without being hacked. When web is browsed, the IP address and the location of the user can be found and through this valuable information of the person such as name, address and the social security number can be found. This increases your risk of being exposed to hackers. In order to prevent this web proxy is used to stay anonymous. This is one of the main reason why web proxies are becoming very popular these days.
2. Another reason why web proxy is becoming popular is to keep oneself safe from the marketing agencies. When a person surfs the web, their surfing habits are monitored and marketing agents send them many junk and spam mails. There are also many websites that promote themselves using spyware or spam’s and target your emails. Therefore, in order to prevent themselves from such marketing agencies people are increasingly using proxy sites which offers free anonymous web surfing.
3. Another important reason why the proxy sites are becoming popular is that these days some sites do not allow access to. It is usually observed in schools, universities, corporations etc where servers are used to block the people from serving certain sites, for example social networking sites. However, with free anonymous web surfing proxy, access to blocked sites is not a problem anymore.
