The internet has blessed us with more data than anyone can ever exhaust, and because of the value that this data holds for modern business, more and more people are diving into the internet for data scraping.
However, carelessly diving into the World Wide Web has been known to hold dire consequences for unsuspecting victims.
For instance, every 39 seconds, at least one cyber-attack occurs. And in most cases, this happens after the victim’s data is collected while performing various activities online.
The continuous occurrence of widespread data theft and breaches has led to the discovery of several tools for user protection. Notably amongst these tools are proxies.
Proxies are important tools that help transfer communications on behalf of the user. They use their internet protocol (IP) and location while concealing the users’.
They are generally divided into two groups; datacenter and residential proxies. And today, we will be explaining what datacenter proxies are and the most important things you need to know.
What Are Datacenter Proxies?
Datacenter proxies can be defined as remote tools or computers that stand between users and target websites and servers.
They act as middlemen to receive and transfer data between a user and the server they are accessing. These proxies are usually owned and hosted by third-party companies and not the internet service providers (ISP).
For this reason, the IP addresses they supply are often simulated and cloud-based. However, they are highly effective, fast, and affordable for businesses to purchase and use.
What Are The Benefits of Datacenter Proxies?
Below are some of the major benefits of running a datacenter proxy:
- Hiding IP
The last thing anyone wants today is to be seen online. However, without a proxy to safeguard you, not only will people easily identify you online, but they can also see exactly what you are doing online.
This has several downsides, including data theft and breach, exposure, and even targeting and harassment.
Datacenter proxies help avoid these problems by hiding your IP and location and using their details in their place.
- Bypassing Geo-Restrictions
Geo-restriction is the process used to prevent users from accessing some servers from certain regions of the world. But it can also be used to prevent anybody from reaching certain content.
In a world where data offers market participants the chance to play on a leveled field, geo-restrictions deprive several people of this opportunity.
Datacenter proxies can efficiently help you hide your actual location and choose from a large pool of acceptable locations.
If you’re looking for reliable and secure datacenter proxies, check out the solutions provided by Oxylabs.
10 Features of Datacenter Proxies
There are several facts about datacenter proxies but below are 10 of the most important things you should know:
Affordability
Datacenter proxies are usually some of the cheapest types of proxies. They are less expensive than residential proxies and are even ten times cheaper than mobile ones.
The best part is it doesn’t sacrifice quality and efficiency at the altar of affordability. Businesses can still use datacenter proxies to easily provide proper security and privacy for themselves and their data.
Solid Performance
Performance is something to think of when opting for a proxy. The better the performance of the proxy, the better the security it provides and the faster it gets work done.
A solid performance also translates into higher productivity and time saving for the organization. These, in turn, mean higher output and increased revenue for a company.
Datacenter proxies can provide over 99% uptime any given month, which is incredible for any proxy type.
Incredible Speed
Speed and performance are often discussed under the same topic, but they differ in several ways. For instance, a tool can provide a solid performance but with slow speed. We see this with other types of proxies.
Datacenter proxies, on the other hand, offer both speed and performance. For speed, they offer between 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps.
This means you can quickly connect and transfer data without breaking a sweat. And this is why they play a very important role in data extraction.
Simple IP Addresses
Another feature and advantage of working with datacenter proxies lie in the type of IP addresses they supply.
First, because these IPs are not owned or provided by ISPs, it becomes very easy to bypass any rules and arrangements enforced by the ISPs.
Secondly, some proxies that supply ISP-based IPs often make their users share these addresses or wait to be allocated after another user has finished using the IP.
Datacenter IP addresses are simulated and generated through cloud-based services. This makes the number of addresses they can supply almost limitless.
Rotation
Depending on the host and provider, your datacenter proxy may or may not rotate IPs and locations automatically.
While some datacenter proxies ensure to switch IP once you have used one, not all of them have this feature. It becomes imperative that you check to see if the provider you are opting for allows this, especially if the tasks you intend to perform require this.
Types of Datacenter Proxies
There are several types of datacenter proxies, and it is important to know what they are so you can understand what features they bring.
Datacenter proxies are often categorized into dedicated and semi-dedicated ones. The dedicated proxies here offer you full control and IP exclusivity but are costlier than the semi-dedicated ones.
The semi-dedicated datacenter proxies are only available in a shared form; users have to share an IP address. However, what this lacks in exclusivity, it makes up for in affordability.
Common Uses
You also need to know exactly what you can use datacenter proxies for. Some of the most common applications of this type of proxy include data extraction, market or academic research, social media management with multiple accounts, browsing your competitors’ websites anonymously, monitoring ads, and accessing restricted content.
Bypassing Geo-Blocking
Like geo-restrictions, geo-blocking is often used to hinder people’s access from a certain region, but while geo-restriction may only involve certain content, geo-blocking focuses on denying access completely.
Datacenter proxies are critical in preventing this and ensuring everyone gets access regardless of their original location.
Providers
Another thing you must know and pay attention to is the service provider. Since these proxies are owned and managed by third parties, it is important to know who the providers are exactly.
The most common providers are often more trustworthy as they have been providing datacenter services for several years and millions of customers.
Going with a provider that many people trust is a smart way to eliminate some of the headaches using proxies.
Drawbacks
Like all things, datacenter proxies are not without disadvantages, and you will need to know this to set your expectations right.
Aside from the inability of all datacenter proxies to rotate IPs and addresses regardless of the providers, the addresses supplied by this proxy may also be blocked on some platforms.
Because their IPs are usually generated from clouds and not tied to any physical location, it is much easier for advanced technologies to detect these addresses and block them.
Conclusion
Residential proxies may supply real-life addresses and evade blocking by sophisticated server protections, but they are more expensive, so most people opt for datacenter proxies.
Datacenter proxies are also faster and offer increased performance and productivity. Some of the most important facts about this proxy are described in detail above for you to choose responsibly.