Data Center Proxies
In this article, we shall focus on data center proxies and their benefits. The most secure way to mask your real IP address is by use of a proxy. But why is it important for you to hide your IP address? Web scraping is increasingly becoming a valuable technique for collecting a large amount of valuable information.
One of the major challenges in web scraping is being blocked. This means you are barred from accessing or retrieving information from certain websites. Proxies help to avoid blocks by hiding your real IP address.
So, What Is a Proxy?
It is an intermediary between you and the internet. Proxies are gateways through which online requests first go through while retrieving information.
When searching the internet, a proxy server receives your request, changes your IP address, and either draw a response from a local cache or forwards it to the relevant server. The proxy then sends the request back with the information you are searching for.
There are two major types of proxies: residential proxies and data center proxies. But before then, let us explore in brief some of the general uses of proxies for individuals and businesses.
General Use Cases for Proxies
Web Scraping
In simple terms, web scraping is the process of extracting large amounts of useful data from the internet. Effective scraping requires one to send numerous requests, and that is how proxies come into play.
They not only help to hide the IP address of the one extracting information; proxies also help to access websites with restrictions.
Brand Protection
A logo, an innovation, or an idea are some of the things that take time and resources to develop. Therefore, they should be protected.
For example, when someone uses your brand without authorization, they pose a risk to your business and can harm its reputation. Individuals and businesses use proxies because they are a reliable solution for web monitoring.
There are many ways in which proxies are used. The ones here are the major general use cases.
How do Businesses use Proxies for Web Scraping?
Websites do not offer the functionality of copy and paste of data displayed in their sites. The only way to access this information for personal use is to copy and paste the data manually. This is a very tedious job especially when it comes to large amounts of data.
So, how can businesses access and extract such information more efficiently? Through web scraping.
What is Web Scraping?
As mentioned earlier, web scraping is the process of extracting large amounts of useful data from a website using an application or web scraping tool. The data is extracted in an automated manner and saved in a local file or database on your computer.
Now that we have a clear understanding of proxies and their role in web scraping, let us look at ways in which different businesses use proxies in web scraping.
Data Mining
Every business has its unique needs. However, data mining is a common need across every industry. Proxies play a significant role in data mining.
Businesses use acquired data to stay ahead of their competitors and make informed decisions to grow business.
See Also: How to use technology to improve your business
Online Presence Without Being Detected
Competition is in every industry. The ability to acquire information about your competitor without being detected is vital in business.
Businesses use proxies to remain anonymous while extracting such information. They are a barrier that allows you to access websites without revealing your information.
What is Data Center Proxies?
Data center proxies are private proxies that are not associated with an internet provider. Instead, the data center network artificially creates an IP address that is country-based. Data center proxies provide high-level anonymity because they come from a secondary corporation, the data center network.
What the Benefits of Data Center Proxies
Speed/rapid response time
One of the greatest benefits of data center proxies is the ability to give swift response time. When trying to extract a lot of information, response time for each request is critical. It will determine how much you accomplish in a given duration.
If you are looking for a high-speed proxy, data center proxy is your best option. It offers a high connection speed because the request is sent from a secondary connection. However, you must use a data center network provider that is efficient.
Convenience
Data center proxies are convenient because they come with bulk IP addresses. Target sites are blocking a common challenge in web scraping, which is a major challenge. When a site receives a high number of requests from the same IP address, it is likely to block it.
Data center proxies provide a variety of IP addresses, allowing a scraper to extract large amounts of information without being blocked.
Cost-Effectiveness
Data center proxies are an excellent choice if you are looking to gather data cheaply. You can easily find data center proxies that cost less than a dollar per IP address. They are also purchased in bulk, which is an added advantage.
Availability
There are data centers all over the world. It is, therefore, very easy to find a data center proxy provider near your business.
Quick and Easy to Integrate
When planning to add a proxy to your web scraping software, it is important to select one that fits well.
Data center proxies are easily integrated into scraping software and continually maintained. This ensures you have a reliable web scraping experience.
Anonymity
Data center proxies provide high-level business intelligence data efficiently and anonymously. In a business world that is growing more competitive, most companies are taking measures to protect their websites from competitors.
One of the solutions to this challenge is using a proxy that allows you to access sites using different IP addresses. This gives a company the ability to access the competitor’s data conspicuously.
Which Websites are Best for Data Center Proxies?
Even though data center proxies are the most common proxies out there, they are not a fit for all websites. Some of the kind of websites that are best for data center proxies include:
- Geo-blocked websites
- Websites without anti-scraping policies
Conclusion
It is estimated that 58.1% of web traffic is non-human, and 22.9% are bots employed by businesses to collect information. Data-driven businesses cannot afford to ignore proxies and their role in collecting useful information efficiently.
Choosing the right kind of proxy depends on purpose and functionality. Data center proxies are mostly recommended for market research and brand protection. They provide large amounts of data for comprehensive market analysis.