Proxy Server

A proxy server is one of the many networking devices that are used to protect the intranet.

A proxy server is a mediator between the internal and external networks and used to screen the incoming and outgoing traffic.

Photo by Sammyayot254 @ https://superadmins.co on Unsplash

A proxy server has 5 main functions:

• A proxy server acts as an agent on behalf of the client. When clients make a request to the server the proxy server replaces client’s IP with its own IP, hiding the personal IP of the client. This function is also called Network Address Translation.

• If a computer connected to the proxy requests a version of a software say, firefox the proxy server checks its own cache memory to see if it is there.. if not it downloads it from the internet and forwards a copy to the requesting machine and keeps a copy in its cache, so the next time some machine requests firefox download, it won’t have to go to the internet, decreasing network traffic and improving the network performance.
• Controlling inbound and outbound traffic. Blocking websites like you all know.

• Keeping track of all the traffic incoming and outgoing.
• A proxy can be set up to bypass firewall. You can use a proxy server which can access a website that may be blocked by a firewall on your original network.

Note: A VPN is quite similar to a proxy. Your computer is configured to connect to another server, and it may be that your route web traffic through that server. But where a proxy server can only redirect web requests, a VPN connection is capable of routing and anonymising all of your network traffic.