Before you begin to review what influences the operation speed of proxy, we note that the difference between the concepts of a proxy and a proxy server is insignificant: the first term refers to the script, which is installed on the server by connecting to the graphical interface or without it. When a user wants to go to a specific resource access to which (for various reasons) is denied for him, he can access it through a proxy server – a kind of intermediary between users and websites on the Internet network. Implemented mechanism in the automatic mode directs all requests from a personal computer or other gadget on the proxy server, where they are converted and then redirected to the requested Internet resource.

In order to create a more or less plausible forecast for the future of proxy we will need to determine the time and the reason of their occurrence. First proxy servers appeared almost simultaneously with the creation of Internet. This happened due to the fact that in its early days of development there was a need to own an external IP (a unique address that identifies the workstation in the general set of computers) to become a member of Internet community. IP addresses were very expensive at that time and in order to avoid buying external IP for a single computer, many users rented one channel which was granted by a provider.

It is sometimes necessary to use a proxy to preserve anonymity while surfing the Web. Still there are software tools that allow to determine the real IP address of the visitor even if he was using proxy server. However they are less efficient in the case of using shared proxy because administrators guarantee the anonymity of their clients.

We have considered the problem of tracking proxy servers in our article “Proxy server detecting methods” and found out an obvious dilemma: using a proxy on the one hand should provide anonymity but on the other hand no proxy gives a 100% guarantee of anonimity. At the same time we pointed out that own shared proxy server can help solving this problem. Using the shared proxy server that acts as a hub to process the outgoing and incoming data, the encryption process can be controlled and users can protect confidential information including their location.

While considering the free proxy advantages and disadvantages we knowingly did not pay attention to the nominal division into legal and illegal proxies. The first adjective that comes to mind when speaking about "anonymizer" is "illegal", but it is not fully correct. We have examined functions and purposes of proxy servers and noted there are many non-criminal aims for using them. For example using proxy server can sometimes protect corporate information from internal and external intruders.

When describing proxy servers and web proxy types it is essential to specify the difference between free and shared proxies. It often influences the quality, security and the speed of surfing the Web. That’s why it is necessary to consider the advantages and disadvantages of every type of proxies. Internet users commonly have no will to pay for using services that have free versions. That’s why chargeless proxies are more widespread. They have lots of obvious advantages but also habe some disadvantages which may sometimes be cruicial when choosing free or shared version.

As of now, the main categorization criteria for proxies are the list of functions, which they perform, and goals, for which they are created.

Situations when we need to use proxies and web-proxies emanate from their fundamental nature. They are used with the goal of:

The main principle of any proxy server is providing a mediation between web-sources and individual users. Frankly speaking proxy-server is an additional computer (more intelligent, powerful and capacious than your home PC) that is used as a third agent for any reason. It is made for numerous purposes which are described in the following article.

Web proxies are commonly used to circumvent the access bans to certain sites or servers. Web proxy is a specialized software that relays users’ requests to specific page or data via its own server on its behalf.