What Is Proxy?

Proxy is agent

  or substitute authorized to act for another person or a document which authorizes the agent so to act, and may also be used in the following contexts.

Proxy Server

    In computer networks, a proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application) that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server and the proxy server evaluates the request as a way to simplify and control its complexity. Today, most proxies are web proxies, facilitating access to content on the World Wide Web.


A proxy server has a variety of potential purposes, including:


    To apply access policy to network services or content, e.g. to block undesired sites.
    To access sites prohibited or filtered by your ISP or institution.
    To bypass security / parental controls.
    To circumvent Internet filtering to access content otherwise blocked by governments.[3]
    To allow a web site to make web requests to externally hosted resources (e.g. images, music files, etc.) when cross-domain restrictions prohibit the web site from linking directly to the outside domains.
    To allow the browser to make web requests to externally hosted content on behalf of a website when cross-domain restrictions (in place to protect websites from the likes of data theft) prohibit the browser from directly accessing the outside domains.


    To keep machines behind it anonymous, mainly for security.[1]
    To speed up access to resources (using caching). Web proxies are commonly used to cache web pages from a web server.[2]
    To prevent downloading the same content multiple times (and save bandwidth).
    To log / audit usage, e.g. to provide company employee Internet usage reporting.
    To scan transmitted content for malware before delivery.
    To scan outbound content, e.g., for data loss prevention.
    To bypass website restrictions at work.
    Access enhancement/restriction