Learning how to set up a proxy server must be on the agenda for those who would aspire to determine their own online fates. The word “proxy” means “substitute” or anything that serves as an agent, an enabler. Online a proxy is usually a computer that acts as a substitute server. In computing a proxy server is simply an informational middleman, if you will; it handles exchanges between the requester and the ultimate server. Anything and everything needed has to go through the proxy; no exceptions. The proxy server analyzes the request according to its filtering rules. The most common example of filtering is by IP address or protocol.
To properly set up a proxy server, it helps to do your homework and thoroughly research all that’s involved. You might start by checking out one of the most popular proxys on the market, a piece of software called WinProxy. The main reason for its popularity is that no software needs to be installed on the client systems. WinProxy is a transparent proxy server, which means that it also provides NAT (Network Address Translation). This is important, since proxys are usually used for purposes of anonymity. Apart from caching and the usual security features like filtering, WinProxy supports important protocols like HTTP, FTP, Telnet, Secure Sockets and DNS.
Configuration is not hard at all with WinProxy. It’s a great option when you want to set up a proxy server. First off, TCP/IP needs to be set up on everything that will be handled by WinProxy. When all that’s been done, you can go on to WinProxy itself. Which, by the way, is available on-demand as a file download. When you begin the installation, you get the option to run the Install Wizard. The first screen that appears is the product registration screen,which requires the user to enter the product key. From there the programs automated setup routine will determine your internet connection type for you. Sometimes you’ll have to tell the program yourself. The next step will depend entirely on you, as it involves user access information like ID and password. WinProxy then configures the internal and external IP addresses for the network. It assigns a unique address automatically,to each device on the LAN as internal addresses. The IP address that the Internet Service Provider has assigned to the modem or router becomes the external address. It is this external address that will be shown to those outside your network, providing the anonymity you need. And that’s it! WinProxy will handle everything else. Simple, just like that.