Deciding to set up a proxy server must be on the agenda for those who would aspire to determine their own online fates. To be a proxy means to be a facilitator, an enabler, something that effectively substitutes for something else. In case of telecommunication, it is used for a device or program empowered to act for another. In computing a proxy server is simply an informational middleman, if you will; it handles exchanges between the requester and the ultimate server. A client connects to the proxy server and requests some service, like web page or access to a file. What the proxy does is screen all requests against its set of filters, rules by which it can deny requests. For example, one popular filter is to ban IP addresses outright.
To properly set up a proxy server, a wide variety of choices exist out there. One of the most popular proxy servers for Windows-based systems is WinProxy. The main reason for its popularity is that no software needs to be installed on the client systems. Another reason is NAT, or Network Address Translation, since WinProxy is what’s known as a transparent proxy. This ensures that the client system is unaware of the proxy server’s existence. WinProxy acts just like any other server, dealing with security issues and all the various protocols online – except when it needs to serve as a substitute, a proxy.
Getting it going is fairly simple and quick to do. 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. Newbies should use the handy installation wizard for automatic installation. Like most such wizards, you’ll be prompted for your produce license serial number right away. From there the programs automated setup routine will determine your internet connection type for you. You need to select the connection’s type and name. Next,it will ask to enter the username and password of the Internet connection. WinProxy then configures the internal and external IP addresses for the network. Now perhaps the best thing of all is how it will make an internal LAN address into an anonymous IP address. The IP address that the Internet Service Provider has assigned to the modem or router becomes the external address. This external address is what someone else will see when his system requests something from yours. WinProxy will then prompt the you to disconnect from the Internet,if you are already connected.In the final step, WinProxy verifies all the steps and ensures that all operations have been performed properly.