People often prefer to use proxy servers when worried about privacy and anonymity. This is because it can concern both business purposes and private ones. In business, proxy servers are preferable when dealing with social marketing campaigns and automation related to bots. In private life, they are helpful when you want to unblock access to geo-restricted sources and websites or use the Internet for specific private purposes.
Therefore, you can use different types of proxies for work and personal purposes. The question is which type to choose. It depends on your needs. These two types of servers differ in many aspects, so you must be very careful when choosing one. Some features work better for residential, while others are more effective for datacenter servers, and it is especially important when you use such a server for the first time. A detailed explanation of these differences will help you make the right choice.
What Stands Behind the Names?
The names of proxy servers indicate their way of performance. Both of them are utilized to change the IP address of a computer. You can get it when your data is routed through an additional server. However, these two types do it differently.
Datacenter servers perform from a datacenter. The datacenter changes your IP address and then, to hide it more effectively, changes it for the second and many other consequent times if needed. Such an IP can conceal your identity and mask the very fact that you are using a proxy. It does it indicating the place where the datacenter is located as your own location. Actually, it operates instead of your ISP (Internet Service Provider) because your computer is connected to the database but not to the ISP.
As for residential proxies, they offer a set of different locations where devices can be found with the IP addresses of these devices. These IPs are connected to the Net via different networks because all of them have various providers. Therefore, a wide variety of IP addresses can better protect your sensitive data and your activity on the Web.
Differences Between Datacenter and Residential Proxies
So, let’s talk about the essential differences between these two types of proxy servers to help you decide whether it is more efficient to use datacenter or residential proxies.
Speed
A datacenter proxy is better if you need a high-speed Internet connection. Such servers route all the traffic via their device, so they do not need any additional resources to redress your requests, as with residential servers. However, residential servers are usually connected to the Net with another user, an IP address owner, so the speed slows down.
You may need a faster speed for business purposes, primarily when you use bots in your business activities and promotional campaigns, and the automation should go smoothly without any interruptions. You seem to need more time to be ready to sacrifice speed when collecting data regularly or performing other activities that need fast work.
Legitimacy
If you are worried about the legitimacy of your Internet connection use, opt for a residential proxy. It usually uses real IP addresses that connect the computer with the real IPS. So, they look like genuine users, and no websites are likely to detect the hidden nature of such connections.
Therefore, opt for a residential proxy if you need more legitimacy but do not care about the high speed. It is also essential when trying to conceal the sensitive data you need to exchange with your business partner. In addition, residential servers are more difficult to block, so if you need a stable connection, choose this option.
Price
If the price of using a proxy server is crucial for you, think about datacenter proxies – they are usually cheaper. However, such servers still need to ensure high-quality protection. The matter is that datacenter servers only need a few resources to build up because they are created immediately within a server without searching for different locations and devices that can share their IPs. So they do not need to pay for such a search and sharing.
Number of IP Addresses
The number of IP addresses for a change can also vary significantly between datacenter and residential proxy servers. More locations contain devices as an unlimited source of IP addresses for residential proxies. So, these servers are your best choice if your concern is geo-location. It is helpful when you need access to geo-restricted content.
When you use such an IP from a particular location, you can use any content in the country this address comes from. If the restrictions or blocks are set in one country, your proxy can change the address, and you will be able to enter the forbidden sites from the country where they are allowed. The more varied the choice, the more conveniently you can use such a proxy.
Number of Providers
This characteristic is related to the previous one. Residential proxies use real IP addresses, and their number can be limited, while datacenter proxies do not face this challenge.
The latter can easily find more providers. It can, in its turn, improve the quality of its services because the competition among the providers is always very harsh. Therefore, if you need fast performance in good quality, datacenter proxy servers are your choice.
Final Thoughts
Therefore, you can see that the fundamental differences between datacenter and residential proxy servers are based on their creation and operation. As a result, datacenter servers are cheaper and quicker, and you can obtain them easily.
Residential servers can guarantee more anonymity, data security, and legitimacy. There are also more real IP addresses when you use residential servers. If your project is very big and lengthy and your data needs high levels of protection, a residential proxy is the best choice for you.
