Learning how to set up a proxy server is important if you ever want to become a power user. In simple terms, proxy usually means acting as a substitute or an agent. Online a proxy is usually a computer that acts as a substitute server. In computer networks, a proxy server is a server,which acts as a mediator for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. Anything and everything needed has to go through the proxy; no exceptions. The proxy’s job is to check out all requests and issue denials as warranted (by its set of pre-defined rules). The most common example of filtering is by IP address or protocol.
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. 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. Other than administrative stuff like caching and security, the usual complement of protocols are available.
The WinProxy Server is easy to install and configure. There’s really no better way 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. You can purchase this the traditional way in a store or through a simple download. Newbies should use the handy installation wizard for automatic installation. The first screen that appears is the product registration screen,which requires the user to enter the product key. Further screens will ascertain the kind of connection you have to access the internet, dial-up or broadband. You need to select the connection’s type and name. 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. This external address is what someone else will see when his system requests something from yours. By now you would be practically at the end of setup, ready to take on the worldwide web anonymously through your proxy server, courtesy WinProxy.