What is a Private Proxy?

A private proxy (or a dedicated proxy) is an intermediary server that only allows a single connection to it. They are usually contrasted to shared proxies who allow a greater number of connections to the server. In other words, a private proxy provides a dedicated IP address for the user.
 

Since private proxies are defined only through the amount of connections they allow, they can be combined with all other proxy types. For example, there might be both shared and private residential proxies. Similarly, a private proxy can be used through a HTTP or SOCKS5 protocol.

How do private proxies work?

Proxy providers will take some number of IP addresses from their pool and split them into private and shared. There are various ways to implement these features, however, all of them will be based on limiting access to IP addresses.

Some providers might opt to create dedicated endpoints, which will perform the entire job of load balancing and ensure that all IP addresses get no more than one connection (in the private proxy case). Others might have entirely different pools for the same process.

It should be noted that since a private proxy allows only one connection, the pricing model may be different. A private proxy can be priced per IP, which might make them more valuable to businesses who plan on using lots of data. For example, it’s fairly common to see private datacenter proxies, which are priced in packages of IP addresses. Datacenter proxies, however, can still be priced for traffic, even if they are dedicated.

Private residential proxies, however, might be a little different. Providers can’t control how long the IP addresses stay up as any household device can be turned off at any moment. As such, you won’t find an IP address package for a residential proxy pool. You’ll generally have to pay per bandwidth.

Finally, a dedicated proxy will rarely provide unlimited bandwidth. They can only do so if the dedicated proxy provider has IP address packages. As such, there are cases where you can get dedicated datacenter proxies that have unlimited bandwidth.

What are private proxies used for?

In general, a private proxy can be used anywhere where a shared one can be used. They, however, will be less prone to bans while being slightly more expensive. So, using a private proxy is always a trade-off for efficiency.

Web scraping

Automated data collection via web scraping is the most common use case for a private proxy. Since bans are frequent in web scraping, having access to dedicated IP addresses allows the process to exist. Shared proxies aren’t as great as they will be slower and more prone to bans in a field where speed and efficiency is key.
 

Both residential and datacenter proxies can be used as long as they’re private. In fact, it takes some experience to know which one of the two should be used.

Social media management

Whenever the question of managing multiple social media accounts arises, private proxies are a necessity. For one, sharing IP addresses might mean that the same user connects to the same platform with the same proxy, which can nearly instantly result in a ban.

Additionally, managing multiple social media accounts is nearly impossible without changing IP addresses as the platforms carefully track every user. Log in to many different accounts with the same IP and a ban will come swiftly.

Ad verification

Private residential and datacenter proxies allow companies to ensure that the advertisements they bought online are being displayed correctly. Unfortunately, ad fraud is a common occurrence online, which necessitates the use of private proxies to find out whether ads are being displayed correctly.

Companies will use residential proxies to get a dedicated IP address from a specific location. They will then visit the website and check how the ad is being displayed for that location and in general. As such, any issues can be detected instantly.

Private residential vs datacenter proxies

As mentioned previously, private proxies can be generated in both household devices or in data centers. The former makes them a private residential proxy while the latter makes it a private datacenter proxy.
 

There are some essential differences between them, especially when we start comparing private residential and datacenter proxies. In general, residential proxies are better suited when the tasks are less data-intensive, but require a stealthier approach. The latter are better when connection speeds are key.
 

While residential proxies may seem like the winner in nearly all regards, it should be noted that datacenter IPs also have their benefits. Primarily, residential proxies will be much more expensive per GB and per IP than their datacenter counterparts. So, if you want optimize business spending, datacenter proxies might be the way to go.

Choosing the best private proxy provider

Regardless of whether you choose to go with residential or datacenter proxies, picking the right provider is essential. Nearly all providers will have many products on offer with many IP addresses and various features.
 

It’s highly recommended to start by looking over the other types of proxies on offer. Since both datacenter and residential proxies have defined use cases, it’s likely that you will need either of them first before considering if a dedicated IP address is needed.
 

Additionally, all proxy providers will have wildly different packages for residential and datacenter proxies. In many cases, you’ll find providers that have either their pricing set too high or the features too lackluster, making the decision easier.
 

Once you move on from datacenter and residential proxies, you can start looking for private proxy offerings. Again, providers will vary heavily, however, you’ll notice that most of them will have significantly fewer IP addresses for the private plans.

Also, if you were looking for unlimited bandwidth, the decision will be significantly easier. Only private datacenter proxies will be available and fairly few providers even have the solution. In other cases, you’ll have to base your decision on other features of the solution.

Conclusion

Understanding what is a private proxy is relatively simple as long as you have some experience with the concept itself. In the end, a private proxy is nothing more than an intermediary server that limits the amount of connections.

Whether such limitations are put on datacenter or residential proxies makes no difference. They enable, however, providers to sell IP address packages for private datacenter proxies.