The issue with most proxies is that they either lack performance or are expensive. Maintaining a proper balance that suits your budget and needs can be difficult since there is a lot to consider. The best option is to find something simple and only improve once you need it.
Shared datacenter proxies are the best place to start, and many projects won’t require anything more sophisticated. Let us dive into these proxies and when you should use them.
Defining shared data center proxies
A proxy hides your IP address and changes your location, and it achieves it by putting an intermediary server between your device and the websites you visit. This proxy server can be dedicated only to one user, so all the maintenance costs must be covered by the person using the connection.
It is an expensive choice that is worth the money only in some scenarios but not others. Sharing the connection to a proxy is a more cost-friendly approach. Some proxy servers can be pretty powerful, and you might not even use up all their available potential.
Such is the case with datacenter proxies, created in high-tech data centers with powerful commercial-tier internet. These proxies are unaffiliated with ordinary internet service providers (ISPs), with IP addresses created virtually in bulk using cloud technology. This setup ensures superior performance compared to other types.
One server can house multiple data center IPs, so maintenance is cheap as you don’t need many physical devices running simultaneously. Costs can be lowered even more if the provider allows access to multiple users at once. So, we get shared datacenter proxies as the ultimate combination of price and performance.
Another frequent type of proxies – residential, is rarely shared among multiple users. Household ISPs limit their performance too much for sharing. On the other hand, they are better at avoiding suspicion from websites and ensuring high legitimacy.
Main features
The choice between different types of proxies rests on what are your goals. The features of shared datacenter proxies make them useful in most cases.
Low cost is the defining feature of shared datacenter proxies and the main reason to choose them. They can be three times cheaper than residential proxies and cut the costs of dedicated datacenter ones in half. It is a significant amount of money, considering that most users spend hundreds of dollars monthly for proxies.
The pricing of shared datacenter proxies also provides a huge benefit for users. You won’t pay for every IP address you acquire. Instead, you will pay for the web traffic you use. There is no sense for providers to limit the number of connections you can use.
Unlimited concurrent sessions are available with shared datacenter proxies. You can use a lot of IPs for sending small amounts of traffic or one IP for sending large ones and pay the same amount of money. The choice is up to you, and it is always good to have one.
Of course, for such a feature to work efficiently, the provider must have a lot of shared datacenter IPs available. Otherwise, you risk using the same IP addresses multiple times. It is important to choose a trusted provider because some exaggerate their numbers.
Luckily, a large pool of IP addresses is a common occurrence with most providers, as having only a few shared datacenter IPs defeats the purpose of the product. Since they are shared for many different purposes, websites might block them from entering.
Having a lot of IPs is essential for shared datacenter proxies, but it isn’t the only measure against IP bans. Automatic IP rotation allows users to switch the connection between different serves according to set parameters. Usually, it’s a fixed amount of time, but the same IP can be kept for needed actions.
Keeping the same proxy for longer is crucial when you need to bypass geo-targeting. It is expected for providers to have shared datacenter proxies spread around the world. The most popular locations are in Europe and North America.
Drawbacks
Shared datacenter proxies deliver all the basic features you would get when using dedicated proxies, but for a significantly lower price. Still, some users opt for a dedicated version because of a few drawbacks.
Datacenter proxies, both shared and dedicated, are more easily noticed by websites. Since their IP addresses are created in bulk virtually, the number sequences are inherited from the origin server and may differ in only a couple of digits at the end.
While this is a reasonable concern, automatic rotation and a large pool of IP addresses reduce the risk of IP bans to a minimum. The website must be very aggressive, or you have to be quite careless to get in trouble.
Some users act recklessly and get the IPs banned. It is hard to deny that this is a drawback of shared datacenter proxies, but it happens less frequently than critics assume. Of course, the risk you are willing to take depends on the importance of your project.
When to use them?
It would be unfair to recommend shared datacenter proxies for all scenarios. Some projects are too valuable to try to save a buck, and more specific options are better. If you need high legitimacy, go with residential proxies. If you want the speed of datacenter proxies – choose dedicated ones.
That said, shared datacenter proxies are the best choice for everyday scenarios because of their price-to-benefits ratio. They can achieve most of what other types of proxies can but at significantly lower costs. Therefore, most use cases overlap with ordinary datacenter proxies. Here are some of them:
- Anonymous browsing.
- Bypassing geo-restrictions.
- Web scraping.
- Price monitoring.
- Brand protection.
- Ad verification.
Conclusion
Shared datacenter proxies are unbeatable for their price-to-performance ratio. Other types might have some superior aspects but can’t match the overall combination. If you are an ordinary user or just starting, a shared datacenter proxy is the best choice for you.
