Static and rotating proxies - a comparison from StableProxy

Static and Resident Proxies: Their Role and Features

Proxy servers play a key role in conducting important web analyses.

What is a proxy server?

A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a client who is requesting a web page and the server that provides this page. They provide anonymity by bypassing restrictions set up by many websites to prevent their resources from being scraped.

Why do we need proxy servers?

Many companies are interested in collecting large volumes of web data to support their needs in advertising analysis, price monitoring, social network tracking, reputation management, or data collection.

Unfortunately, many websites restrict the types of data that can be collected from their resources. Almost all websites have a robots.txt file, which describes the rules that the site owner would like web crawlers to follow.

Many sites introduce restrictions for web robots. These restrictions include geographical restrictions (the site is available only to visitors from certain geographic regions) and restrictions on the number of requests (100 requests in 5 minutes). If such activities are detected, websites may implement blocking technologies such as CAPTCHA or simply refuse to load the page.

Proxy servers can help bypass these restrictions by routing traffic through IP addresses that appear as legitimate visitors.

What is a static proxy?

The IP address of a static proxy remains unchanged over time. Static proxy servers are groups of IP addresses that data centers and internet providers sell or rent.

Static proxy servers have several advantages. Since there's only one "hop" between the request and the target website, they work faster. One of the most important advantages is the ability to keep the IP address "for life" - it will be yours as long as you need it.

Static proxies also have some drawbacks. Depending on your needs, the offer of static IP addresses may not meet all geographic data collection requirements. Some online stores, such as Amazon, block static IP addresses that send too many requests.

What is a residential proxy?

Residential proxy servers provide you with a new IP address if your current IP address is no longer available or if you have set up automatic IP address rotation in your proxy manager. IP addresses can change after a certain amount of time (seconds/minutes), after a certain number of requests, or as soon as the IP address you are using becomes unavailable. The proxy management system controls when and how you will be assigned new IP addresses. Residential proxy servers get addresses from a pool of home or mobile IP addresses. Users decide to connect their devices to the network in exchange for a free or ad-free application.

Residential proxy servers have several advantages over static proxy servers. First, residential proxy servers use IP addresses from millions of home and mobile devices. This allows for geographical targeting down to city/state level. Second, the combination of residential IP addresses and legitimate IP addresses from home/mobile devices makes residential IP addresses very difficult to detect.

Residential proxy servers have three main drawbacks. Rotating proxies work slower than static ones. An additional "hop" occurs when the proxy gateway server needs to assign a new IP address. The pool of IP addresses (residential/mobile devices) generally has lower bandwidth than data center or provider proxy servers. Finally, residential proxy servers are usually more expensive as the proxy server provider has to provide and maintain millions of IP addresses.

Comparison of Static and Residential Proxy Servers

Static Proxy Servers

• IP addresses are purchased or rented from data centers or providers
• Suitable for companies working with less complex websites that can benefit from a faster pool of static IP addresses. Included use cases: account management and ad verification.
• Can be detected

Residential Proxy Servers

• A new IP address is assigned, if so configured.
• Suitable for companies engaged in developing complex websites that can benefit from IP rotation
• Hard to detect

Use of Static and Residential Proxy Servers

The use cases for static and residential proxy servers vary greatly. The most common use cases include

Application of Static Proxy

• Ad verification. Displaying advertisements from a user's point of view in a specific geographic area helps marketers ensure the right ads reach the target audience and lead to the appropriate landing page.
• Network penetration testing. ISO 27001 standard requires penetration testing. Static proxies can provide the necessary volume, speed, and anonymity for effective testing.
• Social network account management. Managing multiple accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks from different geolocations.
• Reputation management. Static proxies are ideal for gathering information about your company's online reputation, including positive and negative reviews, media mentions, and social media.

Application of Residential Proxy Server

• E-commerce competitive market analysis. Collecting information about competitors' prices and product availability.
• Business analysis. Extraction of sensitive public data, such as information from LinkedIn, requires anonymity and scalability that residential proxy servers can provide.

Conclusion

Both static and dynamic proxies have their advantages and disadvantages. To choose between them, you should ask yourself the following questions: How complex a website am I planning to scan? Do I need these IP addresses for a long term? Do I need quick access (considering the KYC process for proxy rotation)?