What Are Backconnect Proxies?

Pros and cons of backconnect proxies

To fully understand what a backconnect proxy is, you need to know what its advantages and disadvantages are as well.

Pros

They save time

This could be the number one reason why backconnect proxies are a very popular solution for web scraping. The backconnect proxy network uses a rotation system that rotates proxies and assigns them different requests. The fact that you can make multiple requests per minute goes a long way to save you time. You also do not need to maintain proxy rotation as it is done automatically. 

They eliminate limits on requests

Backconnect proxies are used for web scraping because they eliminate rate limits. Rate limits are limits on how many requests can be made to a target website. Websites limit how many times a proxy can access their information and bans that proxy once that limit is exceeded. Backconnect proxies help to overcome this challenge by rotating your IP address to different proxies on each request made.

They increase anonymity

You would need to maintain a significantly high anonymity level when scraping the web if you intend to do it successfully. Many websites are usually designed to ban unmasked IP addresses, so anonymity is necessary to prevent getting banned. A backconnect proxy can do all that while still maintaining the overall power of your scraping software.

They increase the security of IP addresses

The security risk is a significant concern while scraping the web. There is always a risk of being targeted with malicious content. If your IP address is targeted and infiltrated successfully, the consequences can range from a major but temporary setback to a complete end of your web scraping career. Since the backconnect proxy stands between you and the website server, one of its functions is to ensure that information containing malicious content does not get to you. It protects you and your IP address from malicious activities. 

Cons

They increase overall cost

Backconnect proxies offer better security and anonymity, multiple requests with no limits, and reduced extraction time. Of course, all of these benefits come with an extra cost, so this is the reason why backconnect proxies are usually more expensive than other proxy types. However, if you search for a reliable and effective solution for web scraping, residential proxy is one of the best choices you can make.

They can sometimes have speed challenges

You may notice that the proxy does not deliver the request or return information to your server fast enough. This can be problematic and affect your overall productivity. However, this disadvantage only arises when you use a backconnect proxy network that is far enough from your scraping server or target server. For example, imagine that your scraping server is in Germany, the backconnect proxy server is in the USA, and your target server is in Russia. Your request goes from Germany to the USA, then to Russia, then back to the USA, and finally reaches your scraping server in Germany. Because of this long and challenging process, speed issues are not that surprising. The way to fix it – choose the backconnect proxy server as nearest as possible to you or your target location.

Conclusion

Web scraping is useful for several reasons and can be very successful and lucrative when done correctly. You can improve your web scraping process with a backconnect proxy. In this case, you will not need to deal with IP blocks, rate limits, and other issues. Choosing a reliable proxy service provider is essential because only then you can take full advantage of proxies without any problems.