Intro
Nowadays using a proxy server could be the must-have option. For the current year, I faced with two situations when the most popular resources were blocked and I'm talking about Telegram issues in Russia and blocked VK.com in Ukraine. My customer and friend contacted me and requested to solve this complex situation by installing a proxy server.
Let's get some sort of knowledge about proxy servers and solutions. The most common reason for using a proxy is to hide your real IP and access resources that are blocked in your location. Another reason for using caching proxy servers could be a way to reduce the load on the network, increase throughput, save traffic, monitor the user activities, and even block unwanted sites. Another application of proxy server - websites used for caching of generated pages to speed up loading of sites.
In this article, I will show the best Linux proxy servers in the most popular variants that you can use in configuration.
Linux Proxy Servers
Squid
This is the best Linux proxy server supporting HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and the rest of the protocols. It allows increase network bandwidth and reduces the time of site feedback by caching resources and pages. The pages and sites that are requested often could be used repeatedly. You can configure caching as in operative memory, so on the hard drive if needed to cache lots of data at slow Internet. Also, IP rotation could be implemented to have multiple outbound IPs when you surf the web.
Withal, Squid has extra wide opportunities of controlling the access to network resources. You can block not only the obvious queries to domains or certain file sizes upload, but also access to the network at a specific time, work of protocols and ports, and also many other things. Squid supports not exceptionally only Linux operating system, however, initially, it was not so.
Privoxy
This is another caching best Linux distro for proxy server, which is installed on the client side. It supports all major web protocols but is increasingly being used not for content caching, but for filtration and security of user privacy. Thanks to it, you can change web pages, cut out advertisements, control the cookies, limit access to several websites, also delete any objectionable content and manage the headings sent by the browser.
In contrast to Squid, the program is configured through a quite convenient web interface. Although, at certain points, you may be confused. Except of web interface, you can use the configuration file, but it is much more difficult.
Polipo
It is a small, but fast caching Linux proxy server with open source software, which supports HTTP and DNS protocols. Polipo can be used for advertisement filtering, to increase privacy, or to speed up websites by using page caching. As well as Privoxy it is mainly intended to provide privacy. Program configuration is performed by a web interface, but besides itself, there are several graphical shells for interactivity with the program.
Tiny Proxy
Very simple and easy Linux proxy server with basic settings. It is created as a small and very fast proxy that supports HTTP and HTTPS. Despite the lightness of this server, Linux keeps all the necessary functions, such as remote access by using a web interface, based URL filtering of access to resources, and so on.
Exa Proxy
This one proxy is intended not for traffic caching, but for its modification that supports by convenient programming language via the HTTP protocol. All the HTTPS connections may be accessed without changing by using the Connect method. Linux proxy server works quickly and has a web interface to access of statistics of its work and settings.
Gate.js
It’s going to be something new and very interesting for you to know. This is a full-featured caching proxy server written with JavaScript using Node.js. Being created from scratch it’s intended to replace Squid and Nginx. You can cache the content that makes the work of web servers much easier, also speeding up a load of websites on the client side. The main feature is in scalability; since the program is written in an interpreted language, it can be easily expanded.
Artica Proxy
Is a powerful but easy though proxy server positioning itself as a complete replacement of the Squid. Program keep filtering of Internet and DNS queries traffic, protection from viruses and spam, creating caching rules, and authentication using the ACL lists.
Moreover, here you can find a very detailed statistics page by using which you can learn everything about the program work and network load.
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Best Linux Proxy Distros
CentOS
CentOS proxy server is a free version of the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux distro, developed by the community. They take the initial codes of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, clean it from branding, and organize the constant release of system updates. It is created with the idea to produce a stable and free OS for enterprises and organizations.
Features:
CentOS contains only the most stable releases of software packages. This has led to a greatly reduced risk of errors and failures.
Users who set up CentOS have access to corporate class security updates because this distribution is closely linked with Red Hat.
Includes a wide range of security features, including a powerful firewall and SELinux.
Ubuntu
This is the most popular and best Linux server distro. Even if it’s not at the top of the list among experienced users, the newcomers are definitely like it! This distribution is based on Debian and has a regular cycle of new version releases.
Features:
There is an easy and simple installer.
As the user interface is used Unity by default. It is kinda different from other OS desktop's appearance, but won’t be very difficult to assimilate.
After the system is installed, you will get a wide range of software.
The popularity of Ubuntu caused a huge amount of software that suits perfectly; you can find it not only at official repositories but also at side PPA and on the Internet.
There is also a huge number of documentation and articles available on the Internet that describes how to configure a system. If you are facing any problem just try to look for a solution on the Internet and likely, you will find the answer.
Web Page Caching Servers
Varnish
In contrast to the above-mentioned programs, this proxy is designed greater for the work on the server side. It is intended to accelerate the websites with its modern architecture that gives significant productivity. Varnish cache saves web pages in memory of server for Apache or Nginx web server program would not generate it again. Web server only updates the pages when content is changing. Getting content from the memory is much faster than using full generating.
Ngnix
Everyone knows how great is this Linux file server distro, designed for operation under heavy load. But besides that, it can be used as a proxy server too. Ngnix can’t cache or filter the contents of pages, so his task is in accepting requests from clients on the server, transferring this data to other programs, and returning responses to the clients. Why is it beneficial to use? Because the program is optimized for maximum performance and can take simultaneously up to ten thousand requests from users.
Conclusion
In this article, we reviewed and described the best Linux proxy servers and maybe there are not all the programs that would be worth adding to the list. We hope that this information will be useful to you and if you have any questions concerning the mentioned topic, just contact ITsyndicate team to specify the details.
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