Posted on August 13, 2009 by ProProxier

What is Proxy Script

A proxy script is a computer program which takes the URL request, retrieves the web pages from the target site, and sends the results back to the user. Just like an engine to a car, your proxy script is the heart to your proxy site. So, how strong and flexible your proxy script is will have a great impact on your proxy business.

To create a proxy script requires a lot of in-depth knowledge and experience of computer programming. Fortunately, as a proxy business owner, you don’t have to do it by yourself. Instead, you just need to choose a best proxy script and customize it.

Popular Free Proxy Scripts

There are many free proxy scripts that you can download from Internet. Some popular ones are:

• Glype – A fast, easy-to-use, web proxy script based on PHP and cURL.
• Zelune – Another fast and common-used PHP proxy script.
• Phphantom – The next-generation proxy script after Zelune.
• PHProxy – One of the earliest PHP proxy scripts, light-weighted and flexible.
• CGIProxy – A solid, powerful HTTP or FTP proxy script based on Perl.
• ASProxy – A fully-functional proxy script written in ASP.NET.

5 Things to Consider Before Choose Your Proxy Script

• Site Compatibility – The purpose of using proxy is to access requested web sites just like you directly visit them. So how compatible your proxy script is with various websites is critical. For instance, does it support common web technologies such as JavaScript, Pop-Ups, Cookie, Flash Movie, or HTTPS? or does it provide plug-ins optimized for popular sites such as YouTube, Facebook, or Myspace? The bottom line is, you don’t want to build a proxy site then turns out to be useless to your visitors.
• Proxy Performance – This usually means how fast you proxy script can process a request and how stable it is. Remember your proxy site is competing with thousands of other proxies. The chances are, few people would be patient enough to wait more than 20 seconds for a page coming back.
• Easy to Use and Customize – Although you don’t need to know the detail implementation of your proxy script, you do need to know how to configure and customize it. A good proxy will help you manage site settings such as cache size, download limitation, and blocked ips. Moreover,  it will allow you to easily change the site layout, color, and contents without touching its core programs.
• Resource Demand – Any single proxy request will consume certain amount of resources, such as CPU Time, Memory Space, or Network Bandwidth. Considering your site may have over 5,000 visits per day, the resource demand of your proxy script will largely affect your site performance. If it is too much, you either have to spend more money upgrading your server or watch your users leaving.
• Continued Development and Support – Internet technologies are continually evolving. New features, widgets, and tools are coming up everyday. To better support them, your proxy script has to catch up as well. Ideally, it should have a new release every 12 months if not more often. In addition, it should have a large user community with  some active forums to help you resolve all kinds of issues.

My Top Proxy Script Picks

Best Overall Free Proxy Script

Glype is by far the most popular proxy script. It shines from the crowd because:

• Support all main web technologies such as JavaScript, Cookie, and Popups.
• Provide a  friendly admin control panel to manage things like Installation Options, URL Encoding, Caching, Hotlinking, Logging, User Access, and Maintenance.
• Use PHP5 and cURL to allow fast access to requested websites.
• Offer a very flexible theme system for easy customization without affecting the core programs.
• Provide a plug-in system to better support individual sites.
• Require less system resources in terms of CPU Time and Memory Space.
• Have more active developments and updates, the latest version – Glype 1.1 was released in Jan, 2009.
• Have a big and active online forum for people to ask questions, discuss issues, and provide solutions.

Most Compatible Free Proxy Script

CGIProxy is often used by seasoned proxiers (Pro Proxiers) as an alternative to Glype. It is mainly because of its full JavaScript support, which provides a better compatibility to popular sites and Pop-up/under Ads (one of the main money-making methods for proxy business).

The two main downsides of CGIProxy are, first it requires relatively more system resources, so you need to have a more powerful server to run it; second, it requires more technical expertise to optimize the server environment for a better  performance.

In sum, a solid proxy script is the foundation of your proxy site. To find a best proxy script, you need to look at its compatibility, performance, customization, resource demand, and support. For anyone new to the proxy business, I’d recommend you to start with Glype. Once you get more experience, especially on server configuration and optimization, you may try CGIProxy to get maximum site compatibility.

If you have any further questions or thoughts regarding the proxy script, please add your comment here.

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