The Proxy Guide

Web proxy guide for users and webmasters

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Glype

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glype-girlGlype proxy script is a free-to-use, web-based proxy script written in. It is open source, but it is NOT released as GPL or a similar license. Its license requires: either keeping the back link or getting a (paid) license.

Glype script has become very popular after PHProxy project ceased. Glype is similar to PHProxy, but there is one fundamental difference: Glype uses curl to retrieve web pages. In addition, compared to PHProxy, Glype has more caching controls.

On May 7, 2010, Baron Munchausen, the administrator of Proxy.org announced that he acquired Glype. (source: http://forums.glype.com/news-updates/1286-baron-acquires-glype.html and http://proxy.org/forum/1273292889.html)

The official website of Glype is: http://www.glype.com. A live example of Glype is UtopianPal.com.

Some tutorials for Glype:

 

Comparison of Web Proxy Scripts

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comparison-of-web-proxy-scriptsFor web proxy webmasters, the first thing is to choose a proper proxy script. In this articles, 5 of the most popular web proxy scripts are compared. This is your definite guide for you on choosing a web proxy script.

I received some inquiries periodically on choosing a proxy script to start a web proxy site. So, I decided to post my opinions here.

It is always a tough question, when “the best” is involved. However, for a web proxy site, the candidates are quite limited. For simplicity and legal reasons, I will limit my discussion on free scripts only. The possible options usually include: CGIProxy, Glype, PHProxy, Surrogafier and Zelune.

CGIProxy is one of the oldest proxy scripts, and is very popular among veteran webmasters. Because it is written in Perl, the source code of the script is visible to those who install it, although CGIProxy is not an open source project. It is actually licensed through its own terms: for non-commercial usage, it is free. There are some misunderstandings on the licensing terms on CGIProxy: a lot of webmasters had though it is licensed under GPL . This is not correct. So, if you are going to run a large web proxy business, it is better to negotiate the licensing with the author as early as possible, at least before sparing considerable budget on modifying it.

The setup of CGIProxy is not complicated, as long as your system and web server support Perl. One of the most challenging problems for many webmasters is the performance tuning for Perl script. Proper tuning can make your proxy run significantly (10-100x) faster, and use less resource. Therefore, it is better to outsource the tuning task to some reliable experts unless you have sufficient knowledge on Perl and web server (e.g. Apache).

Glype is very popular among young webmasters. It is written in PHP, so it is easy to setup, and easy to find some tutorials to tune the performance. Again, Glype has its own licensing scheme: it is free to use, but a backlink is required unless you pay for the removal. There are no updates since January 2009. On May 8, 2010, Baron, who runs proxy.org, announced the acquisition of the project. Now, it is unclear whether some changes will be introduced.

PHProxy is a open source project and is licensed under GPL. However, Abdullah Arif, the author, discontinued the project and relinquished all rights (as well as responsibilities) on September 7, 2007. PHProxy mimics most functions and layout of CGIProxy in PHP. The last release of 0.52b2 is actually quite stable. Although a few people claimed to continue the project, there are no matured updates or forks yet.

Surrogafier is not widely used, and there have been no update since 2007. The script is not licensed under GPL, although the source code is not encrypted.

Zelune used to be a promising PHP-based proxy script. But it seems it has changed ownership a few times, and it gradually becomes less popular for some reasons. The licensing term is not clear for me.

So, in conclusion, for serious commercial operation, PHProxy and CGIProxy are recommended. For normal webmasters, Glype and PHProxy are recommended.

 

– CGIProxy Glype PHProxy Surrogafier Zelune
Programming language Perl PHP PHP PHP PHP
Licensing type Commercial; free for non-commercial Commercial; free to use with conditions GPL Free to use with conditions Not clear, but not GPL
Source code visible yes yes yes yes yes
Template system No (simple) yes No (simple) no yes
Customization difficult easy easy Not tested Not tested
Performance Can be very fast, but need tuning Fast, out of box Fast, out of box Not reported Fast, out of box
Conclusion Recommended Recommended Recommended – –

PHProxy

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phproxy-proxy-girlPHProxy (PHP proxy script) was a very popular proxy script before the author,Abdullah Arif, discontinued the project and relinquish all rights (as well as responsibilities) on September 7, 2007. The script is very similar to CGIProxy script. Actually the author also mentioned that the project was inspired by CGIProxy project. However, because PHProxy was written in PHP, compared with CGIProxy, PHProxy is generally easier to install for most webmasters.

The last release (version 0.5b2) of this script was on January 27, 2007 under GPL license. The script is available for download in sourceforge.

A copy of the last version (0.52b2) can also be found on TheProxyGuide (click to download). A demo of PHProxy script is available at: phproxy.goyap.net

Usually PHProxy does not need complicate templates and most webmasters just change the color schemes. A typical proxy sites powered by PHProxy is TheProxyFree.com, which uses the default template with slight modifications. Once of the largest collection of PHProxy (PHP proxy ) script powered websites can be found at:UnRestrictedSurf.

Tutorials on PHProxy:

1. How to install PHProxy ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOwVrm6T0zI  )

2. PHProxy (PHP proxy) tips and tricks: insert ad code and customization

 

tunneling

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Tunneling proxy may have various meanings; but most time, this refers to socks proxy. As the name suggests, socks proxy use sock 4 or 5 protocol, which performs at an intermediate layer between the presentation layer and the transport layer.

Socks (tunneling) proxy can be used for any form of TCP or UDP socket connection. This means it can be used for most application software (in addition to http connections), e.g., instant messenger.

horse-cleaner

 

open proxy

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open-proxyOpen proxy may have different interpretations, e.g., some geeks deem web-based proxy as open proxy; others may confuse open proxy with unauthentic proxies.

Open proxy usually is similar to web-based proxy (e.g., using http protocol), but there are some differences. Web-based proxy retrieves resources for the client, and at the same time some modifications were also made. For example, most web-based proxy scripts rewrite the java script and act as client directly. But most open proxy only fetch the resources and do not make any modifications.

Because open proxy uses http protocol for the connections between the client and the proxy server. This makes it different from tunneling, or socks proxy.

 

Zelune

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overloaded-tricycle-and-sexy-chinese-ladyZelune is another proxy script written in PHP. Its history is quite long; but it has not widely used, partially due to its unclear license terms. It is free, but the license terms was never clearly stated in the download page or with in the script.

Also, there are two confusing variations: zelune.com and zelune.net. Now a new member, Phphantom scripts (which was released under GPL), was added to this family in 2008. The website claims that Phphantom scripts will merge with Zelune script; but it seems it is not available at this time yet.

web-based proxy

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web-based-proxy-girlWeb-based proxy, some times called web proxy, usually refers to a type of proxy service through web servers. A client connects to the service provider’s website (proxy server), then type the web address he/she wants to browse. The proxy server fetches the contents, and passes them to the client.

By using web-based proxy, the client may access sites blocked by their local ISP or parents. For example, social networking sites, e.g., myspace and facebook, were blocked in some US and UK schools. The pupils may use web-based proxy to bypass the blocking and access these sites.

Similarly, in some countries, the internet is censored for various purposes. Some users in these countries may also use web proxy to access the blocked sites.

Some users use web proxy for privacy considerations, and they do not want to disclose their IP info to such untrusted sites. In this case, their info will very likely only be recorded in the proxy server.

Web-based proxy usually is powered by a few proxy scrips, including CGIProxy, PHProxy, Glype, Zelune and Surrogafier.

proxy

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web-proxy-no-cheating-pleaseIn WWW world, proxy usually refers to the intermediary that retrieves information from other sources (e.g., websites) for the client. This is sensible when:

  • the client cannot directly connect to the resources, e.g., some ISPs’ firewall blocks these resources erratically or deliberately;
  • the client does not want to disclose his/her info (e.g., IP address) to the resources

There are different types of proxy: web-based proxy, open proxy and tunneling.