What Is a Proxy ID?

By Laura Gittins

A proxy ID identifies a computer or a client on the Internet through a proxy server. Proxy IDs attempt to make searching the web faster for users by directing traffic between a client and a peer computer or server.

Function

When a client accesses a web page from the Internet, a proxy server assigns a proxy ID to the client. It then scans its own cache memory to see if it has the web page. If so, it returns it to the client, but if not, it will request the information from another server and returns the information based on the assigned proxy ID.

Benefits

If a client requests information from a source multiple servers away, each intermediate server node uses a proxy ID to direct the traffic. If a proxy server did not assign an ID to a client, it would not know where to return the information that the proxy server requests from the Internet.

Cloaking

When a client has the cloaking security feature enabled, any intermediate servers between the client and the final server will mask their proxy identities and use the client's proxy ID. Cloaking an identity is used to make encrypted connections between a client and server.

×