Proxy types · glossary

Datacenter proxy

A datacenter proxy uses an IP address hosted in a commercial facility and registered to a hosting company rather than to a consumer ISP. It is the fastest and cheapest proxy type, with wired uplinks and predictable latency, and the easiest for websites to recognise as non-residential. Datacenter proxies are sold as dedicated (one customer) or shared addresses, per IP and per term.

2 min read Also called DC proxy, private proxy Updated

Dedicated versus shared#

A dedicated datacenter IP belongs to one customer for the whole term, so its reputation is only what that customer makes of it. A shared IP is used by several customers at once; it is cheaper and its reputation is unpredictable. Providers that sell "private proxies" mean dedicated ones.

Where it shines and where it fails#

  • Shines: bulk collection from open sources and APIs, monitoring your own properties from many cities, QA and load generation, SEO tooling that needs speed more than a residential score.
  • Fails: targets that fingerprint hosting ranges (large marketplaces, social platforms, ticketing, sneaker drops). Those answer hosting ranges with challenges or blocks regardless of how polite the crawler is.

Traffic policy#

Because bandwidth in a facility is cheap, datacenter proxies come with unlimited or generously pooled traffic. Some providers meter per GB; ProxShift attaches a monthly allowance to each IP and pools it across the order, so an idle address funds a busy one.

How it works at ProxShift#

ProxShift datacenter proxies are dedicated IPs from an inventory of 550K+ addresses in 60+ cities across 37 countries, from $0.70 per IP per month on a 90-day term in North America, each bringing 100 GB a month into the order's pool. When the pool is exhausted, speed is reduced until the next cycle; nothing is cut off and nothing is billed on top.

Questions people ask#

Why is a datacenter proxy cheaper than a residential one?

Addresses and bandwidth in a facility cost a fraction of household bandwidth, and one address can serve unlimited traffic. You pay for the address, not for gigabytes.

Will datacenter IPs work on Google or Amazon?

Often not for long: both score hosting ranges aggressively. Use residential or mobile exits for those and keep datacenter IPs for sources that do not fingerprint hosting.

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