Company
Date Published
Author
Aviv Besinsky
Word count
1465
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

A UDP proxy is a gateway that intermediates UDP traffic between a client and a server, offering low overhead and fast data transmission ideal for real-time applications such as multimedia streaming, online gaming, and VoIP. Unlike TCP, UDP is connectionless and lacks error-checking, making it suitable for scenarios where low latency is more critical than error recovery. The proxy works by intercepting and forwarding UDP packets, thus masking the client's identity from the server, a feature that enhances security and anonymity. UDP proxies are beneficial in various use cases, including IoT communication, gaming, and bypassing firewalls, although they lack the general-purpose applicability of HTTP proxies, which excel in web-related activities with added security features. The choice between UDP, HTTP, and SOCKS proxies depends on specific needs, with HTTP proxies being the most popular due to their robustness and versatility for web traffic, while UDP proxies are preferred for low-latency demands. Bright Data, a prominent proxy provider, offers a wide range of proxy types, including datacenter, residential, ISP, and mobile proxies, serving numerous clients worldwide.