Databay field notes
Proxy guides, experiments & operator notes
Engineering guides and first-party measurements for people operating proxy-backed data systems.
All articles
70 entries
Proxy Ports Explained: Why the Number Is Convention
A proxy port number is a convention, not a promise. Learn what 8080, 3128, and 1080 mean and how to tell a wrong-port error from a...
7 min readRead
What Are Backconnect Proxies? One Gateway, Many Exits
A backconnect proxy is one gateway address in front of a rotating pool of exits. See the architecture demonstrated on a local gateway.
8 min readRead
What Is a Web Proxy? How URL-Based Browsing Works
A web proxy is a website that fetches pages for you and rewrites every link. See exactly what it changes, what breaks, and what its...
11 min readRead
Free Proxy List Benchmark: 2,911 Proxies Tested
Results from a June 11, 2026 test of 2,911 entries across seven free proxy lists, covering availability, HTTPS, latency, stability, and...
11 min readRead
Residential IP Reputation: 1,000 Published Observations
What 1,000 redacted route observations across 25 ASNs show about DNSBL labels, Tor and DROP checks, network classification, and dataset...
10 min readRead
Headless Browser Detection Signals: Defensive Testing
How sites combine browser, rendering, network, session, and behavior signals, and how to test them defensively without treating a...
10 min readRead
TLS Fingerprinting Through Proxies: JA3, JA4, Tunnels
How JA3 and JA4 summarize TLS clients, when proxies preserve or replace a ClientHello, and how to test a path without treating a hash as...
10 min readRead
Proxy Anonymity Levels: Elite vs Anonymous vs Transparent
What common proxy anonymity labels measure, how header-based tests work, and why no label proves privacy, safety, authorization, or...
4 min readRead
Free Proxy List Methodology and Coverage Limits
Definitions for the fields Databay publishes, the freshness and filtering rules in the website code, and limits on what those...
4 min readRead
Are Proxies Legal? A Risk-Based Compliance Guide
Proxy software is not a blanket permission or prohibition. This source-linked guide explains why legality depends on authorization...
8 min readRead
Proxies for Authorized Social Media Management
A security- and compliance-first guide to stable network access, official platform tools, client separation, and regional public-content QA.
4 min readRead
Are Free Proxies Safe? A Practical Threat Model
Unknown public proxies have no dependable identity, security, retention, or availability commitment.
4 min readRead
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