title: Smartproxy Vocabulary
description: >-
  Core terminology and concepts for the Smartproxy proxy network platform,
  encompassing proxy types, connection modes, account management, and web
  scraping infrastructure concepts.
created: '2026-05-02'
modified: '2026-05-02'
terms:
  - term: Proxy
    definition: >-
      An intermediary server that routes internet traffic on behalf of a client,
      masking the client's original IP address. Smartproxy offers residential,
      datacenter, mobile, and ISP proxy types.
    related:
      - IP Address
      - Anonymity
      - Web Scraping

  - term: Residential Proxy
    definition: >-
      A proxy using IP addresses assigned to real residential internet users
      by ISPs. Residential proxies appear as legitimate user traffic and have
      high success rates on websites with anti-bot measures.
    related:
      - ISP
      - IP Rotation
      - Web Scraping

  - term: Datacenter Proxy
    definition: >-
      A proxy using IP addresses from cloud or hosting provider data centers.
      Datacenter proxies are fast and affordable but can be more easily
      detected and blocked by sophisticated anti-bot systems.
    related:
      - Cloud
      - High Speed
      - Bulk Scraping

  - term: Mobile Proxy
    definition: >-
      A proxy using IP addresses from mobile networks (3G/4G/5G), providing
      high trust scores as mobile IPs are rarely blocked. Used for accessing
      mobile-specific content and geo-targeted data.
    related:
      - Mobile Networks
      - 4G
      - Geo-Targeting

  - term: ISP Proxy
    definition: >-
      A proxy that combines the legitimacy of residential IPs with the speed
      of datacenter proxies, using static IPs sourced from internet service
      providers. Ideal for tasks requiring both trust and performance.
    related:
      - Residential Proxy
      - Datacenter Proxy
      - Static IP

  - term: Sub-User
    definition: >-
      A child account within a primary Smartproxy account used for segmenting
      proxy access, setting individual traffic limits, and isolating proxy
      usage by team, project, or application.
    related:
      - Account Management
      - Traffic Allocation

  - term: Rotating Proxy
    definition: >-
      A proxy configuration that automatically assigns a new IP address from
      the proxy pool for each request (random mode) or at the start of each
      new session. Enables large-scale data collection without IP bans.
    aliases:
      - Random Proxy
    related:
      - IP Rotation
      - Session Management

  - term: Sticky Session
    definition: >-
      A proxy configuration that maintains the same IP address for the duration
      of a session, enabling stateful browsing, login sessions, and multi-step
      workflows that require IP consistency.
    aliases:
      - Sticky Proxy
    related:
      - Session Management
      - Login

  - term: IP Whitelisting
    definition: >-
      A proxy authentication method where specific IP addresses are pre-authorized
      to use proxies without providing username and password credentials on each
      connection. Simplifies authentication for server-based scrapers.
    related:
      - Authentication
      - IP Address

  - term: Traffic Limit
    definition: >-
      A configurable cap on the amount of data (in GB) a sub-user can consume
      through Smartproxy services within a billing period. Used for cost control
      and resource allocation across teams.
    related:
      - Sub-User
      - Billing
      - Data Usage

  - term: Endpoint
    definition: >-
      A proxy server connection point identified by a hostname and port. Smartproxy
      provides endpoints for different proxy types (random, sticky, datacenter)
      and geographic locations.
    related:
      - Proxy
      - Host
      - Port

  - term: Backconnect Proxy
    definition: >-
      A type of proxy endpoint where a single host:port combination routes
      requests through a rotating pool of proxy IPs on the backend. The client
      connects to one address while Smartproxy routes through many IPs.
    related:
      - Rotating Proxy
      - Endpoint

  - term: Web Scraping
    definition: >-
      The automated extraction of data from websites using HTTP requests and
      HTML parsing. Smartproxy provides proxy infrastructure to enable
      large-scale web scraping without IP blocks or rate limiting.
    related:
      - Data Collection
      - HTML Parsing
      - Bot Traffic

  - term: SOCKS5
    definition: >-
      A proxy protocol that operates at the transport layer, supporting TCP
      and UDP traffic. SOCKS5 proxies are more versatile than HTTP proxies
      and can handle any type of internet traffic.
    related:
      - HTTP Proxy
      - Protocol