Patent ID: 11956094
Assignee: BRIGHT DATA LTD.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A method for utilizing first and second proxy servers from a group of proxy servers, each of the first and second proxy servers is configured to serve as an intermediary device in encrypted or HTTPS sessions, so that it is not aware of the received content, for use with a database that accumulates performance and availability information of the proxy servers in the group and that associates a respective value indicative of performance or availability to each of the proxy servers in the group, each of the proxy servers in the group stores a respective list of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, the method comprising:
selecting, from the group, a first proxy server that stores a first list of IP addresses;
selecting, from the first list, a first IP address;, sending, to a first web server over the Internet, a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for a first content that is stored in the first web server, using the first IP address as a source address of the first HTTP request;
receiving, the first content, from the first web server over the Internet, in response to the sending of the first HTTP request;
measuring, a first delay associated with the receiving of the first content from the first web server;
updating, in the database, a value associated with the first proxy server, in response to, or based on, the measured first delay;
selecting, from the group, a second proxy server that stores a second list of IP addresses;
selecting, from the second list, a second IP address that is different from the first IP address;
sending, to a second web server over the Internet, a second Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for a second content that is stored in the second web server, using the second IP address as the source address of the second HTTP request;
receiving, the second content, from the second web server over the Internet, in response to the sending of the second HTTP request;
measuring, a second delay associated with the receiving of the second content from the second web server; and
updating, in the database, the value associated with the second proxy server, in response to, or based on, the measured second delay,
wherein the first web server comprises, or consists of, a first web server for serving the content accessible through Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP Secure (HTTPS) protocols,
wherein the second web server comprises, or consists of, a second web server for serving the content accessible through HTTP or HTTPS protocols,
wherein the selecting of the first proxy server, the second proxy server, the first IP address, the second IP address, or any combination thereof, is based on, random selection, sequential or cycling selection, a criterion associated with a value of an attribute,
wherein the first proxy server is operated by a first proxy provider and wherein the second proxy server is operated by a second proxy provider that is distinct from the first proxy provider, and
wherein the method further comprising reconfiguring a proxy provider's utilization threshold.