Daniel - October 9, 2020
Best Proxies For Scrapy
In this post, we will show you the best proxies for Scrapy, a popular framework for building web scraping tools.
In essence, web scraping involves downloading data from websites without accessing the website’s database or using its API. All you need is access to the website and with a good web scraper, you can get all the data you want.
The reason for scraping websites for data with scrapers is to save time and improve efficiency. If you were to scrape data manually using copy and paste, you are sure to spend hours and possibly days if it is a large database.
Although there are several web scrapers available, in this article, our interest is on Scrapy. Hence, we’ll be looking at what Scrapy is all about and the best proxies for Scrapy.
What Types Of Proxies Work With Scrapy?
To scrape data with Scrapy, you need a premium proxy. Using free proxy services is not recommended as the majority of them are unreliable.
You can go for either residential proxies or datacenter proxies. However, I would recommend residential proxies for any web scraping tasks as they are not easily detected. This is because residential proxies consist of real IP addresses that are generated by Internet Service Providers.
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Additionally, we also have static and rotating proxies; static proxies maintain a particular IP address, while rotating proxies switch the IP address to another one after a sequence of requests. The latter is the best to use.
With rotating proxies, you can maintain your connection while your IP address gets switched at intervals. To the website you’re scraping, it will appear as though the requests are coming from multiple devices.
On the other hand, you can also use a residential VPN to rotate your IP address while using Scrapy.
What Is Scrapy?
Scrapy is a non-proprietary framework for developing scalable web scrapers. In other words, you can use Scrapy to create a web scraping program and subsequently use it to scrape data. The framework is based on Python and was released in 2008. It would work with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS devices.
Currently, Scrapy is managed by Scrapinghub, a web scraping company that utilizes cloud-based technologies. It was initially developed by Mydeco, a London-based eCommerce and web-aggregation company, and Insophia, an Uruguayan web-consulting company.
Thankfully, Scrapy’s functionality has extended beyond only web scraping; it’s now a general-purpose web crawler. To use it, you just have to code your set of instructions using any of its spider crawlers.
Furthermore, Scrapy is used by top companies for web crawling including Sayone Technologies, Parsely, and Lyst. As an open-source framework, you can contribute to Scrapy’s development via its GitHub repository.
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Why Do You Need Proxies With Scrapy?
When you attempt to scrape data from websites, you increase the server load. This consumes more bandwidth and for the websites with archaic servers, it could slow download time or lead to a crash.
However, webmasters typically set a default data transfer limit for each user to prevent web scraping. As you keep sending these numerous web requests from your device, the server notices it and blocks your IP address.
Another reason is that web scraping may breach site users’ privacy especially for social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
As a result, if you attempt web scraping on websites, there’s a high possibility that your IP address will be blocked. You would no longer access that website and that’s where proxies come in.
A proxy sends web requests to web servers on your behalf and it can hide your real IP address. Additionally, proxies with unmetered data transfer limits can handle large database scraping and by switching your IP address, you won’t be blocked.
Bottom Line
We’ve looked at the advantages that come with web scraping using Scrapy and a proxy. A proxy protects your identity, switches your IP address to avoid flagging, and generally secures your connection.
Nevertheless, it is important to choose the right proxy which is why I have provided you with the best options from ProxyRack. So, if you are looking for the best proxies for Scrapy, ProxyRack has got you covered.
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